[74t/a]

First of all, If you have a worn cam, Where do you think the metal goes?

I always recommend removing the engine, or at least the oil pan and removing the metal out of the pan. I personally remove the engine for inspection if that happens to inspect the bearings and piston skirts for metal imbedment.

Second, if you shimmed the thrust plate to get the lifter centered on the lobe, that is the wrong way for 2 reasons. The first is, the lifter is positioned offcenter for a reason, to make the lifter turn. The lobes are usually ground with taper as well to promote lifter turning. The other thing with shimming the thrust is the timing chain will be out of alignment and will bind because of it.

Get those shims out of there!!!

[chiphead]

OMG, you shimmed the thrust plate??? If you remove this cam and inspect the cam bearings in the block, it'll indicate the health of the engine. Worn, pitted or grooved brngs will indicate the need for a rebuild. The cam bearings have a large impact on oil pressure.

If you're lucky, you can replace the thrust plate with a new one and be OK. I would check cam, fuel pump eccentric, timing chain/gears, distributor gears, lifters, and top end for damage or lack of oiling. Carefully cut open oil filter and look for metal in filter.

You running an adjustable valvetrain? What springs are you using?

hope this helps

robertg

[[email protected]]

haha. I take it you guys don't approve of my shimming technique.

When I installed the new cam, it appeared to be shifted in the block such that the lifters were not centered on the camshaft lobes. I would have thought that the lifters should ride on the center of the camshaft lobes.

I don't really think this is an adjustable valve train. I don't adjust the valves or anything like a small block chevy. The lifters are hydraulic, but I still torque the rocker nuts on the studs to a give torque spec (20 ft lbs I think).

So you guys agree with me by saying that because the thrust plate is shimmed out, I'm losing some oil pressure out of the front cam bearing? And you also think that the lobes of the camshaft are to be offset from the lifters?

Thanks again for the help.