Cam Bearing removal

[460_fan]

Is there an easy way to remove and install cam bearings in a ford big block? From Everything I have read, it takes a verry expensive special tool. What do most of you guys do to get new bearings in? Machine shops I assume can do it no problem, but I don't have a decent machine shop hear that has the know-how to do that sort of thing. Is there a cost effective way a do-it-yourselfer can get this done, or would I need to spend the $700 on the special tool?

[Dave Severson]

Cam bearings must be installed with the correct tool. It's not just a matter of getting the bearing in the bore, but also the correct bearing in the correct hole and getting the orientation correct on the oil holes.

[460_fan]

So, just suck it up and buy the right tool? Seems expensive for the guy that doesn't plan to do rebuilds on a regular basis.

[viking]

Not to expensive, only $70.00


http://store.summitracing.com/partde...=KeywordSearch

[460_fan]

Thanks for that link, that is alot cheaper than the one Napa lists. Looks like it is the same thing.

[460_fan]

Originally posted by viking
Not to expensive, only $70.00


http://store.summitracing.com/partde...=KeywordSearch

Only problem, this is for chevy, I need one for Ford BBs

[techinspector1]

"Is there a cost effective way a do-it-yourselfer can get this done"

If I lived in Ketchican and didn't have a shop nearby that could do this for me, I'd go online and buy a 3' length of 3/4" o.d. allthread, several large diameter thick flat washers and a couple of nuts to match. I'd thread one of the nuts almost all the way onto one end, leaving a little "cup" to lay a bead of weld into to weld the nut to the allthread. I'd find a local with a lathe who could make a fixture for me to push the cam bearings out and in. It should be about 3/4" thick and just slightly smaller than the cam bearing bores in the block, so it will slide through the bores but still be large enough o.d. to bear on the bearings and push them into the bearing bores. Drill a 3/4" hole in the middle so it can slide back and forth on the 3/4" allthread. I'm not sure if the Ford bearings are different o.d.'s from the front to the rear of the block or not. You'll have to measure and see or maybe someone on here knows. If there is quite a lot of difference, you may have to make different sized pushers to different size bearings so that they will just barely clear the bore and push mainly on the full bearing sides without distorting them.

Have a buddy hold a wrench on the nut that was welded onto the end of the shaft with a couple of large washers up against the back of the block while you turn the other nut inside the motor to wedge the old bearings out and the new ones in.

I hope that at least some of this makes sense. I can visualize it clearly, I'm just not very good at explaining it.

[viking]

Sorry bout that, had chebys on the brain, heres a universal one, for $169.00


http://store.summitracing.com/partde...=KeywordSearch

[viking]

Sold for $64.00