MTFCA Forum

Hello all,
So I’m looking to build a fixture to repour camshaft bearings. News ones are getting very expensive. Currently I can pour/Align bore mains and the same for connecting rods. Camshaft bearings are the only item I haven’t done yet.
So I was curious if anyone does the cam bearings. I’d love to see some fixture ideas. As well as how they addressed any thrust issues from the front bearing castings.
My current idea is to design a fixture that will add a thrust face of Babbitt to the front of the Front bearing.
Any thoughts/comments are appreciated.
Thanks Patrick Musante
PatsResoration.com

The problem & critical part of cam bearings is the "iron" parts split. The 2 halfs must meet together tightly. At one time rebabbited units were mated together on a fresh babbit split. NO GOOD. Chances of finding mating halfs with no outer wear will be difficult. The proper way has to be starting with a new iron body, Babbitting & splitting the virgin. In which case babbit isnt really necessary. Keep the bore std let the cast iron be the bearing surface as the early one's were done. I have made a few this way before finding a quantity of good used & NOS units.

When using original castings it is most important that the outer diameter is correct. Used units must be a neat slide fit in whatever block in which they are to be installed. This should be the starting point. If anyone needs an undersized brand new reproduction bearing, I have one I could let go!

Allan from down under.

If I can help give me a call. Bob 903-824-1949

Thanks for the reply’s. Bob if you don’t mind I will call you tomorrow.

At one time Gaslight had at least a thousand raw castings of the bearings, they needed machined and poured then split?

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/25 ... 1342157696
http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/41 ... 1395236094
Looking at that last link, it looks like the Babbitt is either not poured where the 2 halves meet (two ladles, mold having ridges on each side at the split) or after they are poured, the Babbitt is cut away. Guess it could be done with a hacksaw by cutting down to the shell, like cutting a bushing to remove it.

Once upon a time I made up a V shaped broaching tool to cut the Babbitt after the bearing bore was finished. The bearing is already in the lathe... might as well use the lathe to do all the work that needs to be done

I, too, have used Kevin's broaching method. As he states, you've already got the bearing chucked up in the lathe. It also makes for a more professional looking job. Originally, I used Mark's hacksaw method.

Going to retouch on one point made in a post above;
Make sure any shells used, the mating surfaces, are not worn. The shells rely on the roughness of the split halves to lock them together. The lock C ring is there more as a helper for installing them, not to keep them from moving back and forth.