timing cover/roller cam endplay question

[Tom Tom Turbo]

I bought a high volume front cover that has been giving me sealing issues from day one. I finally had it machined flat and they had to remove 4 thousandths from the sealing surface to make it flat all around. My question is, with 4 thousandths difference in distance from the inside of the front cover to the front of the cam, do I now need to re-shim my roller cam to set the endplay or is that a small enough change to be fine just putting it back together.

If it helps, I know we set endplay to whatever Comp suggested when we installed the cam. A quick reply would be great because I am planning on trying to put it back together this weekend.


Thanks in advance!

 

[mikestertwo]

I would recheck the end play just to be sure.

 

[hemi8]

From personal experiance I have found these engines do not need a high volume front cover, they tend to wear out the #1 cam bearing. You will have your best chance of success biting the bullet and going with a TA, Weber or Earl Brown fully prepped cover.
Having said that, YES you Must dial in your cam end play, again. This is my biggest gripe about this engine design, everytime the front cover comes off you have to go through this PITA operation. This is because the "crush" on the gasket is different everytime it gets torqued. The roller cam end play is crucial and must be adjusted very well. DLS recommended to me to shoot for .002". Now, how nice would it be to have a 2-piece front cover which had a removable plate (right at the cam nose area) so the shims could be accessible without removing the front cover? If so equipted the front cover would not need to be taken on and off (read PITA) to do this operation. How do I do it, well to help me sleep at night I pull the intake and valve covers, loosen the entire valvetrain, connect a dial indicator on a cam lobe side, then install the front cover and torque to specs. Let it sit a few hours so the cover settles in and then rock the cam back and forth. If its not set properly you get to pop the cover off and adjust the shims to get to the proper end play. Then do it all over again, if it takes more than twice to get it dialed in you will want to change to a new gasket....................but this will probably throw off the readings again..............see what I mean? Its the lamest design I have ever seen...........sure would be great if one of the vendors would design a 2 piece front cover. You run the risk of serious engine damage if this is not set properly.
Mike

 

[forzfed]

I have a HV cover and it was one of the worse purchases I made for my engine, nothing but head aches!

 

[Tom Tom Turbo]

****....I absolutely hate doing this....I'm swapping the motor out of my Camaro instead, it might be less time consuming.

 

[bison]

.002 is too tight for a stock style thrust. id shoot for .008-.010 and de-burr the cam thrust. If you use a Torrington bearing you can go down to .002.

 

[hemi8]

Yes you are correct, that is what I am running, the torrington set-up.
Mike

 

[howdies86]

Guys, can someone post the part# for the torrington bearing you are using between the cam and the block to prevent wear? I had it, but misplaced it. Thanks, Howard.