Rebuild questions

"Bear with me folks. This will

"Bear with me folks. This will likely be the first of many many silly questions over the next couple months.

I'm planning to rebuild my Crusader 454's as mentioned in another post. I've been pouring over the service manual, the Haynes Techbook and some parts sites.

Two questions out of the gate:

1) How any of the 30+ Kent-Moore "Special" tools are critical to get the job done right.

2) The service manual lists a camshaft intake duration of 289 degrees and exhaust of 302. Just poking around, it looks like the crusader part numbers have been replaced (Not sure what the specs on the new parts are) and the replacements are generally out of stock. The marine kits I've found are +/- 10 degrees. Based on what I've read, it looks like it's an economy vs. power trade off and longer durations would be favorable. Any guidelines on how to select the parts?"

"There are no "silly quest

"There are no "silly questions", just silly answers.

Be really careful selecting cams for that engine, for it's famous for sucking water in through the exhaust ports. A milder cam with less overlap would be your best choice.

Jeff"

"Joel:

Depending upon how m

"Joel:

Depending upon how much of the work you do yourself will drive the number of tools required. The kent-moore stuff is just one brand; many other suitable alternatives exist. Many will save you hours of fustration so you can trade your money for your time.

As far as the cam goes, the standard issue one is pretty good for off idle thru the recommended WOT. Going down a few degrees in duration may help economy a bit if your boat is really heavy.

Use the 0.050" lift numbers when comparing cams; the "advertised" figures usually get measured differently by everybody that produces them. The mid-80's standard values are 0.461" lift for intake and 0.479" for exhaust. I believe the durations are 214 & 218 degrees.

They are available but getting harder to find due to the migration to the Gen v and beyond."

"special tools:

steering wh

"special tools:

steering wheel/dampner puller
Dampner INSTALLER
150 ft-lb torque wrench
pre-start oil primer drill attachment shaft
ring compressor
ring expander
3/8, 7/16 taps
advance timing light
good gasket scraper
plasti-gage
sandblaster
PST, ultra copper, aviation gasket sealer"

"I should mention. If this is

"I should mention. If this is a "full" rebuild, have a machine shop press the piston pins, they should use a piston/rod heater. Also, they should also hone the bores correctly for the rings used- plain iron with moly top ring. If the cam bearings need replacement (sometimes, not always) there is an insertion tool for that, again, have the shop do that. Line boring should not be necessary."