cam bearing problem help me please !!!!

[DAN-THE-MAN]

i just took out the camshaft in my 440 and the middle cam bearing has a fingernail thick groove going across it from the front to the back of the motor the rest are fine can i put a new cam in and not worry about oil pressure please help me !!1

[Lee Pritchard]

just change the one bearing..any shop can to it.. or buy a cam bearing tool and do it yourself.. did it have low oil pressure before with the other cam?? if not don't worry about it...Lee.

[DAN-THE-MAN]

does anyone know how much a cam bearing tool costs and how hard it is to use

[300guy]

You know, back in my high school shop days I came accross the same type of thing as you are while rebuilding a ford 6 banger, and I asked the teacher about it. He told me that as long as no burrs are on the bearing/s you can use that bearing again.
His theroy is and it kinda makes sense is that with the grove in there that acts as a well for oil to accumulate and acts as a oil grove like on a crank bearing. How this theroy would apply with a cam change, I dont know, but the void would fill with oil and not really cause a problem. Good Luck

[DAN-THE-MAN]

unfortanatley the groove is not going with the circular motion of the bearing it is lenght wise of the motor

[biggerhammer]

change the bearing! because of the longitudinal run of that grove, you will ruin that cam and maybe the whole engin, the oil will take the path of least resistance and deprive your cam journal of oil. resulting in possibly a spun cam bearing, thereby ruining the cam and possibly the block as well, a whole set of bearings can be bought cheaply, so change them all while your at it.
best of luck, Phill (biggerhammer)