OK I just put a new cam in. It's a crane hydrolic lift cam. I dropped the distibuter in tonight. My question is when I turn the rotor a little it pushes the cam far enough up to hit the timing chain cover, is this normal? I don't have the rocker arms on so there's no actual load on any of the lobes. I put everything back in that came out also. This is my first cam swap :lala: so I figured I'd ask

thanks in advance

 

There's a slight angle on the cam lobes which forces the cam toward the back of the motor. An exception to this are roller camshafts which require a thrust button. Some put thrust buttons on regular cams for some 'extra' security but this is not required.

 

Did replace the timing chain? Like already mentioned, flat tappet cams are ground so the lifters keep the camshaft in place. Turning the rotor with no lifters in place could cause the camshaft to move forward or backward but I'd think a new chain would have enough resistance to keep it from hitting, maybe not though.

 

Thanks guys. No I didn't replace the timing set, but it only has like 10K on it. It's a double roller and didn't appear to be streached at all so I figured it would be ok. I'll see what happens when I get the rocker arms tightened down so there's some pressure on the lifters

 

It'll be fine if it only has 10000 miles on it. Hardly even broke in