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-   -   440 - r&r Camshaft bearings ?? (http://www.moparchat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=89975)

Robb/AZ 04-10-2005 10:11 PM

440 - r&r Camshaft bearings ??
 
Anyway to do this without removing the rotating assembly ?

No mention of doing the camshaft bearings in the HTRBBME book.

I have a '78 440 from a motorhome that is on the engine stand torn down to the shortblock and I dont want to take it to a machine shop.

The 440 is low mileage and other than the camshaft bearings its in good clean shape. All Im doing is Slipping in a mild camshaft, painting it orange and running it in a e-body till I can afford to do a complete and proper rebuild when it gives out or I get bored later on down the road

I have seen some special tools on the net for $170-$300, but none for rent locally. Im not spending that much on a one time use tool
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Anything I can do to remove and replace those cam bearings, besides take it to the Machine shop ???


thanks

pishta 04-10-2005 11:49 PM

Yeah, pull the cam out. You are going to have to rent or buy (or make!) a tool that will pull the bearing shells out and drive them in. It usually consists of a series of sized dies that fit into the cam bearing shells and are stepped on one side to allow the pulling rod to pull them out, the same dies are used to pull the new ones in. The rod is threaded and is used to draw in the new bearings from the front or back through the freeze plug. Shop can do it but you stated you wanted to try it yourself. Why are you changing the cam bearings, do you know they are bad? what did the old cam look like?

dave571 04-11-2005 12:41 AM

Simply don't change them.

The only time they require changing is if they are visably damaged, or you have hot tanked the motor.

If you are just patching the motor together, don't wory about it.

If you really want to change them, that's no problem. Just pay a shop or buy the tool.

Robb/AZ 04-11-2005 12:50 AM

Thanks for the input, Im crunching the numbers on what makes the most sense to do.

They need changing. heres the pics, let me know what you think.
The cam though looked great ?

3 are fine looking but 2 of them look like this.... bearing #s 3 and 4


http://members.cox.net/robb2/440cambr1.jpg


http://members.cox.net/robb2/440cambr2.jpg


http://members.cox.net/robb2/440cambr3.jpg

dwc43 04-11-2005 12:52 AM

Well, there's your oil pressure problem. looks like I called that one. Sorry to see it though. Better get that tool and get to work. Most tools can be rented from Autozone if you have one nearby. Some rental stores have them too. :cool:

Robb/AZ 04-11-2005 12:59 AM

Ill try the rental places tomorrow, let my fingers do the walking.

I never ran this motor, I just took it all the way down to the shortblock to swap the cam and put fresh gaskets in it. Have no idea if there was an oil problem or not, but I can guess that it might have.

Thanks again.

dwc43 04-11-2005 07:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robb/AZ
I never ran this motor, I just took it all the way down to the shortblock to swap the cam and put fresh gaskets in it. Have no idea if there was an oil problem or not, but I can guess that it might have.

Thanks again.

Sorry about that. I confused it with another thread where the engine in question had been over reved for a few seconds and lost pressure. :wow:

creative1 04-11-2005 03:33 PM

that was mine, dwc, and you were right about the cam bearing. none spun, but #1 cam bearing lost all of the babbit in it, leaving right around .045" oil clearance (probably .060" where the groove used to be). this also led to the wiping out of all of the crankshaft bearings.

as for pulling the cam bearings without removing the crank, i dont think it can be done. the #1 bearing can be replaced without dropping the crank, the rest i dont know about, but i think that you cant get the tools into place. if it can be done, it will take a lot of painstaking and patient work with the proper tool. then you would have to hope that you could get the old bearings past the crank. installing the new bearings wouldnt be that hard... just work from the back of the block and do #5 first, then #4, 3, 2, and 1. #5 is the smallest bearing, and #1 is the largest. they step down in size from front to back.

i tried two different machine shops here. they would rather work on chevy's i guess. they told me they wouldnt even look at it if the heads and pistons were still installed, even if the pistons were pushed to the top of the hole.

good luck. i wish i had better news, but i dont. at least the heads are already off, so getting the pistons out wont be a problem.

TK 04-11-2005 05:58 PM

dang! all i can say is this must be 440 cam bearing week :shrug:

Robb/AZ 04-11-2005 08:33 PM

Thanks guys for the input on this


Im bummed out about it. Im just gonna button it all back up, and do something with it (500 Stroker build up :king: ?) next Summer or whatever, and just keep running the 383 thats in the car now.

If I take it to the machine shop, its gonna "snowball" into a rebuild. I dont "need" this motor right now, it was a nice to have and bit of a gamble. Im still ahead on it even if its all just for cores.

pishta 04-12-2005 12:44 AM

You just need to replace 2? Its not that hard to make a tool. get yourself a stout metal rod and thread a hole in the end. Get your 2 bearings and take them to a machine shop and have them lathe a "die" about 2 inches thick that the bearing shell will just fit over and seat on a step. drill a hole in the middle. put the bare bar through the cam galley and bolt the die onto the bar, seat it and hammer out the old bearings. Reverse it and drive in the new ones. Use plenty of moly lube and maybe chamfer the leading edge of the bearing so it doesnt bind going in. Might cost you 30 bucks in tooling plus the bearings. The professional tools do the same thing but may use threads to pull the new bearings in.

Robb/AZ 04-12-2005 01:22 AM

INTERESTING !

I havent had the guts to look at the Crank or Rod bearings yet. "Head in sand syndrome". :crying: Im afraid Ill find what Creative1 did.

Ill take some apart (what do I got to lose right ? :angel: ) and see what they look like. So far the rest of the motor looks really good, I was totally shocked these cam bearings look like this.

If i used stout "ready rod" coated with fuel line for the bulk of the length I could probably use the "slow tightening to draw it in" method like the real tools do.

someone somewhere suggested maybe Delrin (Realy hard plastic that you can mill) as a material to use making the fitting and removal stepped blocks


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