the old cam had grooves in the lobes ahead of where they should have been, just on the edge of the lobes the cam was walking back towards the rear of the motor enough that it left 1/16" grooves so it has some serious back and forth movement to allow this..... it seems from what i can picture the thrust plate that you are referring to RJP66 it would keep it from going to far forward (to the front of motor) but if the plug is in wrong there is nothing to stop the cam from going backwards till it gets to the timing chain gear.... could someone possibly find a rebuild manual or an exploded diagram maybe that would help on this discussion

 

if it is indeed supposed to go the direction it is could it possibly not be driven in far enough..... without being able to contact the fella who did the previous work i have no clue what all has and has not been done other than what i have done myself and from what i have found out by discovery...... i did find a pic though

 

The pic shows correct direction of plug. There is a lip that keeps it from going too far. The plug has a taper that makes it smaller in dia on the inner side different from other plugs.

The cam thrust plate keeps cam from moving to far forward or backwards.

Some early style cam gears had a extra spacer if that is installed with current style gear it will make too much end play. Just measure the end play to see what it is.

 

it has at least 1/4" of play if not just a hair more.....

 

Remove the extra spacer the idiot put in on the cam gear . . .

Does it even have the cam thrust plate?

:Note in pic the thickness of thrust plate has to be a few thou less than the shoulder of gear. That is what determines your cam movement. IF the shop who did engine added the early Ford spacer it would give you approx 1/4" too much movement. So it is either that or the cam thrust plate~retainer plate was not installed.

 

In this illustration it is basic part number 6265. If that was installed with new gear it will be giving you this issue.

 

boss9 your pic #2 is the only spacer/thrust plate that is on the motor and i have same timing chain setup...... i never saw an extra spacer as you say....

 

If you are using the proper cam gear and thrust plate then you should have the proper cam end play. If there is not the extra spacer like in exploded view you simply have the wrong cam gear.

Measure the height of shoulder on cam gear and that should be a few thou taller than the thickness of thrust plate its that simple. That is where the cam end play comes from. 2 minutes max to figure it out.

When the cam bolt is tight it should pull the back of cam gear tight up to cam.
BUy a cloyes timing set and bolt it on and go your problem will be solved unless of course your thrust plate has major wear. Remove plate and measure the diff that is your end play.

Post a pic of what you have.

 

in the exploded diagram above if i use the double roller timing set should i use part #6265? is that what you are saying?

 

NO! All decent timing sets that is not used. Either your timing gear is wrong or that spacer was used and that is reason for far too much end play.

As I said above, measure the flange portion on back of cam gear that fits into the hole in cam retainer~thrust plate then measure plate thickness and subtract. That amount will be your cam end play.

If yours has 1/4" of end play then either that spacer was used or you simply have wrong cam gear. The cam thrust plate also has to be in correct position and not flopped around.

If your cam thrust~retainer plate is installed correct and you have a cloyes gear set you WILL have the correct amount of cam end play.

What is shoulder height on your current cam gear?

 

i haven't been to the shop to check since the other day and my dad still has my micro set so im stuck with basics i will check whenever im there next

 

distance between red lines . . .

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well i tinkered and tinkered until i was blue in the face and i have swapped heads and new dizzy in and never could get motor to fire up i am so pissed at that dang 352...... i have finally given up and got my 390 built up instead and its gonna be getting shoved in her throat tomorrow or next day so agitated at that dang 352........gonna make a coffee table out of it.......

 

The factory installed timing gear had nylon teeth, this gear was not available at the parts counter. This gear used a spacer (C3AZ-6265-A).

The FoMoCo service part replacement gear was aluminum, did not require the separate spacer, as it was made as part of it.

 

Could it possibly be that the heads/and or intake manifold have been milled so far that the distributor gear is too deep on the cam? Do you have issues with the oil pump drive shaft and/or oil pump as well?