Which of the new Y block cams being offered these days have a sufficient oil groove and which brand(s) need a little improvement??????????????  Isky,etc.......your thoughts and opinions please.

  Thanks

  Missouri Mike

Now correct me if I'm wrong. The cam groove is not too important if the center cam bearing is grooved so all three holes are connected and of course the cam bearing must be properly aligned when installed.

Comments and/or oservations please.

Regards

Mo Mike

Mike.  Not sure if you read the oiling modification correctly as you mention modifying the cam bearing and not the cam bearing hole.  The oiling fix is to put a groove in the center cam bearing bore hole within the block so that all three oiling holes located there are interconnected.  The cam bearing then fits over this and allows the oil to go to the topend of the engine without having to use the groove in the camshaft journal itself for the same purpose.

    Thanks

    Mo Mike

The mechanical process involved is simply oil pressure.  With the new groove placed in the block at the center cam bearing bore hole, pressure from the pump allows oil to be pushed to the topend without having to take the factory’s more complicated path of going through the bearing, around the camshaft, and back through the bearing again before allowing the oil flow to continue to the topend of the engine.  Spinning of the camshaft is not a player although any back and forth movement of it can be a restriction in regards to the camshaft groove becoming misaligned with the oil holes in the bearing itself on a stock and unmodified setup.

A detailed article on the grooving process is expected to be in the Y-Block Magazine (issue #92, May-Jun 2009).  But the short version is that there are several different methods in which to do this but for the person not doing but one or two in their lifetime, then a 1¼” diameter cutting disk on a 90° angle head die grinder will allow the groove to be cut into the block.  A steady hand and a mirror will facilitate doing it this way.  For myself, I’ve built a jig that greatly simplifies the operation and makes it much more exact.  Pics will be in the magazine article.

I do perform a similar modification on the Ford 427 sideoiler engines as they also suffer a similar cam bearing wear or misalignment issue against the groove of the camshaft in the #2 and #4 journals on those particular engines.