ok i got a rebuild 3.1l long block sitting in my garage and im trying to remove the stock cam but it wont come out. It spins freely and will slide out about a quarter of an inch. I have 3 bolts on the cam that im using as a handle and i just about put my full weight on pulling this out and it wont budge. Theres no distributor in or timing gears. its just the bare short block. Is there some snap ring im missing somewhere or something

 

Did you take the lifters out?

 

Did you remove the lifters?

 

all of the lifters are out.

 

Tried turning the crank?

 

ok i yanked on it some more. slid it back and forth and it still wouldn't budge. So i removed the back plate and it wouldn't slide out that way either. At this point im getting annoyed by this. So i sliding it back and forth as hard as i can and its still stuck. So i broke out the mallet and used a rod and hit the back of the cam about 3 times and it finally slid forward out of the bearing. when it slid off the bearings it scared them up pretty good so thankfully this engine it out of the car. I'm guessing that the clearances where really tight maybe one of the bearings where installed wrong or something. I can get new bearings for around $20 or $30 so no big deal.

 

If the clearances were that tight the cam wouldn't have turned.

 

I like your method, hit it till it breaks, and if it breaks it needed replacing anyways