fit cam with engine in.

[trevor shirley]

Hi folks, just imported a 1972 454 with less than 2000 miles on a complete engine rebuild. Less than 50 miles since it arrived in Ireland. Upon further examination I discovered a very badly worn cam follower, hole in bottom, and of course the cam is not good either. I have decided to replace the cam and lifters with stock ones. It came with a high lift cam and as the car will not be driven aggressivly the stock cam is more suitable.
Can the cam be fitted without removing the engine and how do I do it?

 

[Jack]

Can the cam be fitted without removing the engine and how do I do it?

Hi Trevor:
Welcome aboard CACC. Yes ... but you must remove the radiator, water pump, harmonic balancer (aka torsional damper), timing chain cover, timing chain set, valve covers and intake manifold. You have to remove the radiator because the cam comes out of forward side (horizontally) of motor ... and cam is long enough that it would hit the radiator. There is not enough room to get the cam out/in without removing radiator.

Just a thought ... if the lifter (aka tappet/cam follower) is worn so bad that it has a hole in it ... there's a good chance there's metal throughout motor (bad). New flat tappet lifters (aka non-roller) & lobes (especially hi-lift) routinely fail if not broken-in properly at rather high rpm (never at idle) for first 20-30 minutes.

FYI, questions/comments such as yours usually get much better response if posted at CACC's C3 Tech Forum or C3 Mods Forum.
JACK:gap