New Cams or Remilled? (1 Viewer)

[offroadvegan]

I am having my FZJ80 (1993) engine rebuilt. A friend advised me to NOT let the shop rework the cams, but to order new ones. A pair are about $1k right now. With the rebuild already at approx $4k, that is a huge chunk of the budget.

He claims there would be a HUGE loss of power, and that I would hate it.

Any advice here? Many thanks.

 

[madisonr34]

Webcams in Socal. Only place I trust to regrins cams.

 

[Tools R Us]

What is wrong with your cams?

 

[RoaringFork]

Cams can be measured/checked... if it ain’t broke don’t fix it...

 

[cme4lyt]

Never heard anyone do cams at an engine rebuild, specifically not our motor ?

 

[offroadvegan]

Well I asked the shop what was included in the rebuild. He told me because it was a DOHC engine, that the cost was more and that both cams would need to be reworked. Then my buddy said to never remill cams, to only buy new. Now you guys are saying I shouldn't need to do anything to them?

 

[scottryana]

Unless there was some kind of oil starvation issue, you really shouldn't have to do anything. The spring pressure on the valves is pretty low, and there isn't a whole lot of force on the cams. I would be very surprised if they were out of spec. But if they are, I would listen to your friend and buy new or known good used if you can..... But this sounds like a shop just trying to make some extra money when there is really nothing to do.

 

[bigredmachine]

He claims there would be a HUGE loss of power, and that I would hate it.

these trucks arnt exactly the quickest thing on the road, they started life with about 215 hp in a 5000 lb truck and after 20+ years I'm sure their down on power just a bit. if your looking for more power than cams could be a good start and move into doing a small turbo or supercharger kit later. there are aftermarket options for performance cams available for the truck but their going to run between 800-13000$

if the cams were damaged than your going to be better off getting a good set of used cams, get a valve job done and shim up the valves.

 

[inkpot]

Have never seen any visible signs of cam wear on lots of 1fz motors well over 200,000 miles, and one well over 300,000 miles on them. Very minor wear can be dialed out by changing shim thickness, same way you adjust for valve wear and adjustment. Somebody is pulling your leg.

 

[thetoyotaman]

Even my motor that threw a rod, overheated the crank, and warped the head still has good cams. That being said, I've had good results with cam upgrades and plan on a mild regrind from Schneider Racing. Much cheaper than a grand.

 

[LandCruisinMy93]

Sounds like you need to reconsider who is doing your motor work because it sounds like they're trying to charge someone who doesn't know any better for work they don't need and that probably won't get done. You want another set of cams....come grab them from my 1FZ-FE I'm down in the Eugene area.

 

[RoaringFork]

Well I asked the shop what was included in the rebuild. He told me because it was a DOHC engine, that the cost was more and that both cams would need to be reworked. Then my buddy said to never remill cams, to only buy new. Now you guys are saying I shouldn't need to do anything to them?

A competent shop should be able to measure/check the cams... if out of spec or have journal damage get new or good used cams. If they measure out, put em back in...

I also don’t understand why a DOHC would cost more to rebuild...

Do you trust this shop?

 

[nukegoat]

Just do it yourself. Add little weld beads on the cams to build them up then angle grinder them to spec

 

[RoaringFork]

Just do it yourself. Add little weld beads on the cams to build them up then angle grinder them to spec

But be careful, too much valve lift will blow your HG...

Sorry, I couldn’t resist

 

[shocktower]

So the shop said you need cams, well I hope they have not started on it, I would have pulled it out yesterday, and find a shop that does cruisers, I have a gut feeling you going to get screwed, there are 2 shops that do cruisers not that far from Roddie

 

[shocktower]

But be careful, too much valve lift will blow your HG...

Sorry, I couldn’t resist

And use only a paper mill

 

[Sc0-]

Whoever is working on the engine go pull it from them now. They will take short cuts and overcharge you for a shoddy job and then find some way to void the warranty down the road.

 

[Dave 2000]

New or good used if yours are damaged.

Regards

Dave