T214 cam location

[awddouglas]

Hi,

Block fully stripped (getting the water distribution tube out was fun - totally corroded), cleaned (remarkable amount of casting debris inside the water jacket), re-lined to standard, new pistons, valves and cam. Crank polished and refitted with new bearings all round







Am working with a friend who owns a classic car garage to reassemble the engine. I have rebuilt many cars over the years but have never rebuilt an engine - or should i be more specific, i have never rebuilt an engine that ran after i had rebuilt it. So using my friend's superior knowledge and guidance, i am doing the WC58 engine in full.

He has expressed some surprise about the cam fitting. The sprocket is only a press-fit on the cam with a key way and there is nothing on the rear block bearing so other than the press-fit, there is nothing to stop the cam moving in and out. So in theory, the cam sprocket could move out of alignment with the crank sprocket.

I cant see anything in the manual that indicates anything to stop the lateral movement of the cam other than the sprocket would most likely stop any movement rearwards. We have loctite'd the cam sprocket to the end of the cam.

Are we missing something or was this 'free floating' cam/sprocket arrangement the correct factory set up.

Thanks

[dpcd67]

Cam Shaft Thrust plate; page 13 of your SNL9-G507. And in your Power Plant TM, 9-1808A. You must study these publications daily. Page 92 Figure 63.
I do. Every day.

[awddouglas]

Thanks, i think you are referring to the cam sprocket thrust plate that bolts to the front face of the block?? In which case, i guess that does the job as long as the sprocket doesnt move on the cam.......

Needless to say, that was fitted before the sprocket was loctite to the cam.... with the appropriate clearances

[dpcd67]

No I am referring to the CamShaft Thrust Plate; There is nothing called the cam Sprocket Thrust Plate; we should all just use the terms from the TMs. I am not sure what issue you are referring to. The cam is held in place by that plate. The hub is pressed onto the shaft. The Sprocket bolts onto that. Why Loc Tite the sprocket on? It has three bolts.
No part of it is free floating. If your cam sprocket hub is loose, that is a problem. I have never seen a loose one.

[awddouglas]

My powerplant manual is in the workshop so i am using TM-1530, October 1 1942 revision and SNL 9 parts manual. In both of these:

Part 600786: Plate, thrust camshaft sprocket hub. This is the 2 bolt plate that bolts to the front of the block - the hole in it for the cam front to fit through is smaller than the front main bearing face so that stops the cam moving forward.

Part 869998 : hub, engine camshaft sprocket. This is the 3 bolt fitting you are referring to. It is bolted to the sprocket but then is simply a press fit onto the nose of the cam. The keyway stops the sprocket spinning on the cam but typically, you would expect the cam and sprocket to be bolted together as well. This isnt. Only the hub is bolted to the cam but the hub is interference fit on the cam itself. So in theory, the cam could back off out of the sprocket causing a misalignment of the cam sprocket and the crank sprocket.

The loctite is on the hub and cam nose to prevent this ever happening. I dont think i was clear about that before.

Am guessing that in practice, sprocket movement just doesnt happen but I wanted to make sure i wasnt missing anything obvious in the reassembly.

But thanks for the references, i think i am good on this now, I havent lost any bits!

[dpcd67]

TM 1530 is for an aiming circle. I am using TM9-1808A dated 3 Sep 43.
But, yes, nothing but friction holds the cam sprocket hub on, but if one was loose I would not use it.
I've done a lot of flathead Dodges and they are all like this.