Welding cams

[Jon Klein]

Hi guys/girls, I'm fixin to weld my cams up soon on my 96 w/160,000mi. I have no idea how it lasted this long. My questions are what type of welder and what the preferred spots are. Three tacks on each? All the way around? Sorry if I come off as a ******** but i'm a diesel mechanic and my welding experience is mostly on tri axle dump truck bodies. I want to be able to relay this information to a fellow mechanic who will actually be welding them. thank you for your time.


Jon

 

[stephen newberg]

I am not a welder, but from observation and reading either MIG or TIF (sic?) and 3 tacks per sprocket seem to be the common ways to go. On one of those types, or maybe both, you need to guard carefully against spatter. When mine was done the entire open sections were filled with non-flammable rag material to catch any bits.

pax, smn

 

[Izzmo]

I don't know about MIG.. but TIG (Stephen.. you should know that!) welding it the most common and most preferred as spatter is a minimum, if any at all.

To protect everything else in the engine, while welding, just put down a wet/damp towel over anything you want protected, such as the fuel lines, intakes and wiring harness.

 

[stephen newberg]

LOL. Right, TIG. sorry, I was typing in the dark, had a typo, looked at it and thought 'that is not right' but it was before my first coffee so it did not click to what was right.

Thinking back on it, I believe mine was done with MIG, but it was a long time ago, so I could be mis-remembering. Aside from considerations of splater, the cams themselves are hollow, so caution needs to be take with that in mind to prevent any warpage, but otherwise, as I understand it, it is not a difficult welding job for any experienced welder.

pax, smn

 

[St Louis SHO]

You're not going to TIG the cams in the car, unless you have a $2500 welder. I'd say 99.999% of cams are MIG welded...

- James

 

[Izzmo]

Wow really? Learn something knew everyday. I've heard of so many people getting theirs TIG'd.. maybe just cause most of them I have heard of go to NESHO and get them done in the car... as you said.

 

[Jon Klein]

Wire type

Thanks for the info guys. I have a TIG at the the shop due to the fact that most truck bodies require it. But I really don't want to take the cams out to TIG them. So if I was to MIG weld them what kind of wire would you guys use? Thank you again you guys are the best!



Jon

 

[Izzmo]

No, you can TIG them while they are in the car. MIG would be harder to do inside the car because of splash (but is still possible as many have done it with no problem)

 

[SHODWN]

Na, not really. as long as you have a decent procedure list, and do things right migging is fine. Ive done real close to 3000 cars and never had a failure.

I use 70s wire .30 thick and a 80/20 mix.
As far as setting your welder up, they are all different, I cant tell you by you machine, or the power in your building. Pick the intake camon the front head and run some test welds on it. this is the easy one and you can mess up here. the Rear head is the pain in the ass!

I have steel Sheilds for the cams and install magnets by the oil returns to catch the junk. Also pre oil the lobes nearest the welding, so if by chance something doe splatter over it wont stick. then run a magnet in those sections of the heads where you just welded.

also after all this turn the motor over by hand (all electronics should be disconnected) and check your welds for clearence, and put your fingers on the lobes to make sure that there is nothing on them. the tiniest bit will pull a shim and or bucket out and wipe the head out.

 

[Jon Klein]

Thank you so much for the info. I'm going to weld them up this sunday after halloween. I'll post pictures after we're all done and see what you guys think.



Jon

 

[shonuffmine]

concerning the tig or heli arc weld

you can use any dc straight polarity welder to tig with,since this is steel n not aluminium.so if you have a cheapy buzz box that can do 85 -100 amps set her on straight polarity use argon or helium both will work. if both pieces are just regular steel use 70es filler rod,if they are disimiler steel,such as harden or tool steel, use hastalloy filler rod n it will not splatter unless you stick the tungsten into the weld puddle,by the way this is what i do for a living,i,m a 6-g hi pressure nuclear grade welder for siemens ( the old westinghouse) hope that helps some

 

[Jon Klein]

That does help. I've got the materials that you specified and now my mind is at ease some. (won't be happy till its done). But it seems to be pretty straight foward. Thanks again guys I value all of your input very much.


Jon

 

[shonuffmine]

P.S. attach the ground as close as possible to weld,preferably directly to cam gear so there will less chance of a ground arc

 

[Jon Klein]

cams welded! thank you for the info again guys. P.S. its alot more involved then i had originally thought. Clearance is important!!

 

[Laminar]

Have any pics to share?