MTFCA Forum

Been fighting a poor running T for some time now and having : Rebuilt coil box, rebuilt coils (two different sets), rebuilt carbs (two different ones), new wiring harness, new tank, rebuilt switch, adjusted valves, three different timers, new plugs two or three times and different gaps, changed head gasket and manifold gaskets, and I can't even remember what all, I pulled the cover off of the cam gear and found that I could slip .017 shim stock between the big and small gears and there is a good bit of movement front to back on the camshaft itself. In addition, when it would run, it was very noisy down front. Have I found the trouble?

The wear in the teeth, would probably not be so noticeable in the running, however the front to back movement would affect the timer. You need to replace the bearings, especially the front bearing on the camshaft. That might eliminate the slop in the gears, but if it does not, then replace at least the camshaft gear.
Norm

Thanks for the input. I ordered the thrust kit, a new .003 over cam gear and a generator gear. Think I should get the bearings too?

Also check the bolt that holds the front cam bearing in the block. If the end of the bolt that fits into the cam bearing is not a tight fit, then the cam bearing and the cam can move fore and aft causing a hard to find knock.

Thanks, I will take a look at that.

Compression test?
Also unless things have changed, haven't been able to buy cam bearings for a while, is someone doing them again?

Kerry, yes about 45-50 psi per cylinder. Some time will free start but runs terribly and spark advance has erratic effect. For a while it ran rather poorly and worse as it warmed up. Now it is just terrible and will barely pull itself. I bought it about 3 years ago and always felt there was something wrong but could not tell what. Just kept getting worse and I finally decided I had to fix it or get rid of it. If this doesn't do it I will put it on a trailer and get it to Ross Lilleker.

Those gears will get noisy when they wear, will eventually knock like a bad connecting rod. I see new gears in your future.

Dude & Son, Yuba City, a, does cam bearings as well as other T babbitting. See their add in the Vintage Ford.
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