I've got a voodoo roller coming for my 440, and I'm trying to figure out the front cover issue and dealing with the flex from a steel front cover. bought an Indy cast aluminum one only to find out it won't work with a factory crank dampener. Guess the jokes on me. Oh well, guess i needed some wall art. Any way what are the recommendations for a front cover, and if it's to use the stock piece, does anyone have the measurements of the metal they used to beef up that cover and eliminate flex?

In the past I have placed a roller button in the cam sprocket, set end play to zero between the chain cover and button by either dimpling the cover or pushing the cover back.

I then added a shim/reinforcement that fit between the water pump manifold and the chain cover.

Been down this road just recently. Not sure why you would want to run a stock balancer on a high performance engine with a roller cam in the first place unless it is a very mild hyd. roller for a mild street motor. Having a big roller cam (solid) I,too, opted for the Indy cast aluminum cover to support a cam thrust button. ATI offers a SFI balancer to fit with an Indy cast aluminum timing cover.Also, if you have an aftermarket crankshaft, you would be wise to mike the cranks balancer snout diameter accurately to furnish them with the rest of your relevent info. This is because a lot of aftermarket cranks come with snouts a little bigger in diameter than stock specs.If they build you a balancer, they can hone the ID to the correct size for your crank for about $40, ensuring ease of installation and the correct fit. ATI's tech dept. is very customer oriented and easy to deal with.I am very satisfied with this set-up.Give them a call, fast service,too. Good luck Bill

Factory 440 crank, a warm street motor, nothing radical.

Put the cam in your block along with the timing set and oil pump drive and timing cover then check the end play and go from there, if it has less than .010 forward movement don't worry about it
If more than .010 the fix it
440 Source sells a decent fabricated welded aluminum cover that might work for you
Let us know your results please

Heard the 440 cover wasn't the greatest and wouldn't work with factory water pump housings. Don't I need to worry about the factory steel cover allowing the cam to move and alter timing without reinforcing it?

I had to deal with this problem last year on a customers new engine. He wanted an Indy cast alum cover. First problem was his ATI balancer wouldn't fit (balancer hit the cover). We got the correct offset ATI balancer, then the cam button set out too far (the cover would not reach the block). I had gotten a real nice cam button that I wanted to use from Todd Marsh (I think it was a Diamond brand, 3 bolt cam retainer & button combo, w/ inverted torx head bolts. Real nice part). I elected to machine the face of the cam gear approx .025" to get the clearance that I needed. Worked out fine, but this was WAY harder that it needed to be. Brand X has many different options that just bolt on.
Also, on a different customers RB engine this year, I used a teflon button (made by Comp Cams) and a Milodon steel cover. I had to file the button to fit, not hard, but time consuming..
This really shouldn't be this difficult.

Brian

Here's what we did on our 512 roller.
1/8 " round steel reinforcement welded to stock cover.

Inexpensive and effective, used a roller button inside.
Slight interference fit to back of AL. pump housing, works great to eliminate flex.

Joe

PS, If needed, you can sand a few thousands from the back of the pump housing
to get exactly the interference you desire.

There are a wide array of buttons. I prefer a push-in roller. With a "push in" style button you can use pieces of feeler gauge behind the button to tighten up the end play. You can also use different timing cover gaskets if you need more play (Superformance gaskets are a fair bit thicker than stock)

There is no need for a "bolt on" button - once the cover is on the button can't go anywhere. A bolt-on also won't allow for any shimming behind it.

Teflon, Acetal, Nylon or UHMW works fine and you can make your own out of UHMW - just buy a piece at a local plastics retailer. Avoid aluminum like the plague - they will gall and spew chips into your motor if they contact the timing cover.

If using the stock cover, weld on a 1/8" plate as some have done and drill, tap and install a 1/8 pipe plug offset from center that you and fit a dial indicator through to measure endplay.

You can run very tight end play BUT you don't want zero or less or you run the risk of galling the timing gear/block face.

While on the topic ...

Do NOT use a collar on the distributor shaft to limit motion. On a BB Mopar the cam's rotation keeps the oil pump drive gear seated. It CANNOT come up and alter timing. Any upward movement of the distributor shaft itself also will not alter timing.

If running a bronze oil pump drive gear, get a thin steel shim (a .030 torrington washer) and run that between the drive gear and the bronze bushing. This will prevent wear of either.

I don't like this because it just negates all your work of setting the clearance. And if that 1/8" plate isn't enough to eliminate cam movement I don't know what is !! Keep in mind the ONLY thing that drives the cam forward is the oil pump resistance transferred though the drive gear.

It isn't that difficult, you just bought the wrong parts. I've put a lot of big block engines together with my billet cover and matching button. Indy didn't bother to finish their design. It doesn't fit under a stock water pump, it doesn't fit with some dampers, it doesn't have a TDC pointer, it doesn't have an easy way to set the cam thrust spacing, etc.

Yep, lots of people find out the hard way that the Indy cover doesn't work with factory dampers or with the stock type water pump housing. Did you try the water pump housing or did you not get that far? What about the TDC pointer, did you see that there wasn't one? Sell the Indy cover to a race guy who has an aftermarket damper and an electric water pump. That is what it is designed for. If you want a good cover that is designed to work with a roller cam and fits with stock parts then buy one of mine.

A good number of years ago someone did a short run of cast aluminum covers. They were perfect in every way - fit, cost, etc.. Muscle Motors was selling them as well as a couple other vendors but for some reason they never produced any more. Its a shame.

Stock cover here for several years with no extra support or anything welded on the cover but I run an ISKY rollerized button slightly preloaded to the cover.....

So OP, which cam did you pick??

I am just about at this point now and originally was going to tig on a plate to my front cover... I've been told by a few different people, when running a stock style cover,just to set the endplay, then bolt on the water pump housing and fill the void between the timing cover and the back of the pump housing with a blob of silicone. See what it looks like when I get it put together later.

Lunati Voodoo:

https://www.lunatipower.com/voodoo-retro-fit-hydraulic-roller-cam-chrysler-361-440-270-278.html

Old cam Comp XE268H

Advertised Intake Duration: 268
Advertised Exhaust Duration: 280
Intake Duration at .050 Inch Lift: 224
Exhaust Duration at .050 Inch Lift: 230
Intake Valve Lift: 0.477
Exhaust Valve Lift: 0.48
Lobe Separation: 110
Intake Centerline 106



New Cam Lunati 20230711


Advertised Intake Duration: 270
Advertised Exhaust Duration: 278
Intake Duration at .050 Inch Lift: 219
Exhaust Duration at .050 Inch Lift: 227
Intake Valve Lift: 0.515
Exhaust Valve Lift: 0.530
Lobe Separation: 110
Intake Center line: 116

this ^^^^ Birdtracker

Preload is scary, even with the stock cover and roller button. Unless your timing sprocket is a torrington bearing type, you can't get enough lube between the sprocket and block. You need "some" clearance. This I know from first-hand experience.

Bought one of these:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/clo-9-3525tx9