Ideally, you need adjustable pullies to set the cams to kents specs. If your just using standard pullies then you'l have to set them to standard marks but you wont be seeing the full potential of the cams.
its alot easier to time them up to the specs 1st, gets you closer than setting to standard timing marks.Kent specs won't be any good if he's changed gasket thickness etc, only way to do it properly for maximum gain is on the dyno and keep taking the rocker off and adjusting, lot of fucking about.
it could have happend, depends how much slack you've had. ive never had a problem doing that, but i've always marked up all the pulleys.Another thought: when we removed the camshafts, we cabletied the chain to the top of the engine to stop it falling down towards the crank; would having slack on the chain at the top have allowed it to fall off the crank pulley at the bottom, or is there sufficient contact down there to hold it on regardless?
Sounded like you were using kent specs as the maximum gains, it's easier but you'll never get the full potential without messing about with it on a dyno, too many variables to just expect generic settings to be the same on every car. If you want to do it properly it's on a dyno with lots of adjusting, no other way.its alot easier to time them up to the specs 1st, gets you closer than setting to standard timing marks.
gasket thickness wont affect valve lift though.may need timed very slightly different because of larger combustion chamber volume, but a better starting point when fitting them would be to fit and time them to kents specs.
it could have happend, depends how much slack you've had. ive never had a problem doing that, but i've always marked up all the pulleys.
i said to use kents specs as it sounds as though he's fitting them at home. so it would be best to set them to kent specs rather than standard timing. then the car will be as good as it can be untill he gets the car on the rollers.Sounded like you were using kent specs as the maximum gains, it's easier but you'll never get the full potential without messing about with it on a dyno, too many variables to just expect generic settings to be the same on every car. If you want to do it properly it's on a dyno with lots of adjusting, no other way.
personally, i would turn the crank to tdc and check the cams are in the correct place.I've had another look, and I don't think it will have dropped - it looks like the chain is in contact with pretty much 2/3 to 3/4 of the bottom pulley anyway, so the teeth wouldn't let the chain drop unless I'm reeeaaaally unlucky.Which I have been known to be of course, lol.
I can turn the engine over by hand all the way round in any case, so if I haven't got it totally perfect I shouldn't be more than a tooth out in any case I'd think?
The way i read it is he's using standard verniers anyway so it's not aplicable, all i'm trying to say is the kent specs are a guide, not the ultimate settings as it's spec and user dependant, it sounded like you were saying they were the ultimate setting that's all, no worries, i'm not trying to teach you to suck eggs mate and i agree with you that kent specs are probably better than zero'ing them untill you can get it done properly on the rollers with verniers .i said to use kents specs as it sounds as though he's fitting them at home. so it would be best to set them to kent specs rather than standard timing. then the car will be as good as it can be untill he gets the car on the rollers.