Ive just made a device to be able to change cams without taking out the engine.

Should i put something on the wiki?

That would be fantatsic, how did you make it?

Magnets or sleeves to lift and hold the tappets?

velcro tyres and a big velcro circle ramp?...

Here is an overveiw of how i did it:

I bought some strong rare earth magnets from "Aussie Magnets"(online) 12mm x 3.5mm witha 6mm hole in the middle. These have a pull strength of 2.4kgs.

Then attached these to some 1/8th fuel-vac hose with 6gx25mm brass countersunk screws(non magnetic, prob not important tho). The hose is cut into 8 160mm lengths. do not fully tighten the magnets to the end of the hoses to ensure the magnets will sit flat on the top of the followers.

Drill a hole through the other end of each piece of hose 10mm down from the end to be able to fit small keyrings.

Get small extension springs to attach to the keyrings and larger keyrings to go on the other end of each spring.

Slide one down each of the pushrod holes then feed a long rod through all the large keyrings and support this between the radiator support panel and firewall. A neat frame could be made instead to bolt to where the rocker towers are fitted but a long rod or timber dowell works fine.


Be carefull not to have too much tension on the springs to prevent a follower dropping into the sump!

Total cost is about $30



Be sure the cam will fit out through the radiator opening in the radiator support panel also!(it did on my car but the lower front apron is removable)


This is a quick way to do a cam change but it is recomended to resurface followers when a new cam is installed. This method would obviously not be possable if you want to change the followers.

I`ll post some pics.




Someone must show me how to do bigger pics!!

GOLD Leigh!!!!!

he must have stolen that idea from me simon, but i would have reused his 2nd hand velcro, and possibly the other half of someoneelses velcro too.

I used to like the velcro idea but i have heard that there is a chance of ending up on your roof once the velcro gets a bit old. Perhaps stay away from the second hand velcro Mik, or maybe wear a stack hat as a precaution. Last time we did this at leighs we had trouble getting oil pressure up to be able to drive the car back down aswell. Just something else to watch for.

I see how you hold up the lifters... But how do you get the camshaft out when the engine is in the car like that?

On my car it just slid out through the radiator opening in the radiator support panel. The distributor and oil pump have to be taken off first.

My engine is mounted a bit differently to most 1200`s but i`d guess the radiator hole would line up on a standard 1200? The cam might hit on the lower apron panel, im not sure, but they swapped over no probs on mine.

Is that what your asking dd?

I`d be happy to lend them to another member that wants to do a cam swap to find out if they work on a standard 1200. i`d guess there would be enough clearance to get the cam out. Certainly worth a go.

yes, that answers my question

cam is centered to the side of the fan there