I just did the cam swap with a friend and everything went well, the engine sounds like it used to and it seems to run great. One thing though... at the start, we could not get the engine to TDC, so we left it with the marks facing a little to the rear(I don't grasp why it matters as long as the spacing on the chain is fine) but we got the chain spacing correct and everything went back together fine. So my question is, why the need to set TDC, and also, did I do something wrong with the way I did the cam install? I tried looking around at all the cam guides and question threads and could not find an answer.

 

no, it doesn't really matter as long as you get it right, tdc really just makes it easier to line stuff up, especially if something moves.

 

That makes sense, thanks so much for the quick response.

Oh yea, one last question I wanted to ask before but forgot. If the mark was off on the intake cam by one notch by say, using 4 spaces instead of 5, would it be obvious while running that it is off?

 

most likely, not sure from personal experience though. That's the kind of thing you don't want to ask afterwords though, can seriously kill your engine

 

I think this was asked in either the DIY or in another 1.8 cam thread.

 

Thanks, was just checking for future reference.. and no it was not posted in any other DIY guide, care to link the post if it was?

 

I'll search later lol. But I think each link off is something like 10 degrees.

 

So it would run like crap, more or less?

 

It would sound different if your ear knew how it sounded previously.

It's 8º per tooth IIRC

If you have any question, refer to the timing setting DIY here: http://www.rdtiburon.com/index.php?showtopic=29801