My issue is that I don't know if the 0 on the black part of the gear is supposed to mark up with the valve cover or if it's the outer bronze part of the gear that does. If I line up the 0 on the black gear with the line on the bronze gear and line it all up to the valve cover then the cam gear holder tool slides right in. Looking at the photo below I have both cam gear retard at *3.75 degrees but when I line up the 0 mark on the black gear to the valve cover marks, the cam gear tool won't go in to hold them in place. Can I just line up both bronze and black gears to 0 and match them with the valve cover AND THEN retard both by *3.75 degrees? I know I should be degreeing them but I am not trying to spend a couple of hundred dollars to use a device one time. If anyone has any other ideas please let me know . Thanks in advance.

PS: Yes I did look at ALL of the other 4g64 timing posts.

 

IMO you should degree them. Not worth the risk and you will gain knowledge of the cams true position which will come in handy later when tuning. Lets say you don't have any bad piston to valve issues, you might still spend that money in dyno/tuning time figuring out that your cams where too retarded etc. In my experience cutting corners to save money when dealing with engines never really does, and usually comes back to bite you in the ***.

The last machine shop I used was pretty cool and let me borrow tools. You could try that, or see if there are any places around you that will rent them out.

 

Do you know where or anyone that sells 2 solid lifters. Checking springs, and a piston stop? Does the degree wheel need to be extended a bit? It would hit the oil filter housing I would think if it wasn't.

 

gotta plug some Jafro lol. I'm sure you could find some stuff that doesn't require so much DIY but hopefully his video will inspire you some. It's worth a watch anyway, there are answers to some of your questions.

 

I've definitely watched that before a dozen of times. Can anyone here just help me get the timing belt on using an evo 9 belt and adjust the cams roughly to the 3.75 so I can at least gleast understanding on how it's supposed to go on before I degree it? Having the cams now adjusted to 0 on both the bronze and black gear, I can fit in the holder tool but when I go to time it there is slack at the bottom of the belt.

 

Zero mark on cam needs to align with the valve cover. To do this the outer ring should be adjusted almost 4 degrees positive or negative depending on whether you advanced or retarded the gear.

 

For an Evo 8 I will be retarding both gears by roughly 3.75. Is it normal for the cam holder tool to not lock into place when I do this? I could go back to the 3 wrench ghetto holder but I'm curious how others have done this.

 

I just got done buttoning it up. Does this all look right? I used the wrench method to hold the gears and lined everything up.

 

It seems just a touch off to me but I haven't timed a 4g64 before. I would suggest verifying that cylinder #1 is at TDC with the trigger plate notch timing mark. Also, the position of the timing belt tensioner pulley looks off.

 

I turned it over by hand many times already like this and everything works well. The crank pulley timing is pretty much dead on. The piston in cylinder one is at TDC. The exhaust and intake valves are closed in cylinder number 1 at TDC. Cylinder 2 has intake open and cylinder 3 have exhaust open I believe with GSC R2 cams timed this way. Its a taller block and I am using a 4g63 belt so the tensioner pulley won't be in the 4-5 o'clock position. Any tighter than that and the tensioner depresses too much.

 

well... im not expert on 4g64 timing...
but i do know i bought my longblock (already timed) from a reputable engine builder
Evo 9 timing belt
it has run now for 3 years with no issue and makes a ton of power.

my timing looks opposite to yours.

intake is at about 4
exhaust is at 3.25

 

Ok I see, this makes sense.

 

So which way is the correct way? I am in process of building 4g64 with 4g63 head. Do I retard or advance gears by 3.75?

 

I had both gears retard by 3.75. It runs great and makes a ton of power.

 

Great! Is retard into the firewall side? Or radiator ( front of the car side)? Thanks!