[DeTomaso] BBORR engine fix

[JDeRyke at aol.com]

MIke, unless one or more cast iron cam bearing supports were cracked or 
visibly distorted, I see no reason to replace the block (from my chair 2000 
miles away!) Replacing cam bearings is tricky; Ford reportedly honed the 351C 
bearings after installation. If you have a shop do it, they charge high 
'cause in a Cleveland, all 5 bearings are different sizes, requiring 5 separate 
set-ups.

The simple work-around is, you install new cam bearings in all 5 bores. 
Then take your new cam, oil up the journals, and try it. If it goes in place 
and can be rotated by hand, fine. 

If not, take a junk cam (with 5 journals!) and cut shallow slots across the 
interfering journals (they'll be the one that won't easily go in) with a 
hacksaw. Make sure the slots have sharp edges. Oil up the journals again and 
slowly twist the cam into the new bearings with a pipe wrench or giant 
Channel-lock pliers. The hacksaw slots act like cutting tools, shaving a tiny bit 
of bearing material from the too-tight areas. After a good clean-up, you're 
done 'honing' your new bearings. FWIW, this is a $200 job at some shops, but 
done my way, it takes about 15 minutes in your garage at zero cost.... I 
did this to our present engine some 20 years ago, and it still holds good oil 
pressure.

While the old cam bearings are out, take time to run a corectly-sized drill 
bit up ALL the cam bearing oil holes; I usually find at least one that's 
absolutely full of hard varnish so that bearing isn't getting oil. And be 
careful installing the #1 bearing: it has TWO oil holes- the side hole (which 
may also be plugged up) oils the distributor drive gear. If you don't have a 
destroy-able cam, junkyards give away 351M or 400M truck cams free, and they 
work for this purpose just fine. 

Finally, if you removed it or it's loose, replace the freeze plug at the 
back of the cam bores. This is also a little tricky 'cause its driven in 
backwards and if you hit the plug in the middle very hard to seat it, this slacks 
off the holding power of the plug and it'll leak. Tap only on the extreme 
edges with a large socket or a small punch! Some guys coat this freeze plug 
with epoxy or RTV, but the factory drove them in dry- and so do I. Good luck- 
J Deryke


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