AspenJ Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Hey, so I drive a 1983 280ZX N/A, and recently, the camshaft was damaged by a poorly-adjusted rocker arm. I went to the junkyard a couple of days later, and pulled the cam out of a different 280ZX (unsure of the year.) At first, I didn't see any problems, but upon getting it home, I realized a couple of problems: -The cam I had pulled had a different number than my original. (Original was a D2, this one is an E30.) -The rocker arms I had pulled were all identical, while the original arms had some differences between the exhaust and intake arms. -The rocker arms I pulled were differently shaped. However, the cam lobes angles are the same on each camshaft, with the only distinct difference being the location of the breather holes in the lobes. Basically, can I use the E30 camshaft on a 280ZX that came with a D2 cam? Will that cam work with my original valves? Should I replace the only damaged rocker arm with one of the ones I pulled, or should I use all of the cams that I pulled off of the car I got the cam from? I can't afford to get a cam kit from MSZ, so this is the best I can do at the moment. What should I do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 Post pictures. Everybody loves them. Your letter/numbers seem odd, are you looking at the back of the camshaft? Attached a picture of a 1981 F cam for reference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AspenJ Posted February 6, 2014 Author Share Posted February 6, 2014 Picture of Original Cam: Pictures of Replacement Cam (I couldn't get many, I already put it back in the car.): I'll post some pictures of rocker arms later, when I have some time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xnke Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 The D2 cam is not a factory camshaft...either it's a custom cam profile or it's a parts store rebuilt head. That's a CWC cam, which may or may not hold up well over time. The Japan-marked cam is a durable, very hard to damage part that will last pretty much until the end of time. It's an original Nissan part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 (edited) The one in your car looks like an "A" cam, which typically came on the 280Z or early ZX engines. "A" doesn't seem right for a 1983. So you might have a non-stock engine or non-stock cam. Non-stock cam replacement may explain the failure. You didn't show any significant failure pictures. You said the rocker arms looked different but didn't show any rocker arms. Anyway, in general, people say the rocker arms should follow the cam lobes. Hopefully, you marked or bagged each rocker arm with the cam lobe it was used on. If not, based on several cam swap stories, you will probably damage another cam. Others know more. Good luck. Edit - Xnke knows more. Maybe it's not an A cam. Or maybe it's a CWC with a stock "A" grind. Edited February 6, 2014 by NewZed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AspenJ Posted February 6, 2014 Author Share Posted February 6, 2014 The one in my car is not the one that was in there originally - I didn't start to notice the distinct differences until after I had put the replacement one back in. It's good to hear that the Japan marked one is heavy-duty, but I don't know if it will work with the valves. My car is a 1983 280ZX n/a, and it has had an unknown amount of previous owners, so I'm not sure if there's any headwork done to it. The junkyard 280ZX was a 1981 n/a, with what appeared to be the original valve cover gasket, because I had to wrench the thing off using quite a bit of force. (Oddly enough, the one at the junkyard had a sunroof.) With only two years of difference, I wouldn't expect the differences to make the cam unusable. tl;dr: Is it safe to use the cam and rocker arms from a 1981 on a 1983? The two different kinds of rocker arms my car was equipped with (and the damaged rocker arm on the far left.) Part of the set of seemingly identical rocker arms that came off of the 1981 junker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xnke Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 CWC makes replacement cam cores. They don't hold up as good as original Nissan cores. Keep your rocker arms matched up, swap 'em over IF you have a solid lifter engine! hydraulic lifter heads must use a hydraulic cam grind or they will be very unhappy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AspenJ Posted February 7, 2014 Author Share Posted February 7, 2014 The hydraulic lifter heads only came on the '83 Turbo models, didn't they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 As Xnke said, everything should swap over just fine if you kept things in order. If you just threw the rocker arms in a pile, you've made an error. Did you wedge the timing chain well, and set cam timing to zero before pulling the cam? P90A heads came with hydraulic pivots, for the most part. NA cars typically have P79 heads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AspenJ Posted February 7, 2014 Author Share Posted February 7, 2014 I didn't know that I needed to be so particular with the rocker arms, so no, I didn't separate them. They're all mixed together. How do I figure out which ones go where? I had the chain wedged well, but I had a friend helping me because of a finger injury that made working on cars difficult, and they pulled the wedge of wood out thinking it wasn't doing anything. However, I had also marked the chain and sprocket with a marker in relation to one another, so i know where they meet up. I'm learning as I go, and I've never had to do any serious headwork to my car, so I didn't set the timing to zero. I followed this tutorial: http://www.zdriver.com/forums/240z-280zxt-s30-s130-tech-tips-275/aftermarket-cams-cam-removal-installation-pics-19939/ From the sounds of things, my whole setup is pretty messed up. What do I have to do in order to get everything back on track? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 You've made all of the classic errors. Condolences. You should have read a few threads on cam swaps, there are many stories out there about the wedge and the rocker arms. I think that the rocker arms can be reconditioned to get rid of the wear patterns. No idea on cost. Someone might reply with a recommendation, I think that one of the popular cam shops will do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theczechone Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 I just sent mine to get reground by Delta Cams in Washington state. They said cost would be $3.50 per rocker and a two day turnaround on labor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AspenJ Posted February 7, 2014 Author Share Posted February 7, 2014 Can any old machining shop regrind them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theczechone Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Maybe but they will need the profile geometry and fixturing. So delta cam would be much cheaper and because they have experience I would trust them before any other shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AspenJ Posted February 8, 2014 Author Share Posted February 8, 2014 Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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