Camshaft End Float

Just installed my new SB solid roller cam with a Milodon gear drive and after everything is buttoned up, I found it has 0.015 end play/float. The Mopar bible says 0.010 max. Anyone else had this amount? Am I stressing about nothing?
Cheers Macka

Are you using a button? Milodon cover has a boss for the button and the cover comes right off.Spec is spec................

That's WAY too much. The way you correct that is by machining the back side of the hub in a lathe. That will take up what is essentially cam thrust.

FWIW, I been using that gear drive for decades and I keep the thrust down to .005 max and like it at about .003. It has that roller thrust bearing. It doesn't need all that play.

Also, look down the lifter bores and I'd bet when you correct the end play, the lobe will be more centered in the lifter bore.

I'd fix that.

On a SB the thrust is regulated by the thrust plate?

I was thinking that machining the back of the hub would increase the distance. But the way it works by compressing onto the thrust washer and Torrington, it’s does the opposite to what I thinking. It actually decreases the distance.

P.S thank you for the tip.....

I take it this morning he area that needs to be machine down to close up the distance.

It's a bit hard to tell from the picture, but you want to machine down the hub where it faces the cam, not the timing chain cover. Does that make sense? To get the lash out of the system, you want to pull the hub closer to the cam...or IOW's, you'll be pulling the cam forward in the block.

The inner ring is what you machine.

Got it....thank you once again!

Are you checking the end play with the oil pump and oil pump drive installed and the lifters preloaded like the motor will be ran like ? if not maybe you should

Good call.

The lifters and oil pump drive do not control camshaft end play. The hub does.

I used a small piece of shim stock behind the button. Also, not all cover gaskets are the same thickness - the Superformance gaskets are WAY thicker than a stock gasket and of course if you use RTV instead of a gasket well, there is no thickness there at all. So getting perfect end play "out of the box" is highly unlikely.

Sorry, I'm talking big block and just noticed the OP is talking SB.

Just machined the hub and ended up with 0.004”.
Awesome.

Very nice. It doesn't get much better than that!!