Rb26 Camshaft Removal

[Carthik]

I'm in the process of stripping down an RB26 head and I have removed all the camshaft bracket bolts but the brackets at the front with the cam seals will not come loose. Is there a special method?

Edited August 22, 2011 by Carthik

[doo doo]

Possibly because there's a little gasket goo holding them in place a little so a tap up under the cam sprocket nose would lift it, plus the cam seals tend to be tight and have the same sort of effect BUT, it should have come up at the same rate as the rest otherwise the cam tilts and jams at the front in where the thrust surfaces are. If you tap it up now the cam probably won't come out because of the tilt. So put the cam caps back on and undo them all evenly- give the the cam nose a little tap up when front cap is only partially undone. I hope this helps the issue.

[JonnoHR31]

yep give it a tap with the other caps still on (not tight though). the 2 bolts are the only thing holding them on

[Carthik]

Seems I made a pretty noob mistake and confused the service manual's instructions. I inverted the bolt removal process. Got the cams out now but did I damage anything by inverting the order? I'm wondering if the caps or cap bolts may have bent as some of the bolts in the caps are VERY tight now with it off the head. Did I do the head any damage? I hope I don't need a new head.

[JonnoHR31]

clean all the bolts and caps (until you could eat off them) and then see how they go together with some fresh oil on the bolts

the reason for the bolt order is so you dont snap the cam, so aslong as you havent damaged that at all or had it on any crazy angle the caps and bolts should be fine.