I pulled out my cam today and it looks no good. bearing is half nice and smooth, other half seems to be eaten away a little and one spot has gone to the gold color. Any suggs?

 

I say why bother just replacing them either way you gotta pull out the motor so while your at it you might as well "check and rebuild" everything

If the bearings have worn down to the copper you got some issues dont even think about putting the motor back together without new bearings .....if that silly idea crossed your mind in the first place

 

How much to do a basic rebuild?

 

to me the big expense is at the machine shop, if you can do the cleaning, freeze plugs, cam bearings, hone it. and don't need it bored you'll save a good bit. basic bearings, rings, gaskets, pistons, oil pump, and timing chain ought to be around 500 dollars. i wouldn't replace cam bearings without taking it down to a bare block and cleaning it good. if you're unsure of your abilities it should be hard to find someone in your area to watch over you and give you a few pointers, or ask here for help

 

If this is the block where the pistons are disintegrating, you need to rebuild the motor. Changing cam bearings is definitely part of that.

I have my own cam bearing tool. I ALWAYS remove them before I take a block to the machine shop for cleaning. The reason is, they often are lazy, and leave them in when they vat the block, and wait for the vat to eat them; so the grooves behind them don't get cleaned vewry thoroughly. I specify that the block be delivered back to me without cam bearings or any plugs of any kind in it anywhere, so that I can drill oil passages if necessary, tap the ones around the cam sprocket for pipe plugs, etc.; then I take it to the quarter car wash and use diesel fuel and rifle brushes in all the passages, and a toothbrush-type wire brush in the grooves behind the cam bearings, to make sure there's no schmutz in there that has nowhere in the world to go except right straight into the bearings the first time the engine starts, and wash the hell out of it to get rid of all that and any honing grit left in the bores. Then when it's dry I put the cam bearings in myself, and all the plugs, including the ½" diameter one that goes under the rear main cap (often forgotten and left out).

Dirt is the enemy, especially in the oil passages, and most especially the ones behind the cam bearings. It really sucks to build a motor and have it immediately eat itself because it was dirty. Ruins your whole day, and maybe even part of the next.

I think you can "rent" a cam bearing tool at Auto Zone and such places.

 

rb:

where did you get your cam bearing installation tool? i know proform makes one specifically for the small block chevy, but dunno of its quality.

also, using the tool, how hard is it to actually install the bearings? i would presume the hardest thing is making sure they're aligned properly?

 

if Rb doesn't mind i'll answer for him ,snap on but there are several that basically look and function the same. lisle, kd, k line, and several others all make good tools

 

Mine is a Snap-On...

It has a long handle that fits through a plastic cone that sits in a bearing bore; so to put in the rear couple of them you put the tool in the front of the block, and to do the front ones you put the tool in the rear of the block. Piece of cake.

 

nah, i'll take advice from either of you guys...

how much am i looking for such a tool? i'm presuming at least $150?

 

robert look on e bay, nothing wrong with a used one figure around 100 dollars, new is 205 in my year old price list

 

ed... thanks a bunch bud, i didn't even think to check on ebay.....

 

Hey guys, I just read this whole thread about the rebuilding deal, and I got a couple of questions related to it:
- My engine is a 350 with well mantained 97k miles on it.
- I'm going to put AFR 190cc heads on soon, and a LPE cam, fully ported TPI intake with SLP runners, and SLP headers.
Now, Should I rebuild the block?
If I do, would it be good to put just the new bearings, freeze plugs, rings, timing chain, and gaskets? Instead of having it measured, honed, and balanced?
How much would a machine shop charge for measuring and honing?

 

lol i am exactly where you are with 81K. I have decided to rebuild it. I am using the stock crank, eagle rods, and speed pro pistons. My bore is still fine so i am just getting the block tanked new cam bearings, plugs and reinstalling it. I pulled the rods tongiht and the bearings still looked "ok" I mean i had a few marks here and there and probebly didnt need to rebuild it, but since I am reduing stuff I might as well get this out of the way.

Cheapest I got for a machine shop was 265 out the door and that including decking the block to clean

 

But if I take everything off, and crank, pistons, rods, and cylinders look fine, should I still have to have it measured, honed and cleaned up? or just cleaning everything deeply and new rebuild kit would be just fine?

 

With that many miles I'd get it hot tanked to clean everything, honed, not bored and new cam bearings.

 

looks don't mean much as far as cylinder wear goes have it measured taper and out of round are measured in a few thousandths of an inch