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So i bought a used d16y8 complete head and wanted to see if the cam would work in a d17 head.
One of the reasons for doing this is because the d17 crower cams are no longer available...
Maybe we can find a different route to take...i'm sure this has been done before and shot down, but i want to try, especially since i have a programmable ECU.
Couple things i noticed right off the bat...
1) d16y8 cam is same length as a d17
2) d16y8 cam "bearing" diameters are the same as a d17 (not exactly sure what they are called, the perfectly round areas of the cam that rest on the head)
3) rocker arm systems are different between the two engines.
4) I know the valves are the same size between the two engines.
Looking at the crower cam profiles, it appears that the stock d16y8 cam is similar to the stage 2 d17 cam specs...similar is the key word.
If a stage 2 crower cam needs to have a programmable ecu to adjust fuel tables, then maybe...just maybe, my ktuner ecu can run this.
I will be locking the vtec using vtec killer pins. I'm currently running this in my d17 setup with a d17 stage 1 crower cam. My tuner had to spend some time getting the fuel right, but it's working great. I choose the locking setup on my d17 because the car is used solely for the track so besides puttzing around the pits, it rarely sees anything below 4000 rpms.
Last night the d16y8 cam and rocker arm assembly bolted right up to the d17a1 head.
My plan this evening is to turn both cams to make sure TDC are at least close to each other. I would hate to slap this cam in and have the timing all wacked out and then have valves slapping my wisco pistons...
Ran into my first major bump in the road...end of the camshaft where the timing gear bolts on.
As shown in my pics, the ends have different diameters. The good thing is the keyways are in the same location....
I have a theory on how to fix this:
Remember, i'm currently using a programmable ecu, which means i have the AEM D17 specific adjustable cam gear.
So i'm trying to locate an AEM d16 adjustable cam gear.
The plan is to swap out the center mounts for the cam gears. The D17 outer portion has to be used because of the cam gear timing notches located on the outer portion.
Know you are a guy that up and tries to do Good reasearch!
Thanks for the kind words.
The d17 rocker arms will not work on the d16 cam, but the d16 rockers do bolt up to the d17 head. So i will be utilizing the d16 cam and rockers.
The biggest difference i see between the cams regarding the lobes, is the d16 uses a third intake lobe which has a higher lift than the other two. When the vtec kicks in, the locking pin moves over and locks all the rocker arms with the middle rocker which rides on the larger lobe. Currently my D17 is utilizing a home made version of vtec killer pins. I will use this same setup for the d16....vtec always locked in.
I honestly think that my main issue will be bolting two different AEM cam gears together. The D17 outer portion has to be used since this engine uses a cam positioning sensor. I ordered a jdm knock off d16 cam gear that looks just like the AEM adjustable one... i went this route since it only costs 25 bucks. If it doesn't work, then i can either send it back or modify it to fit.
To make life easier, i pulled the engine this past weekend in under 2 hours....I cut the upper radiator support and pulled everything out as a complete unit.
So USPS has issues delivering to my work....they lost 3 of 3 packages over the course of the last 2 weeks.
Reordered everything and having shipped to the house.
Everything should be in by mid next week so i can resume the experiment!
It's more like we have a new address here at work, and on our mailbox it says to put everything in a P.O. Box....
Since the delivery doesn't fall into the "figurative work description", it can be confusing for government workers...
yeah, maybe asking too much from the gov'nt workers...
sadly they are poorly paid too... now that online retailers are using USPS, hopefully better, email destroyed their business...
D17 AEM gear and godspeed D16 gear centers are very similar. The issue i ran across this weekend is the inner bolt patters are the same but the holes are different diameters...also the outer diameter of the inner mounts are a bit different.
Their a .070 difference. Not that big of a deal because there is enough material on the back of the D16 inner gear to match up. The big deal is drilling out the D16 bolt holes perfectly....I'm pondering exactly how I should approach this.
I've come to the realization that I shouldn't use the different inner gear sections. No matter how perfectly i drill the bolt holes, there is a huge chance that the gear would end up being off center...
So, after studying everything yesterday evening and drinking two glasses of wine, I've decided to use my spare A-1 head , bolt up the D16y8 cam in it, and check the amount of actual valve lift/duration. If everything looks good i'll purchase a piece of aluminum stock and use my lathe to make a D16 gear center to match up to my D17 AEM outer gear.
The other option is to purchase a D16 AEM gear....but for $100 i'm gonna pass...unless someone has an extra they want to donate.
Slowly cutting this on the lathe...
Back at trying to make this idea work.
I will be manufacturing this week a center cam gear to utilize the AEM d17 cam gear but for a d16y8 cam.
So i'm finally getting back to this little project.
I bought a Broach the other day and it was a bit too large so i had to turn it down in the lathe.
keyway cutting tool has been ordered. Needed to make sure the broach was centered in the chuck.
So I'm trying the same thing. Got specs on the stock d17 cam and specs on the y8, d17 int/exh 235/229 adv duration, 183/171@ .05 .199/.163 lift .338/.310 gross lift. Y8 vtec/exh 288/292 adv duration 218/204@ .05 .248/.204 lift .397/.367 gross lift. Imo gonna need spring kit to be safe for the extra lift. My question is will they time the same, I imagine so. And also I'm and really wanting to know how I can get the vtec to engage where I want it to
So i'm finally getting back to this little project.
I bought a Broach the other day and it was a bit too large so i had to turn it down in the lathe.
keyway cutting tool has been ordered. Needed to make sure the broach was centered in the chuck.
Good reasearch! 
