A new customer brought in his SOHC that was blown up. I was digging around and found NO oil to Cylinder head from the #2 Cam Journal. OK off with the Heads still NO oil to top of the deck from #2 Cam journal but #4 good and rest of motor good oil. NOTE: This is a Genesis Iron Block. When I took off the Head my first thought was that the Head gasket Oil hole would have a mismatch but I found Cometics with Oval Transfer Slot(Good News). I had already known that Genesis Blocks had the Oil Hole a little off and have built a couple dozen of these Genesis Blocks now. The Oil Passage from the Cam to the Deck on Original Ford Blocks are Drilled at a 1 to 2degree angle. Genesis Drilled the hole striaght down 0 degree and you have the cam bearing hole half open and head gasket modified/deck mill slotted to get oil flow up or it goes boom. Well further into this I dug around and found the problem. This guy used an aftermarket Backing plate that was thicker than std gauge of the originals. This spaced out the stub cam far enough that the Stub Cam oil groove, and the already half way lined up cam bearing(genesis)technique left this thing Blocked off. Remedy is to be aware of this if using the thicker backing Plate. I took the stub cam to the lathe and widened the oil grooves. Now on all the Genesis blocks I do, wedge or SOHC I widen the cam groove. The Genesis blocks have there own tricks to build correctly. this is just another one to pass on here at the Forum so that everyone is aware. Alittle prevention should keep these new breads of cammers alive.

Doug Garifo aka pumpbldr
Precision Oil Pumps

Was that a roller thrust bearing or just a plain one? I can see how that would happen... Dale, are you reading this?

For sure that is something to be concerned about; I would have never thought of that failure mechanism.

Seems also that if the front cover is too deep, that when you pull the stub cam forward to put on the retaining clip, you could see the same problem.

I can vouch for the followng two combinations as trouble free:

- Pond aluminum block, Barillaro backing plate, Gilbert Carpio cover
- Pond aluminum block, Coon backing plate, Gilbert Carpio cover

Good engine building procedure is to be sure to pre-oil the engine, and watch for oil to appear in the rockers. Too bad your customer didn't do that; he would have identified the problem before running the engine.

Tonight I just finished up my 427 dyno mule, and put it on the dyno. When I was putting it together over the weekend, I was struck by how easy it was compared to building a cammer! Piece of cake, compared to those SOHC monsters...

Jay Brown
1968 Shelby GT 500 Convertible, 492" 667 HP FE
1969 R code Mach 1, 490" supercharged FE, 9.35 @ 151.20, 2007 Drag Week Runner Up, Power Adder Big Block
2005 Ford GT, 2006 Drag Week Winner, 12.0 Daily Driver
1969 Ford Galaxie XL, 460 (Ho Hum....)
1964 Ford Galaxie 500, 510" SOHC

I had a similar problem caused by a Crane cam that had the oil groove ground in the cam too far forward. Same remedy, we ground the groove wider to compensate.

Like Jay said, you should always pre - oil any freshly assembled engine and witness oil flow from each rocker, or suffer this sort of consequence for not doing so. A side oiler has a couple extra "gotchas" that the average machine shop is probably unaware of. Heck, any FE is a mystery to the average shop nowdays.



1912 Model T Ford touring Salmon (ugh!)
1913 Model T Ford Touring original Black paint
1915 Model T Ford Roadster Black
1915 Model T Ford touring Black of course!
1967 Cougar GT 390 Cardinal Red / Black
1968 Cougar GTE 427 Augusta Green / Saddle
http://www.supermotors.net/vehicles/registry/15029/50071-2

I heard about this issue years ago from Mike Jackson. To prevent this catastrophe I ran an oil line from the main galley to the back of the cyl. heads using 3/16 & 1/4 tubing. Also made up some thrust washers to get the proper end play on the stub cam. Good luck.

The Backing plate is unkown origin but it is one with welded piece for the distributor bubble. Second, I believe this to be more Genesis specific. The Pond block has the # 2 passage in more the correct place and even comes with different cam bearings. The Holes line up better on the Pond Block period no matter wedge or SOHC. On these Genesis blocks what is going on is that a Standard Felpro Head Gasket(1020 Wedge for example)has the oil hole in std location. The Hole is block off all the way and you must Modify the gasket or mill a tranfer slot in deck for starters. Next if you put the cam bearing in oil hole where it line up with groove in cam , then you would have NO opening at all. I have a bore scope and can confirm this without a doubt. So basically your fudging the gasket over, moving the bearing over to compensate for the passage not being angle drilled like FORD did. I figured this out 4 years ago with one of the First Genesis Blocks and have been modify them every block since. I wrote this on the forum then to give a heads up. With all the new SOHC parts flying around, this Backin Plate brings another demension. Yes I know about the external line trick too. Some people don't know this or want the original look. Simply put the CAMMER is complicated. Until a book is writen, this forum is the best tool we have to spread the word. People like me who builds some componets, I have to take every combination into account, make it, try them . Just like Jays Rocker problem, we are discovering new things even though they are 40 years old. A Genesis Block just needs more passage Modifications than normal during prep. Jay used a Pond Block or he would be writing this.

Doug aka pumpbldr

Doug, writing a book is a great idea. There are so many pitfalls with a Cammer that people are not aware of. Your oil pump is still working great in my SOHC.

I always have to alter either the head gasket or use a ball mill to slot the feed at the deck on Genesis blocks. I have not had that issue down at the cam bearing end. I believe (Shoe can probably answer this) that the Ford blocks have the oil feed canted on an angle in two planes, On the Genesis blocks I've seen, they only cant the passage angle in one plane.

When assembling these I usually use a small halogen flashlight (the ones that have an elastic band to go around your head) in a darkened room to look through the oil passages and verify that they are open. A friend also made up a micro-sized flex light from a reduced diameter "grain of wheat" LED on a 36" long wire attached to a belt battery pack. Very useful for putting light into restricted areas.

I have still never built a Cammer....

Barry Rabotnick
Survivalmotorsports.com

Craftsman makes a similar LED light. It has a small wheat bulb on a thin flex shaft. Works on 2 AA batteries. I use it for sticking into plug holes and checking out pistons and cylinder walls. Also use it for checking gun barrels and receivers. Great for getting into hard to see areas. Cost was only about $10 if I remember right.

I cant find it on the internet, but I know they have 'em, cause Ive got one. A very handy little light.

Ive never built a cammer either.

Doug
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69 Mach 1 R-code - 427MR 4-spd
68 F-250 4wd - 390HP 4-spd
58 2dr Del Rio Wagon - 390 4-spd
63 Mercury Comet 4dr 170ci 3-spd. (24mpg)
65 Galaxie 500 2dr hrdtp - 390 (automatic )

Cammer......... What's a cammer ?? (LOL Just kidding)

If anyone here wants to put their "cammer" through it's paces I'd be willing to put one in the POS.

Guaranteed to test it to it's limits and then some.

I've heard so much bad about cammers lately.they run fine and are trouble free.I had the small timing chain brake fore years ago that was hell. but John V and outhers that I know drive our cammers and beat on them have fun and just keep on going. when Art Chrisman originally built my engine he dynoed it 695hp at 7500rpm good set of heads ford cams aluminum rods.

running the same aluminium rods?
KS

wayne RWJ can vouch for that