In beginning the reassembly of my 1500 engine, I placed the c-shaped bracket
that secures the camshaft in place back onto the front of the engine and
bolted it on. I used new bolts and washers--the bolts were slightly shorter
than the original, but there is plenty of thread to hold them. When I
tightened the bolts, I discovered that the camshaft was extremely tight--so
tight it could barely be turned by hand, and difficult with two bolts in the
end of it and a lever engaging the bolts to turn it. I have removed the
c-bracket numerous times and reinstalled it in an attempt to loosen the
camshaft up but to no avail. I did not remove the camshaft from the
engine--I did jog it forward about an inch, inspected the front bearing
surface, then shoved it back into place. I used the SAME bracket that I
previously removed. I did note that there is a very small groove worn on the
inside inner edge of the bracket--it almost looks machined, but it really is
a worn groove. Figured that would give enough clearance, but it didnt.
There was no problem with the camshaft prior to my tearing the engine down
this last time (that I was aware of anyway).
Anybody have any ideas? I thought about shimming the bracket with a very
thin shim, but none are called for here. When the bracket is in place and
the bolts are tightened, there is no end to end movement whatsoever. In fact
the camshaft is tightly bound.
I bacame very frustrated and had to leave the work for the evening. This is
my daily driver and it looks like it is going to be laid up for a while. 8^(
--
David C.
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