TIII timing help - Page 2 - TurboDodge.Com - Turbo Dodge forum for Turbo Mopars, Shelbys, Daytona, SRT-4, PT Cruiser, Omni and more!

gkcooper · **Degree wheel**

I make my own degree wheels by just printing 'em out. If you do a Google search you will find many (http://www.google.com/images?ie=UTF-...=degree+wheel). I did this when I centerlined my TIII cams. It made a world of difference. You will also need a dial indicator and extension (http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...mnumber=33675). I made a small metal strap that goes across the valley of the head to hold my magnetic base (http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=5645) for the dial indicator to measure TDC. It just holds the magnetic base directly over the spark plug holes. I then set of the degree wheel on the crank with a piece of wire as a pointer. You can attache the wire to any bolt on the front of the engine that makes it easy to see. When that's all perfect and centered in the range of TDC, put on the timing belt using the pin holes in the head as a reference. I then move the dial indicator to the intake cam and rotate the cam until the lobe of #1 is at the desired lift height then rotate the crank until it is exactly where it needs to be, repeat for the exhaust cam. Make sure to keep all the slack out of the front side of the belt. You WILL need some adjustable cam sprockets or offset keys. It seems as these cams were all indexed improperly from the factory. There are at least two different methods for degreeing the cams on the internet, I felt both were wrong, or at least incomplete. The way I did it seemed to be easier to me. You need a friend and lots of patients. It will take you at least a few hours. Cindy sells the adjustable sprockets and they are very nice. Well worth what I paid for them.

Greg K. Cooper
Huntsville, Alabama

**mopar2ya** · 10:25 AM

If you get adj cam gears, then you can really dial the cams in and a degree wheel is needed as is a dial indicator. Dont attempt offset keys, they dont work on DOHC heads. A good degreel is cheap from Mopar, Jegs etc.

If you need help doing this, ive posted more detailed directions than posted above.

Chris Faulk · 07-13-2006, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mopar2ya

If you get adj cam gears, then you can really dial the cams in and a degree wheel is needed as is a dial indicator. Dont attempt offset keys, they dont work on DOHC heads. A good degree is cheap from Mopar, Jegs etc.

If you need help doing this, I've posted more detailed directions than posted above.

I could most likely figure it out from the details here, but still would you mind the link to the better details? Thanks again Wallace!

Chris Faulk · 07-13-2006, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gkcooper

I make my own degree wheels by just printing 'em out. If you do a Google search you will find many (http://www.google.com/images?ie=UTF-...=degree+wheel). I did this when I centerlined my TIII cams. It made a world of difference. You will also need a dial indicator and extension (http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...mnumber=33675). I made a small metal strap that goes across the valley of the head to hold my magnetic base (http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=5645) for the dial indicator to measure TDC. It just holds the magnetic base directly over the spark plug holes.

Greg K. Cooper
Huntsville, Alabama

Good info thanks Greg!

iTurbo · 09-21-2006, 01:27 AM

How are you guys mounting the degree wheel to the crankshaft? It looks like a spacer will be needed to clear the front seal housing.

**mopar2ya** · 09-21-2006, 02:49 AM

I just use 2 longer bolts and bolt it to the serpentine belt pulley on the crank.

iTurbo · 09-21-2006, 11:10 PM

Will I need to drill holes in the degree wheel so I can bolt it up that way? How do you rotate the engine with the wheel covering up the crankshaft bolt? I'm using Summit's standard 11" degree wheel, 'G-1057' btw.

**mopar2ya** · 09-22-2006, 09:18 AM

Im using a Mopar Wheel. Mine has a larger hole in the middle and I drilled the other ones. You need to make sure the degree wheel is fairly centered when drilling it. BTW I have the FWDP underdrive pulley, it doesnt make check the drilling pattern, but its a smaller pulley. What was happening when using the crank bolt to hold the wheel was when your bar the engine over the degree wheel would spin a couple degrees and if you impact the bolt on it chews up the wheel.

So now I dont have to pull the crank pulley...

iTurbo · 10-03-2006, 01:39 PM

Thanks Wallace. I tried mounting the wheel like you described and it seems to work great. Unfortunately Summit is out of stock on their dial indicator/magnetic base kits so I'll be waiting on that for a couple more weeks.

**Blue Iroc R/T** · 10-03-2006, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iTurbo

Thanks Wallace. I tried mounting the wheel like you described and it seems to work great. Unfortunately Summit is out of stock on their dial indicator/magnetic base kits so I'll be waiting on that for a couple more weeks.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=5645
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=33675
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=93295

**mopar2ya** · 10-03-2006, 08:06 PM

Harbor freight is good, they have a nice digital Centec unit that works good also.

iTurbo · 11-11-2006, 09:01 PM

Here is a picture of the steel strap I cut up for the magnetic base. The large hole is for access to the the #1 cylinder for checking TDC. It bolts down to the valve cover bolt holes. Haven't used it yet but it should work.

http://www.turbosedan.com/spirit/DSC02969.JPG

iTurbo · 11-20-2006, 05:03 PM

I've been trying to rig up the dial indicator/magnetic base on my TIII engine and have come across a couple issues. Does anybody have a picture of the indicator properly setup on a TIII engine?

First of all, should I place the tip of the dial indicator on the top of the rocker arm next to the oil hole, or on top of the valve spring retainer? Also, does the dial indicator stem need to be at the same angle as the valve stem to get an accurate reading?

iTurbo · 11-20-2006, 09:29 PM

I think I figured it out. I repositioned the magnetic base so the switch that engages the magnet faces the front of the car. Now I can position the indicator such that the indicator stem is parallel to the motion of the valve stem. I also only need to loosen one of the knobs and rotate the 'arm' 180' and to go from intake to exhaust rocker. Nice.

I've also come to the conclusion that this is going to be impossible without an assistant to read the indicator while I rotate the engine and watch the degree wheel.

**mopar2ya** · 11-20-2006, 09:37 PM

Get a piece of flat bar about 12 inches lone and drill 2 holes in it to mount the the center valve cover bolts. Your magnetic base can sit there. Try to have the dial gauge mimic the angle as closly as possible. Then turn the dial indicator twards the passenger side. You only need to get the rocker close to bottomed out and get a reading off the degree wheel then rotate it until the rocker come up at the same dial reading, then look at the degree wheel again, add the 2 numbers and divide by 2 that is where the cam centerline is. If you get jammed up you can call me Im up till midnight. 785-826-2506