I confuse myself sometimes, lol. But yes, I use a piston stop and a degree wheel when the head is off. It’s a must with some of the cams I have used in these motors. I have never actually had a cam that was ground incorrectly and I have been through quite a few over the years so I have been lucky that way. My first was a Chet Herbert regrind. He used to advertise any regrind for 39.00. That cam is still in the motor that I built around 1980. Ran great. I beat on that motor pretty good and never missed a beat. Currently in the back of my garage. Clifford cam (way way too much cam, still have that one, over 300 duration and .512 lift. That cam was hard on everything and was not a great cam, mostly because I was still in the bigger is better mode back then which is never a good approach, lol. That cam will get a regrind pretty soon I think. moon did one for me years ago, it was ok, not great, sig Erson also, who was probably Cliffords source. The last four have come out of schneider. They have been great to work with. Problem now is finding new cam blanks. With the lifts in the .480 and up range, (current cam is .492 lift, 280 duration) and pistons at near 0 deck, I have to degree the cam in and check the intake valve to piston clearance (I do it the Isky way with checking springs and a dial indicator on the valve retainer). Learned that the hard way also. 1984, new motor, Fresh head, did not check, first fire, promptly bent all 6 intake valves. I still have the receipt for that one, lol. The fellow who had just done the head poured solvent into thenports and it all ran out. He was the one who showed me how to check with clay. The dial indicator came later.
But when the head is not off and you are without the right tools and stuck needing something a little more shade tree, you can do it by the dots and get pretty close. Close enough to get the distributor in and the motor fired up any how. I actually use the dot method just to confirm I am on the compression stroke for no. 1 when setting the motor up for tdc.
Last edited by Dragsix; 03/02/2018 2:15 AM.
