AndrewsQuattros

I just did a search and see that the aluminum caps might be fitted to each head individually. The good thing is however, that I didnt break it in the center, it broke on the edge where the nut holds it down, so maybe I can fix it. I hope so!! If not I may have a baaad day?
/:

520

Btw, they are all the same from the factory but what happens over time is your cam sets sort of a pattern/shape into them and thus people say they are "car specific". If its just one I would say go get a new one - don't try to fix it.

VAP

There is almost zero chance of another cap working or repairing one. Anyone can try any number of methods but I'd be looking for a new head.

And if you attempt saving/repairing the cap or replacing it with the same "number" cap off a different head I'd invest in a couple packages of Plasti-Guage strips as you're gonna be plasti-guaging yer *** off trying to get the right gauge compression and in the end chuck it all and go looking for another head anyway.

Only takes one journal to be .0001"-.0005" out of spec either tight, loose or eccentric and you're in deeper cah-cah than you ever thought possible if it lets go or seizes upwards of 4k RPMs.

ThetaTau87

They may be able to weld the cracked area. They will also have to check to clearance to the cam to make sure the heat from welding didn't warp the cap. If it is warped you will have to have the cam journals align bored.

You may be better off getting a new cap and having the cam journals bored. I can't imagine that the only way to fix it is to replace the head, but if you can find a used head at a decent price that may be the cheapest way to go. Precision machine work can get expensive.

You can not just slap on a used cap from another head or location. The caps are machined on the head and that makes each one unique and non-interchangable.

90/90Qs

couldn't it be align honed again? (providing it's within spec)

Merkin

cost of that is greater or equal to a used head

Merkin

doing so unless you know what you're doing exactly and precise measurements. Cap from another engine could be off enough to not being able to tighten down and break it again. Only reason i went this way is because I was very poor and couldn't afford a head, also I have a spare cam so if anything happens, it's not going to cost me extra.

it took me a good 5 hours to sand/polish the cap close enough to where i feel "confident" to replace the original line-bored cap.

on a positive note, it costed me $10 and 30k miles later it's running perfect.

Merkin

the NF cap i used was off by a lot, and dealer does not sell caps, they said it comes with the head

VAP

to exactly the same ID. Once thats done how do you "re" align-hone or bore all those cam journals to an even larger ID than they came with and have them fit the cam journals which havent gotten any bigger? You can neither bore nor hone anything, including bore journals, without removing metal. Remove metal from the I.D. of "anything" and its bore gets bigger/larger. However the mating journals on the camshaft cant "grow" a corresponding amount. So if you realign hone you've got larger ID journals but the bearing journals on the cam have not grown. Recipe for disaster.

Unless someones found a way to "reverse bore/hone" and make IDs smaller he's locked into a new head as the "safest/most cost-effective" alternative.

Ben's e//S2

So what do you do when you replace a camshaft with a different one?