I was removing my cam to replace it and damaged the front bearing with the distributer gear. The other bearings are fine. Is there a way to remove the bearing out the front? The chevy manual says drive it towards the center of the block and put in back in the same way. I sure hate to pull the motor but if I have to- oh well...
JW

 

A quick and dirty method would be to tie a string or wire through the bearing and front opening in the lifter valley. Start the wire through the drain in the lifter valley and catch it through the front cam bearing with needlenosed pliers. Tie it off in a loose loop to retain the bearing shell and prevent it from falling into the crank area. Carefully drive the bearing back into the block with a suitable punch, walking the bearing out by tapping at various places around the perimeter. Be careful to avoid damage to the bearing bore, or you WILL be pulling the engine for machining.

Once the bearing is driven back out of its bore, the wire should be holding it. You can grab the shell with a small pair of pliers and pull it through. You may have to flatten the shell slightly to provide clearance.

The new shell can be driven in with a suitable drift. Be sure to align the oil hole(s) correctly before installing it.

 

I used the string trick and it worked perfectly-thank you. I have no damage so I am good to go.

Question
I checked the location of the holes before I moved the bearing. The top hole was at 12:00, the bottom hole was at 5:00. My GM service manual states " to position the holes an equal distance from the 6:00 position". That tells me that one hole should be at 9:00 and the other at 3:00. Mine wasn't like that, did it slip who knows when, was it initially installed wrong by who knows who, or am I not understanding directions?
JW

 

i'd put it back the way it was. i'd also not removed it, i can't see how it could of been damaged that much. usually you can scrape a burr or nick with a pocket knife to make a cam bearing usable again. make sure you use the correct bearing for the position you took the bearing from, they're not all the same.

 

I have my new bearing and the #1 is clearly coded. I would sure think that installing the bearing back exactly as it came out would be best. Still concerned though since my manual doesn't say to do that on #1.
JW

 

Well i installed the bearing exactly as it was and we shall see. I feel comfortable with it. The cam went in smoothly and rotates nice.
Thanks again everyone-maybe some day I will get good enough with one of these Camaros to help one of you all out on something.
JW