I putting in my timing chain in my early model block...so of course its all retro fitted with a retro fit cam......I got the comp timing chain and the summit 2 piece billet timing chain cover which is just like the 2 piece comp cover..

so my question is how do I put the cam locking plate and cam button on? Ive never done one with a button..what keeps the cam from walking once I get the cover on?


thanks!

 

You put the cam bolt locking plate on; then you put the cam button in (it just kind of sits there); then you out the timing cover on; then you check the cam end play. Adjust the cam button as necessary to get the end play to the .005" - .020" sort of range.

The cam button prevents "cam walk". That's its job. Its only job. If it wasn't for doing that, you wouldn't need it.

 

I'll have to wait and find someone to show me...i got shims and dont know what to do with them...how do you check end play....the button will not just sit there on the locking plate..

if my freaking camera was working I would show ya...

 

You don't have to; trust me on that. I know EXACTLY what it all looks like.

There's nothing "holding in" the cam button, it just can't fall out, once the timing cover is put on.

Put the timing gear on, with the lock plate on the bolts. Put the cam button in the center of the cam, if necessary stick it in there with some heavy NON-FIBER grease (white lithium, blue grease, Mobil 1, etc.). Put the timing cover on, with the gasket but without sealer. Move the cam back and forth with a screwdriver or something and see how far it moves. Add or remove shims until you get the cam end play into the .005" - .020" range, about .008" - .010" is ideal.

That's all there is to it. I think you're trying to outsmart yourself some kind of way although I can't imagine how. It's so simple, maybe you're expecting something more complicated? I don't know.

 

You're using the round plate that came with the cover? It's not a locking plate for the cam bolts like sofakingdom is describing, it's supposed to retain the cam button. Put the cam button into the center of the sprocket, then put the plate on, and then bolt the sprocket to the cam.

 

this is what Im using.....you can see the plate and the button...


heres what I did...I put the plate on the cam.....put the timing gear on and then slide the button in the hole on the gear...with the bigger end towards the cam....that plate does nothing...it just seems like its a spacer...what about bending the tabs?


maybe it is easier than what Im making it out to be ...I just want to do it right....if I had to shim it where would I put the shims? and what is .005" - .020" range? how would I measure it when the cover is on?

 

Ok, that's not the kit I was thinking of. That is sofakingdom's locking plate. Once you get everything installed the way you want it, the tabs bend up to keep the cam bolts from backing out.

The shims go behind the cam buttom between it and the sprocket. You measure the end play with a dial indicator through the pipe plug in the center of the cover above the crank.

 

does the locking plate go against the cam or put the timing gear on and then the button and then the plate?..the plate actually holds the button in....cause that would be the only way to get to the tabs.

 

The lock plate goes on after the sprocket. If the hole is too small to put the button in afterwards, put it on before the plate.

 

oK!...im following you...that looks more like it.......then if I need to shim it...I take the plate off and put the shims behind the button? correct?

 

Yes, you don't even need the plate in place to check the clearance.

 

ok...well then Im at a stand still cause I dont have a dial indicator.....

 

Calipers? Depth Gauge? It's not a critical measurement, you could probably even eyeball it and get it in the ballpark.

 

heres another question...when I tighten down the cam bolts...is it normal for the cam to get pulled into that indention that is on the back of the sprocket?
the sprocket is tight against the block so when I tighten the bolts it pulls the cam out somwhat..
normal?

 

Yes

 

does it matter how many shims I use to get the play correct? Ive already used all the shims that come in the kit which adds up to .055 on my caliper, I think..and I also have a depth gauge but I dont know how to read it...I need to take the measurements to work and let them tell me how much play it comes out to...

If I need to use more shims will that be ok?

Someone at work told me that the timing chain and dizzy will keep it from walking to much...is he right? So I may be alright at where Im at..

 

The distributor tends to pull the cam into the block; which of course locates it positively, by the cam gear being up against the thrust surface on the front of the block. The oil pump provides most of this force. A dry-sump system with a belt drive oil pump needs more attention to all of this, as a result (since there's so much less force holding the cam stationary...).

The timing chain helps, but isn't an absolute sort of thing like the gear running into the front of the block.

Think about a flat-tappet cam, either solid or hydraulic. There's ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WHATSOEVER holding the cam from moving forward and rubbing against the timing cover, except for the force of the oil pump, and the force generated by the lifters' concave surface acting against the sloped surface of the cam lobes. Yet, they work fine; miliions and millions of engines, over periods of multiple decades, from dozens of mfrs, in countless kinds of service. I've taken apart untold numbers of junk motors and seen only a couple of minor scratches, and sometimes none at all, from the cam bolts hitting the TC. And, I suspect that even those few scratches that I might sometimes see, occurred during the final few milliseconds of the motor's previous life, just as it smacked into oncoming traffic or whatever; because they're ALMOST ALWAYS fresh and brand-new and un-crudded from the funk of a hundred thousand miles of Quaker State.

Yes you can add more shims. A better approach though, might be to use a thinner timing cover gasket (or none at all). Or, smash the front of the timing cover in or out as required (a common method of rough-setting the end play, with a stock type of sheet-metal cover).

.015" is about the thickness of a business card. .005" is about the thickness of a sheet of typical copy paper. You want to get your cam end play somewhere into that sort of range. It's really not all that critical, for a street motor with a distributor-driven oil pump.

 

what about a so called wear plate behind the cam gear? Im thinking then the cam gear and the crank gear wont be even (in line with eachother) if I use a wear plate...

I got .055 shims left..in different increments..so I may just use them

with the shims in behind the the button, it is pulling the locking plate off the gear...but it should be fine after I bend the tabs over..correct?

 

With the timing cover bolted on, how far can you slide the cam front-to-rear?

 

OK its cool...i got it to within .006 and .008...so Im good to go...I went and ahead and installed the crank gear and timing chain and buttoned it up....so now Im just waitin on my heads.

thanks for all the help guys...we'll get this engine done in no time..I hope