whitez28133

Swapping out the cam today and found from what i can see the front cam bearing is wasted. any suggestions? can i do bearings with motor in car? is it common for the front one to go?

wrd1972

iTrader: (12)

Same exact thing happened to me, fron bearing was toast:


With a little creativity, you can replace the front bearing only. Impossible to do the rest which are most likely trash too. You can put the cam in and roll the dice, or pull the motor and rebuild.

whitez28133

how many miles was that at and what did you do?

96capricemgr

iTrader: (1)

The front bearing tends to wear more because it sees extra load from to the waterpump drive.

wrd1972

iTrader: (12)

65K miles.
Rebuilt the motor.
See signiture.
Mo faster now.

BigZee71

iTrader: (5)

I just did a cam swap on my 93 Z (122k) and my front bearing looked the same. I was worried at first but decided to go with it. The car still has 40psi at 210* at idle.

Fixxer99TA

iTrader: (5)

All that bearing is going to do is destroy the new cam you put in, I would pay close attention to any odd noises you might hear in the near future.

If I pulled my cam and my front bearing looked that bad, I would be pulling it out for a rebuild (more than likely a stroker).

TwoFast4Lv

iTrader: (8)

We seem to always have to replace the front cam bearing on LT1 cars. Even the fairly low mile ones

Counted Out

iTrader: (6)

Reading all of this makes my nervous.

The motor was rebuilt about ~10k ago according to the previous owner though - we will see.

Fixxer99TA

iTrader: (5)

You should be alright, unless your bearing looks like the one in the picture too

BlackScreaminMachine

iTrader: (17)

If #1 is worn, the rest are too. You just cant see them. I would do this, pull the motor to refreshen or suck it up and slug the cam in there, worse comes to worse, you gotta rebuild again.

whitez28133

used a bore scope today and the only one messed up is the front one, slapping a new one in and finishing the swap this weekend!

Fixxer99TA

iTrader: (5)

Cool stuff, good for you that you caught it before it did more damage. And yes the front one is MUCH more prone to wear than any other, but most engines are the same way.

Be sure to post back your reactions when you fire that mother up

96capricemgr

iTrader: (1)

Ellis and I are in agreement that the front one is wear prone, I explained it by pointing out the additional load it sees from the WP drive.

If Ellis and I agree on something the debate should pretty much end there because you have the right answer already.

JoeliusZ28

iTrader: (2)

man i feel like an idiot i didnt even really check mine, but I would have noticed if it was worn bad. Just put a cam in a 90K mile motor and its been fine so far.

whitez28133

Fired it up on Tuesday and oh man was i impressed, sounds great not too choppy and has a great power characteristic all the way through! Bryan Herter is a great tuner, PCMforLess, Very satisfied. Got one problem the starter is seeming to get lazy at a hot start any thoughs, i think the starter is on its way out just kinda want some other opinions. Thanks again!!!

TwoFast4Lv

iTrader: (8)

LOL! We actually agree on more then meets the eye