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By Dave V - 10 Years Ago
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I lost all oil supply to the passenger side rocker shaft on my 56 292. It does have the drilled cam and bearing. Is it feasible to groove the cam bearing to correct the oiling problem and if so how deep and wide of a groove? The engine is out of the car right now so it is easy enough to work on. Dave V
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By Rono - 10 Years Ago
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Dave;
Schumann's Sales & Service, Inc., in Blue Grass, IA (563-381-2416) sells 360 degree grooved (inside and outside) cam bearings. I bought a set of their cam bearings for my last build. With these (center bearings) even if the bearing should spin, you should still get oil to the rockers.
Rono
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By PF Arcand - 10 Years Ago
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Dave: according to John Mummert (Mummert Machine, El Cajon CA) at least part of the problem is that somehow the camshaft oiling groove on the cam blanks is not to original spec. The groove is to shallow. However, I don't have the correct spec. In your case you likely have an early cam, if it's cross drilled or one of the few issued around 1964. (left overs I suspect) You have the engine out, so you might want to consider replacing it & lifters. If your cam is a standard Ford grind, it's a very mild cam, & likely not even to 1957 specs, which was the best std cam for those engines. There are varous cures for the problem, including regrooving, that's what Mummert does to all cams he sells.
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By Dave V - 10 Years Ago
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Thanks for the replies. I think I'll order the grooved bearing from Schumann's. The engine only had about 2000 miles on a fresh rebuild when it quit oiling so I reinstalled the external oil feed that was on the engine when I bought it. Was frustrated enough that I swapped it out for a 57 312 and will now just fix the problem and sell it. I kept the 57 312 cam and lifters which were in excellent shape. Labeled all the lifters for proper location. Would it be better to install that cam and lifters for resale purposes? DaveV
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By Ted - 10 Years Ago
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Dave. It’s unusual for a cross drilled camshaft to lose all oil supply to the top end assuming the engine has good oil pressure and the block was thoroughly cleaned to begin with. With the grooved journal camshaft, my experience has been that the right side engine bank does lose oil pressure first when there’s a center cam bearing or shallow groove problem. While I’ve heard the horror stories of spun cam bearings in the Y engines, I’ve never seen a babbit cam bearing spin in a Y but I have seen the cam bearings improperly installed with those issues showing up within the first 500 miles or less. I have had instances of bronze bearings spinning in the block though but I’ll attribute that on incorrect press fit or oil clearance tolerances.
It’s a pretty equal call on which cam and lifter set to use as the existing cam and lifters will need to be pulled from the engine to at least get to the center cam journal to see what’s going on. You didn’t say what camshaft is currently in the engine but I suspect if it’s just a warmer grind than the ’57 camshaft, it might be more desirable from a selling standpoint.
Once you've torn the engine down, be sure to report back as to what you find.
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By Dave V - 10 Years Ago
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Thanks for the reply Ted. The block was stripped and dipped at the machine shop and they did install the new cam bearings. I don't blame them for this though because it did work fine for 2000 miles. They also checked the cam and lifters that were removed from the engine and felt that they could be reused which is what I did. Not sure what grind. Possibly an original. I'll be pulling it apart Saturday and will let you know what I find. Thanks again DaveV
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By Dave V - 10 Years Ago
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Well, I pulled the engine apart yesterday. I was mistaken about the cam that was in there. Not a cross drilled one. Has a groove in it which is not as deep or as wide as the groove on the 57 312 cam. Could not find any other reason for not getting oil to the right rocker. I assume this is one of those aftermarket cams that John Mummert mentions about the too shallow of groove. I think my best solution is to get a grooved bearing. Thanks DaveV
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