[DeTomaso] Front Cam Bearing

JDeRyke at aol.com JDeRyke at aol.com
Fri Feb 4 14:57:31 EST 2011


In a message dated 2/4/11 10:05:48 AM, chance.dorsey at yahoo.com writes:

> Does the .003 to .005 space create a restriction to the amount of oil 
> that goes between the bearing and the face of the thrust bearing?
> 
No- the thrust plate surface gets oiled by whatever leakage goes fwd 
between the #1 bearing & cam journal. On the right side of the #1 cam bearing bore 
is a tiny 'scallop' in the casting that leads to a small drilled passage 
for oiling the base of distributor drive gear where it touches the block. If 
you set the #1 bearing flush with the outside, this  passage is effectively 
covered and little or no oil goes to the gear interface. Ford says 0.003" but 
anything up to about 0.010" works fine. 
The other thing of course, is to have the main camshaft oil feed hole up 
from the crank clear, as well as the side passage to the cam gear where it 
intersects the distributor drive gear. The block oil passages are 2-3X larger 
than the holes in the cam bearings, so there's some variance possible. Years 
ago I traced out all this and published an 'oiling map' of the unbelievably 
complex oiling system in the standard 351-C block, that showed all the feeds 
and passages. But I neglected to specify the #1 bearing set-back amount. 
Its also pretty easy to install or adjust the bearing positions by using a 
mandrel sized for each bearing, with a threaded hole and a long threaded rod 
that runs to the back (or front) of the block. By progressively tightening 
a nut on the rod against a washer across the block, the bearing can be 
slowly pulled into place. Much more precise than trying to calibrate hammer blows 
driving the bearing in place. 
Machinests don't like fooling with 351-C cam bearings 'cause all 5 are 
different sizes, meaning you need 5 different mandrels to install them, and 5 
different set-ups if a few need honing after installation of new ones. But 
your #1 bearing should be OK as is. Good luck- J DeRyke



More information about the DeTomaso mailing list