Camshaft


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By lowrider - 16 Years Ago
Hey guys, a couple questions on camshafts. While chasing down a poor running condtion on my 57 Ford 292, I removed the front cover thinking it might be off a tooth even though it only looked off 2 degrees. What I found was worse. As I turned the engine over, you could watch the cam gear move in and out over a quarter inch. Its been almost 40 yrs since Ive worked on one of these, but I think I see the problem. After taking the cam gear off, I found 2 spacers behind the gear, which thru the gear alignment off. If you assemble it with just 1 spacer the gears line up. I dont have a book on this, does it take just 1 spacer? Of course it wiped out the cam, which leads to my second question. The cam card that came with the car says its a CompCam. Im an old school guy and not familiar with some of the specs. We used to call a cam a 3/4 or full race cam. Here are the specs:

                                        intake                  exhaust                                                                                         

gross valve lift                      .528                     .536                                                                                            duration @ .020 tappet lift       264                  268                                                         

By simplyconnected - 16 Years Ago
Three things keep the cam in spec's: The cam timing sprocket, the thrust plate, and the spacer that holds the sprocket tight against the cam but away from the thrust plate.  In short, your cam and sprocket 'float' between the thrust plate with .003"-.007" endplay.

Torque limits in ft/lbs:

Thrust plate bolts - 12-15
Camshaft bolt - 35-45

By lowrider - 16 Years Ago
Thanks for the reply. I've got it fixed. I just need to get a new camshaft to replace the one that was destroyed with the spacers put in the wrong position.