When I went to install my cam button I discovered that there wasn't room for a button. Without a gasket, the factory bump inside of the timing cover would touch the cam. I made sure the cam was seated all the way in the block and checked it again with the same results. I was using a 1/4-20 brass pan head bolt for the button so I ground the head off and ran it back (recessed) into the cover, put the cover on then ran the bolt in until it hit the cam. Then I took the cover off and sure enough, the bolt was dead even with the cover. So I guess my question is: Is this a common thing? How far is the cam from the cover normally. I set the button at approximately half the thickness of the gasket and bolted it on. Is this going to be OK? o No:
The plug at the back of the engine block may be set to far into the block causing the cam to sit to far foward. I've seen that more than once in my life. Some camshafts were offset far enough forward to affect the oil trying to pass through the front bearing / cam journal groove, also affecting the driver's side lifters.
what did I expect The plug in the back isn't in yet. Well isn't this great. I have a one-off freak of a motor :rant: I'm rapidly getting to the point where I don't care anymore. I'm just gonna put the thing in the car and see what happens.
That can be a real expensive lesson if all goes wrong. I'd wait to see if anyone else has any comments before you do that. I would think if things are already that tight, you may have problems with the meshing and long term wear of your distributor and camshaft gears. On a side note, we also use to have the front of the camshaft polished if we ran a cam stop. You won't gain any usable clearance for your present problem though. It's kind of a toss-up when it comes to running a cam stop. Some guys run high HP engines without one and never miss a beat.
Do you have the correct cam sprocket bolts in it, If they are too long, they will protrude out the rear of the camshaft fron hub and rub against the block. Jim Burek
I would also think you should have the rear cam plug set into place correctly prior to trying to set-up a cam stop. If someone comes in after the fact and installs the plug wrong, then your original settings / mock-up on the cam stop are worthless.
Cam Button Mike, if you bolt on your timing cover with gasket tighten the cover down then check if your cam still has some play back and forth (I run .010ths on my race motor) if you do then send it !!!!!! I ran my solid cam motor with no cam button and went 10.20s for years without any trouble.If its a roller cam your running then i would make sure you had around .010 to .015 clearance max. time to put this thing to bed. LATER
Yeh Jim. the sprocket bolts are correct. I checked everything to make sure the cam was seated as far back in the block as possible. You know, the lifters seem to be riding on the lobes properly and if the cam can't walk out then I should be OK right? The motor is in my friend's tiny garage and he's moving so I have to get it out of there and into the car. When I go to get it, once its off the stand, I'll check the cam movement from the back (that is how you do it right?) for the .010-.015 clearence and I'll take measurements to make sure the rear plug doesn't go in too far. After that o No: I've had so many problems just trying to put this car together that it just isn't any fun anymore. Thanks for your input guys
