Z900 Cam caps

[zed1015]

The dowels were mainly there to accurately secure the caps positions during the line boring process.
Without them the caps are self aligning and can't move once fitted.
Most conrod big end caps don't have any dowels and they don't have a problem despite being subject to more violent forces and changes of direction during operation so a simple rotating cam isn't going to have an issue.
The main issue with the fitting of odd cam caps is the lateral alignment which the dowels don't allow for any leway.
With them removed the caps can self align lateraly and any any tightness will solely be the result of the cap height which can be relieved by careful removal of material from the cap only.
HOWEVER on these engines one cap on each cam controls side float to prevent the cam sprockets and bolts from chewing the head so attention needs to be given to that area on assembly and only as a last resort would you omit the dowels from those.

[Wrigers]

Cheers for that guys, i have Paul from Engine Techniks on the job, comes well recommend and does lots for Z Power etc.
I'll update once completed hopefully.

[kev edwards]

The dowels were mainly there to accurately secure the caps positions during the line boring process.
Without them the caps are self aligning and can't move once fitted.
Most conrod big end caps don't have any dowels and they don't have a problem despite being subject to more violent forces and changes of direction during operation so a simple rotating cam isn't going to have an issue.
The main issue with the fitting of odd cam caps is the lateral alignment which the dowels don't allow for any leway.
With them removed the caps can self align lateraly and any any tightness will solely be the result of the cap height which can be relieved by careful removal of material from the cap only.
HOWEVER on these engines one cap on each cam controls side float to prevent the cam sprockets and bolts from chewing the head so attention needs to be given to that area on assembly and only as a last resort would you omit the dowels from those.

That's rather an ambiguous statement, if they are self aligning they are also self mis-aligning, i,m not saying don't do it, but why risk it, we all know cam caps can be swapped if careful, but ommission of dowels. Mmm.

[zed1015]

Without the dowels they are self centering on the circumference of the cam journal and cannot "miss-align".
The fore and aft misalignment with the dowels fitted is what causes 99% of cam binding problems when using odd caps.
Without the dowel it is only the height of the upper shell housing (camcap) which can bind the cam and this is an easier fix.
In the absence of finding an odd cap that does the job with the dowels in situ then this is the way to go and attention should be given to the position of the caps that control cam float to ensure there is proper clearance between the sprockets and cam tunnel.
Once bolted down they don't move.
This is a common practice that's been used for years and my previous post was to highlight the importance and existence of the endfloat control caps of which some folk may not be aware of.

[Wrigers]

All sorted eventually...
Thanks for the advice and DDZ900 for supplying some extra caps that fitted better than mine with a little fettling

..

[Ultim8pc]

Nice. Another head saved!

[DDZ900]

Glad your all sorted