How to install an adjustable 1JZ cam gear in 1.5 hours

[Neal_411]

Indeed I am able.

It is about 13mm from the backing to the edge of the gear. Not including the 2mm protrusion of the screws.

[Slim]

AHaaaaaah! I knew it! See how there's no recess in the blue part of your gear? That is the problem with the design of Trust/GReddy one. It can't be designed for the 1J.




Does anyone else have pictures of the back of other 1JZ cam gears? I will print them off and use them as evidence when i go back to Autobarn wearing my "angry face".

[1JZ~lux]

did you measure the depth of the back of the gear like nb411 did?

[Slim]

I don't have it anymore. I took it back to Autobarn on Sunday and the bloke there kept it so he can sort it out (before you ask, I've got a receipt to prove that i have left it with them).

I wish i had measured it. Visually it looks similar though.

[1JZ~lux]

I was just wanting to compare the depths of the two.

[Slim]

I have been trolling the net for answers to my problem. Searching for evidence of other people having similar issues. Haven't found anyone having any problems.

What I have found though is some evidence to suggest that my cam gear is the wrong one.

This is a pic from an American bloke that put a 1J in his MA61. He successfully fitted it with GReddy cam gears. What i found interesting was the depth of the lip on the gear... it has virtually no dish on the front.


This is my gear... much more dished on the front as if the offset is different.


I think that must be the issue. Autobarn called me today and have ordered another gear to see if i just happened to get a wrongly packaged one. It should be in by tomorrow. Will have to wait and see. I'm armed with evidence now though. I feel better.

[big_zop]

Here are some pics of HKS ones but i cant tell if it only shows the front face.

http://www.ghostweb.com.au/tourerv/cams.shtml

I do think that they are purely labelled JZ and it looks like that they list the same one for all 1JZ/2JZ turbo/NA models and that the intake/exhaust are the same (no mention of VVTi compatibility though)

EDIT: US site backs this up and also confirms they arent compatible with VVTi http://www.hksusa.com/info/?id=2773&rsku=0
and the pic is of a 'JZ' cam gear - http://www.hksusa.com/images/?id=2613

The plot thickens...

[Jabtronic]

I'll try to get a pic of the back of my gears today for ya

[Toy77]

heya,

I have fidanza cam gears on my 1j.

I bought them from the states as 2j ones- after being told they were the same.

Had no troubles fitting them - but i haven't ran the engine.

If it comes down to a warantee arguement - i could pull them off and measure for you - it doesn't have the covers over them and the motor is on an engine stand.

If its not super urgent - i'll be taking them off in the near future for some minor tweaks - the adjustment bolts just touch my new clear cam gear cover so need minor mods (i think thye would clear the factory cover no probs), ill take pictures then. If it is urgent, i will bump it up my prioritories list....

Cheers
Stew

[Slim]

Nah, it's not urgent but when you do take them off can you take pics of the back of the gear. I'm sure by then i will have sorted out my issue so it will be for interest's sake. Thanks.

[JZA70 R]

I ran a group buy for 40 pairs of Fidanza cam gears and i just thank god i didnt run into a problem like this!

Ive had mine installed for a while now, so have many others and none have experienced any problem with the gear fouling on the bolts that hold the backing plate on.

I do remember getting myself into a predicament where i had to use those said bolts to seize the oem gear so i could crack the nut, i damaged them and replaced them both with allen head bolts only to find they fouled on the oem cam gear (never tried it with the fidanza) ...so i had to source some more low profile hex head bolts to secure the backing plate.

Anyway, here is a pic of the front and back, i didnt take any measurements but i can if you like.

[Slim]

Ok... at lunchtime i got a call from Bob at Autobarn and he said that the GReddy gear he odered yesterday has come in and is different to the one i was sold.

The one that came in today has the same part number as is on the box of the one i was given but is clearly a different gear. It has no recess on the back.

It's definitely an issue with Autobarn's warehouse staff or supplier. Bob said that the gear appeared to have a store sticker on it so it's probably been sent to a store and then returned by a customer and put back on the shelf. Someone's messed up or done a dodgy somewhere along the line.

The bottom line is that the GReddy gear should be fine. The problem is that i was given the wrong GReddy gear. I haven't got the new one yet, i will pick it up after work... but Bob said it definitely looks like the right part now.

[ViPeR_NiPPleX]

I guess thank your lucky stars your motor isn't an interference design and you haven't lunched your valves. Hope the new gear does the trick.

[PlacentaJuan]

slim is there anything like a part number written on the cam pulleys that indicate 1jz or 2jz?

i mean how would you tell if you didnt have the box, or the box had the wrong number on it?

(apart from the different shape recess)

[Slim]

There is absolutely no identifying marks or numbers on the pulleys themselves. It is one of the things that completely staggers me about the whole situation. If the pulley just had a model number stamped or printed on it then most of this confusion could have been avoided. I probably would have still fitted it without checking the number first... BUT upon finding out it didn't fit, a model number would have easily identified it as the wrong part for my car.

Whilst Autobarn was probably responsible for the mixup... GReddy has a lot to answer for as well. It's the height of stupidity to rely on people's photographic memory to identify parts. Especially when the mixup of those parts can have catastrophic consequences.