The Ford Barn

streetdreams · 11-13-2015, 04:10 PM

Just had an interesting day determining why I had less than .0000 camshaft end play on a fresh 312 build. New cam, bearings, lifters. After checking assembly procedure, parts, etc, I found the brass cam plug I used instead of steel rubbing the rear of the camshaft. Measuring the depth of the brass plug gave about .360 ". Measuring the new Dorman steel plug gave .270". Since the plug is installed flush with the rear block surface, the extra .090 " was more than enough to interfere with the camshaft. Although I check just about everything on a build, I just check for free turning on the installed camshaft. One more item now on the check/measure list.
Now, on to the specs for camshaft end play. This is where it gets interesting. The 1956 Ford manual calls for maximum of .012". The 1957 Ford manual doesn't specify a camshaft end play spec at all ( at least one I could find). The 1962 Ford manual calls for .001 - .007" on a 292, with a max of .012". I now stack up with .005" end play, which I'm comfortable with, as I've seen a lot of retainer plates pretty gouged up from the cam timing gear due to I'm sure insufficient lubrication. Thought I'd throw this out here for what it's worth to everyone. Perhaps the real veteran Y-Block builders have even more to add.

11-13-2015, 04:10 PM	#1
streetdreams Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Howell, Michigan, USA, The Peoples Slightly Overspent Demodependancy of Michigan Posts: 637	Y-Block camshaft end play Just had an interesting day determining why I had less than .0000 camshaft end play on a fresh 312 build. New cam, bearings, lifters. After checking assembly procedure, parts, etc, I found the brass cam plug I used instead of steel rubbing the rear of the camshaft. Measuring the depth of the brass plug gave about .360 ". Measuring the new Dorman steel plug gave .270". Since the plug is installed flush with the rear block surface, the extra .090 " was more than enough to interfere with the camshaft. Although I check just about everything on a build, I just check for free turning on the installed camshaft. One more item now on the check/measure list. Now, on to the specs for camshaft end play. This is where it gets interesting. The 1956 Ford manual calls for maximum of .012". The 1957 Ford manual doesn't specify a camshaft end play spec at all ( at least one I could find). The 1962 Ford manual calls for .001 - .007" on a 292, with a max of .012". I now stack up with .005" end play, which I'm comfortable with, as I've seen a lot of retainer plates pretty gouged up from the cam timing gear due to I'm sure insufficient lubrication. Thought I'd throw this out here for what it's worth to everyone. Perhaps the real veteran Y-Block builders have even more to add.