Camshaft Bearings

[odgmc]

Was getting ready to assemble my engine and was going through the manual first and noticed the cam bearings needed to be reamed. I checked the ID on the new bearings and sure enough the diameter is too small for the cam to fit. Have talked to my machinist and all others withing a reasonable distance. None can (or are willing) to bore the bearings. Has anyone run into this? What did you do?

[pfarber]

I don't think line boring cam bearings is a realistic option, either.

Did you check that you have the right bearings? I would not use NOS on any internal motor part.

You may have better luck getting the camshaft ground /polished to fit the bearings (again, if they are the proper ones and new manufacture). That's done all the time.

[odgmc]

Yes the bearing are the correct ones but are NOS. I know most modern engines you do not have to size the bearings. What brand of bearing have you used? Did they have to be sized?

[pfarber]

The camshaft was part of the Master rebuild kit, and the kit also supplied a set of cam bearings.. which were not used because I do not have the tool to remove/insert the bearings.

The machine shop that did the work bought a second set of bearings.. from the price (its in the Motor, Final Answer thread) was like $30... so they were standard run of the mill bearings.

A new set of cam bearings shouldn't run more than $30-40 + ship. Get the measurements for all 4 cam journals and call a place like http://www.cleggengine.com/ they should have the bearing dimensions that they sell.

New bearings will be MUCH CHEAPER than polishing a cam or line boring cam bearings. Every time I had a crank ground/polished its been $150-ish (again, the work order is in the Motor, Final Answer thread). Camshaft grinding/polishing is not much cheaper.