Posted By: cougar_cat_25
New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 04/22/14 01:27 AM
I've heard of tight or misaligned bearings but is 24 ft lbs too much torque too turn a 440 cam?
New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam.
Posted By: Dunnuck Racing
Re: New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 04/22/14 01:34 AM
Sounds like the cam bores are not sized or in line correctly. Not uncommon at all to need to hone the cam bores and/ or scrape bearings. Better to fix it now then after you tear something up.
Keith
Keith
Posted By: 69charger440_6pa
Re: New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 04/22/14 02:09 AM
Quote:
Sounds like the cam bores are not sized or in line correctly. Not uncommon at all to need to hone the cam bores and/ or scrape bearings. Better to fix it now then after you tear something up.
Keith
Agreed, something is off.
Posted By: Sport440
Re: New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 04/22/14 02:19 AM
Quote:
I've heard of tight or misaligned bearings but is 24 ft lbs too much torque too turn a 440 cam?
Absolutely to tight. But guess what, Very common with new bearings. The common fix is to scrape the high spots off with a bearing knife. Never saw one myself. The second common way is to take a used cam and cut a groove across each cam journal and spin it in the bearings untill you have them clearanced.
A third uncommon way is to have the blocks cam journals bored or honed to proper size/??? Most just clearance the bearings. It sucks, I know.
Posted By: RapidRobert
Re: New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 04/22/14 02:23 AM
Quote:diagonal groove(s). that'd be the way I would deal with this, & clean the shavings
[ The second common way is to take a used cam and cut a groove across each cam journal and spin it in the bearings untill you have them clearanced.
Posted By: Cab_Burge
Re: New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 04/22/14 02:50 AM
Quote:Welcome to the wondeful world of BB Mopar block quality control
I've heard of tight or misaligned bearings but is 24 ft lbs too much torque too turn a 440 cam?
All kidding aside your deal is not uncommon, maybe one in ten blocks are that way 
Take it to a competent machine shop and have them fit the cam to the cam bearings as already suggested 
I bought a bearing knife for that reason so I can do them myself, I install one cam bearing at a time and then trial fit the cam, once the first journal fits and turns easily I do the next one and so on.
Posted By: dvw
Re: New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 04/22/14 03:03 AM
Pull the cam out. Scrape the shiny spots on the bearings by dragging a utility knife across them. Refit cam, spin it, and scrape shiny spots until you can turn the cam by hand w/o the gear attached. Hopefully this is the first part you're installing in the block. Not all that tough with the crank out of the way.
Doug
Doug
Posted By: n20mstr
Re: New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 04/22/14 03:14 AM
I made a bearing scraper out of a broomstick cut short, about 3 feet long.. Cut a small slit that a razor blade fit in. Worked real nice. As mentioned already, turn an old cam in there to make some shiny/visible high spots. Scrape them down, retry cam. Just keep doing it until you have it rotating freely. Just takes time and patience
Posted By: MR_P_BODY
Re: New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 04/22/14 03:20 AM
Quote:
I've heard of tight or misaligned bearings but is 24 ft lbs too much torque too turn a 440 cam?
24ft lbs is about 24 ft lbs to much... it should be
able to spin with your fingers... I dont even have 24
ft lbs to turn my engine without the rockers... I have
a old cam with the grooves cut in it to size the
cam bearings
Posted By: cougar_cat_25
Re: New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 04/22/14 03:29 AM
Thanks for the info guys! I wish I kept the last two cams I wiped the lobes on to make a scraper out of. I did put the crank in so the broomstick idea sounds great.
Posted By: n20mstr
Re: New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 04/22/14 03:42 AM
If you want tomminimize trash in the engine, put some grease on the razor blade and scrape in one direction only, the grease will catch all the scrapings,just go slow. It works well !
Posted By: 383man
Re: New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 04/22/14 04:34 AM
I had one that rolled a small piece of the block cast flashing under a cam bearing when I installed the bearings and I did not know it. Had the same thing as cam was to tight to turn. I actually knocked all but the front and rear bearing back out and it turned free. So I installed the bearings one at a time until the #3 bearing made it tight. Took the bearing back out and looked at it real close and then I could see the slight high shinny spot. Looked at the back of bearing and it showed real easy. Looked and found the rolled casting and then it was fine. Good luck taking care of it. Ron
Posted By: Crizila
Re: New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 04/22/14 04:49 AM
Quote:Hey RobertQuote:diagonal groove(s). that'd be the way I would deal with this, & clean the shavings
[ The second common way is to take a used cam and cut a groove across each cam journal and spin it in the bearings untill you have them clearanced.
. 
thats what I do. Took and old cam and cut diagonal grooves in the journals. A couple of passes throught the cam bearings and your good to go.
Posted By: Sport440
Re: New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 04/22/14 05:44 AM
Quote:Quote:Hey RobertQuote:diagonal groove(s). that'd be the way I would deal with this, & clean the shavings
[ The second common way is to take a used cam and cut a groove across each cam journal and spin it in the bearings untill you have them clearanced.
Yep, diagonal groove
I didnt specify. It helps with the cut and the flow of the shavings for cleanup. It will take more then just a couple of passes though, in most cases.
Posted By: Cab_Burge
Re: New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 04/22/14 08:31 AM
Quote:When your done with the cam bearings remove the crank and main bearings and clean everything very thoroughly
Thanks for the info guys! I wish I kept the last two cams I wiped the lobes on to make a scraper out of. I did put the crank in so the broomstick idea sounds great.
Engine assembly is like brain surgery, it is absolutely impossible to keep it to clean 
Posted By: cougar_cat_25
Re: New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 04/22/14 04:02 PM
#3 has a couple shiny spot opposite of each other as if from being slightly misaligned. I`ll drive it out and try again. Couple other shiny spots on 1 and 2 that I`ll try a razor blade on.
Posted By: RapidRobert
Re: New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 04/22/14 04:07 PM
Quote:Hello John, I stumbled over here by accident
Hey Robert
Posted By: moderncylinder
Re: New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 04/23/14 04:32 AM
Posted By: Clanton
Re: New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 04/23/14 12:25 PM
You may find that when the oil passage was drilled it created a hump in the cam bore and may cause a pinch in the bearing.
Posted By: Dyno1
Re: New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 04/23/14 05:52 PM
I would 1st try an old cam that you knew fit. I have seen recently, new cams that had the cam journals to big. There was nothing wrong with the bearings, just the new cam.
Posted By: Moparnut426
Re: New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 04/23/14 06:50 PM
Like Mike said, I have a small block,and a big block cam with very sharp grooves cut at an angle to cut their way over the high spots in the bearings, Ive done thisto more than a dozen over the years and havent had any issues. SOme I have to cut, some feel great when I drive them in. I have 2 cam drivers, 1 is a OE mopar special tool, and the other is a after the market unit, and I have to say for mopars I like the OE one, you just have to wrap the drivers with black tape to keep from scaring the bearings.
Posted By: John_Kunkel
Re: New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 04/23/14 07:45 PM
Here's a pic of a cam cut to make it a "reamer. According to Rick Ehrenberg all Mopar cam bearings were align bored at the factory so i's unlikely you'll get a cam to fit without some scraping/reaming.
Posted By: cougar_cat_25
Re: New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 04/29/14 02:26 AM
Quote:
You may find that when the oil passage was drilled it created a hump in the cam bore and may cause a pinch in the bearing.
This is looking like the case. Each oil passage has a pinch. I tried a razor blade and it helped, but I`m worried about a few shutter marks left by the blade when I started or stopped cutting. I have new bearings coming and I`ll try to track down a used cam.
Posted By: Cab_Burge
Re: New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 04/29/14 05:02 AM
Don't wory about the cutting marks, the cam bearings are very soft for a reason. Once the motor runs for 3 minutes all the marks in and on the cam bearings will be gone, trust me on that
Posted By: onig
Re: New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 04/29/14 05:08 AM
Quote:
Here's a pic of a cam cut to make it a "reamer. According to Rick Ehrenberg all Mopar cam bearings were align bored at the factory so i's unlikely you'll get a cam to fit without some scraping/reaming.
Just did this on a SB this past weekend. New cam bearings and the cam would not even go in all the way. Used an old cam with diagonal cuts. Made a few passes, cleaning after each pass, then going back in. The new cam now turns with two fingers.
I believe that the cam bearing manufacture, Dura-Bond, which probably makes them for everybody, builds them a little thicker. I have never heard or experienced this 20 or 30 years ago. Seams to be a common issue nowadays.
Just my thoughts.
Posted By: B G Racing
Re: New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 04/29/14 03:10 PM
Do not remove and reinstall the same cam bearing,you may lose the "crush"fit value and have it spin or move out later.If you do and the fit feels loose use sleeve retainer compound and let it setup.
Posted By: tsanchez
Re: New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 04/29/14 08:57 PM
I keep an old cam around and smack on a 3/4 alum dowel thru the lifter holes to make the cam seat the cam bearing into the bore, sometimes when the bearing passes the holes it distorts, I hit them from both side at each bearing and from the crank area a few times and they spin up nice and clean without removing any material.
Posted By: Clanton
Re: New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 04/29/14 11:51 PM
Quote:Quote:
You may find that when the oil passage was drilled it created a hump in the cam bore and may cause a pinch in the bearing.
This is looking like the case. Each oil passage has a pinch. I tried a razor blade and it helped, but I`m worried about a few shutter marks left by the blade when I started or stopped cutting. I have new bearings coming and I`ll try to track down a used cam.
You could take a fine file like a 1/2 round and just do a couple swipes with light pressure or a 1" dowl rod with sand paper stapled to it but I would go more with the file.You wont need to do much to get rid of the hump.Do what you can with the bearings in there and you have the new for a backup if you don't like your results.jmo.
Posted By: MR_P_BODY
Re: New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 04/30/14 12:53 AM
Quote:Quote:Quote:
You may find that when the oil passage was drilled it created a hump in the cam bore and may cause a pinch in the bearing.
This is looking like the case. Each oil passage has a pinch. I tried a razor blade and it helped, but I`m worried about a few shutter marks left by the blade when I started or stopped cutting. I have new bearings coming and I`ll try to track down a used cam.
You could take a fine file like a 1/2 round and just do a couple swipes with light pressure or a 1" dowl rod with sand paper stapled to it but I would go more with the file.You wont need to do much to get rid of the hump.Do what you can with the bearings in there and you have the new for a backup if you don't like your results.jmo.
If this was the case you would ALWAYS see the bearing
tight in that area... on my last build I seen it tight
most of the way around.. better than half way... I
used my cam sizer(old cam with the cuts) to correct
the fit.. I just spray cutting fluid in while I spin
it with my impact wrench(slow at first) then give it
a full shot... I've never had a cam bearing failure
Posted By: Cab_Burge
Re: New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 04/30/14 01:44 AM
I have seen cams that where bent, turned easy for half a rotation and not the rest of the way 
Lots of gremlins out there, check the cam first for straightness
Lots of gremlins out there, check the cam first for straightness
Posted By: Clanton
Re: New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 04/30/14 02:25 AM
If he ends up yanking the bearings there will be a story mark on the bore also showing high/low spots.
Posted By: MNobody
Re: New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 04/30/14 04:53 AM
Absolutly, i had a shop put bearings in my 440 years ago and the cam wouldn't fit when i got it home and tried to assemble it, took it back, they did them again and i had the same problem. I took them the cam both times but i guess they never thought to check it for straight, it was out .003 and was a used purple shaft cam.
Posted By: cougar_cat_25
Re: New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 05/30/14 12:15 AM
Not to dredge up an old post, but I found a used cam and cut grooves into it. Installed new bearings and shaved them with the new tool. A++ idea, works great.
Posted By: roadhazard
Re: New cam bearings, takes 24 ft lbs to turn cam. - 05/30/14 04:06 AM
Quote:
Not to dredge up an old post, but I found a used cam and cut grooves into it. Installed new bearings and shaved them with the new tool. A++ idea, works great.
Good deal
Never hurts to follow up on a thread
