Has anyone ever did a cam replacement with the motor in the truck.
I got the valve cover, harmonic Balancer, pushrods, belt, radiator, grill, a/c condenser, pushrod cover and lifters all removed
my plan is to lift motor up so the cam clears the bumper and change the oil pan gasket and pump when I'm in it.
I need advice on how to go about this, i only have some wood and a floor jack

 

1989 F150 4.9 4x4 5 speed

 

I hope you are not going to big on the cam as the computer cannot handle it.
Dave ----

 

Stock cam with Melling steel gears and new stock lifters

 

Stock should work
Sorry I dont know if it could be swapped out with motor in the truck as I never gave it a try.
I would think as long as the cam has a straight shot out the front through the radiator support opening you should be good.
Dave ----

 

I did some measuring, I need to lift the motor 2 inches and take the cam gear off, to make the cam clear the radiator support.
but I'm worried the plastic gear will bust when I put a pulley on it.

 

You are right from what I seen posted the gear gets pressed off & on out of the motor so trying to get it off it will break.
Even if you get a metal gear to go back together it needs to be pressed on the cam shaft.
Dave ----

 

I got the cam out, and in the process the distributor gear nicked the number 1 cam bearing

 

I did sort of destroy the cam gear with the puller 😆

 

Good morning men.
I have done this with my 300 six-banger that I installed in my '77 F350 many years ago, maybe 2002 ?

I had installed a Comp Cam 260 / 272, and after approx 10k miles a lobe went flat.
My dad who worked for GM in the parts dept said cam lobes going flat was an issue with the 350's OFTEN.

I don't remember having to go thru any special gymnastics to remove the Cam.
I decided to just ga with a late '60's grind Clevite Cam.

Replaced the cam out thru the grill opening.

 

has anyone been crazy enough to replace the cam bearing, very first one with the motor in the truck, all of my other bearings are good.
I did mess up because i didn't support the cam as I pulled it and the distributor gear hit the front cam bearing

 

I'm all for the hell or high water stuff
but I just need to know if my situation is fixable or sent the motor to the junkyard.
I don't have the budget, it's either fixable or junkyard, i can't afford a full rebuild.
I already have over 4 grand in tires, headgasket, sensors, ecu, exhaust, shocks, etc.

 

And it has new crank bearings and rear main seal
well sort of new, they have around 15,000 miles on them

 

Without being there to see feel it but from looks it is not that bad.
I dont see how anyone could R&R a cam and not nick a bearing.

I would take a little Scotch Brite pad and oil and just run it over the nick to knock down any high spots it may have.
DO NOT GO CRAZY! You are ONLY knocking down any high spots not take the nick out of the bearing like you would if doing body work before painting.
Clean the area really good when the high spots are gone and put some oil back on the cam bearing even if the cam will have lube on it.

Now I said you cam gear was pressed off and on and if you try and remove it with a puller it would break as it did
Now how you going to get the new gear back on the new cam? you cant get the cam is with gear on and you cant press it on with the cam in the motor.
DO NOT go hammering on the gear to get it on the cam as you will drive the cam out the back side of the block knocking the cam bearing plug out and then you will be pulling the motor to replace it.
Let us know how you make out and good luck
Dave ----

 

As a guy who works on industrial machines, this is the right move. I deal with a lot of bronze bushings that act as bearings and they get dinged up a lot when stuff is being changed over. Just grab a small round file to knock the burr down and hit it with a little Emory cloth or scotch brite to smooth it out. A little goes a long way. There's a ton of bearing surface there, so you don't need a perfect surface over the full width over 360°.