Is This Camshaft Reusable? Or Too Pitted?

I always have. aluminum heads, steel plugs. Dis-similar metal thing for me.

For cleaning the Heads and Block surface before installing new gaskets I use a quality gasket scraper. I keep a sharpening stone handy and keep the scraper very sharp. Slide it along the flat surfaces and it will work loose any gasket material stuck to the surface. Takes time. I bet I spend 30-45 minutes per head and per block surface. Once this is done I wipe them down with lacquer thinner to remove any grease, oli and dirt. If you get stupid you can do damage digging in with a sharp gasket scraper so start off lightly and you will get a feel for how much pressure is safe to use while scraping the surface but be smart, keep it sharp and the job gets done. Avoid any of the sanding pads available that work with a drill. They ruin the gasket surfaces by leaving high and low spots the gasket can’t seal on. The material looks great to your naked eye but when magnified you see the uneven surface they leave behind. The sanding pads also leave fine pad material behind that finds its way into engine bearings and cause damage.

Some plug companies are using anti stick technology to avoid plugs getting stuck in aluminum heads probably the reason some are debating. To be safe, steel will stick in aluminum and anti seize is a good idea to help avoid it. Does not take a lot, just a film on the threads and you are good to go. I would not consider putting steel plugs in aluminum heads without it. Steel plugs into cast iron heads, no issue.

West 1 said:

Some plug companies are using anti stick technology to avoid plugs getting stuck in aluminum heads probably the reason some are debating. To be safe, steel will stick in aluminum and anti seize is a good idea to help avoid it. Does not take a lot, just a film on the threads and you are good to go. I would not consider putting steel plugs in aluminum heads without it. Steel plugs into cast iron heads, no issue.

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I believe that's the debate. ngk says they have a plating or something that keeps them from seizing and all the added ain't seize does is hurt the ground connection from plug to head.


I don't see it being an issue but that's what I've heard.
they do have a conductive type dielectric you could probably use too.

Antiseize on spark plug threads can skew the torque settings when installing, and the plugs can be over-tightened.

Okay non-AFM valley covers... When I bought my kit, I didn't really understand what all I was buying, and now in hindsight, I see that the shop I bought from was out of stock on the covers. All I'm finding in stock are weird Amazon stores or verrry expensive stores. Anyone have a recommendation for a reputable part that doesn't break the bank?

OR should I just use the block off plugs and replace the gasket on the OEM cover? Would that do the trick?

Amazon non-afm valley cover w/gasket and bolts for $56 is whats on mine

Well, here we are... reassembled. A few things:
1. It's idling like total dogcrap. Is there something in the tuning that turns off the VVT, or does that happen when you change the timing cover that's non-VVT and tune it to delete the AFM? Throwing a P0010 code. There was no place for the plug to go on the new timing cover, so it's just tied up, unplugged.

2. I'm guessing maybe I have an exhaust leak...? Totally getting the "glub glub glub" sound out of the exhaust pipe in the rear. Also throwing a P219B code. In this process, I had to remove one of the O2 sensors on the passenger side, but I am 100% sure it's reinstalled and plugged back in. I also couldn't see where any vacuum leaks would happen, though I guess it's reasonable to think I missed something.

3. Turns out I'm not a "while you're in there" kind of guy. I regret this decision so much. I wish I would've just taken the one head off, replaced the broken lifter (or even the set of 4 on that section) and just risked the cam. This has royally sucked. It's all back together, still throwing codes, pretty sure I have an oil leak somewhere. I can't believe people do this as a hobby.

You will need a tune to turn off codes for AFM and VVT.

If you have not turned off AFM in tune (?), that could be why it's not running right.

mikez71 said:

You will need a tune to turn off codes for AFM and VVT.

If you have not turned off AFM in tune (?), that could be why it's not running right.

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No it's definitely been tuned to turn off AFM. My guy with the EFI Live tuner did not see any place where VVT is mentioned. He did say he thinks they call it camphasing, which he did disable. That's where we got with the tuning.