Hamilton 188/220 cam
 

I was wondering if anyone has experience installing one of these on a stock truck with stock head gaskets and stock clearances. I'm looking into getting a cam, ideally the 188/220 but keep getting a bit of conflicting info on installing, some say it's a drop in and some say it will require checking clearances IE removing the head and measuring. Which I really don't want to do considering I just did studs. Hamilton calls it a drop in and says in some places I've read that unless you have .020 taken off the head or deck you should be good. I had .006 taken off my head but put in a .010 head gasket so that should put me .004 over stock clearance. Just wondering if anyone has done this without removing the head. Thanks!

Yes it has and can be done without removal of the head. Clearances should always be checked after the cam install. The last one I put in the head needed to be pulled and a .020" over gasked installed to get enough clearance tho.

If you run into problems and don't want to pull the head you can get some offset keys and retard the cam a bit for extra clearance.

That was with the same cam? Had the head or deck been shaved on that engine? So once it's all installed I would just turn it over slowly by hand to make sure nothing touched? Or what's the best way to check clearance without pulling the head?

yes same cam and no head was never off. But not every valve job from the factory is exactly the same either.

And this will help Zach explains it pretty well here

Thanks, that does explain it quite well. Basically it comes down to the ptv clearance I guess. I do have a valve job which he said yields between .008-.015 extra clearance. I think I may just call once I get closer to purchase and see if there is a stock ptv clearance I need to run the cam. I have to re do my lash when I put in new valve seals so that would be the perfect time to check the ptv clearance.

Yes it would just make sure to check PTV, BTDC, TDC, and ATDC. Normally I do 10* BTDC, 5* BTDC, TDC, 5* ATDC, and 10* ADTC. The ATDC is where I have ran into problems with clearance on the intake side ... the exhaust side has always had plenty of room.

So the best way to do that would be to put a degree wheel on the crank and check for tdc with a dial indicator through the injector bore? Or just use the pin on the injector pump, set Tdc on the wheel and then check clearance with the dial indicator

since you cant get a true reading of TDC with the head on what I would do is use the pin for your TDC mark, install the degree wheel on the crank, put your dial indicator on the intake valve, and use the rocker adjuster to compress the valve until it hits the piston.

Do this again at the points I posted and also for the exhaust side.