When doing a cam change on a six why do you have to remove the oil pan and oil pump? I thought once you pull the distributor that the oil pump would be disengaged from the cam? Any other advise when changing the cam? Do you need to install screw in studs for just a little increase in cam size?

 

Who ever told you that must be pulling your leg. . You don't have to, all you have to do is remove the lifters and pushrods, the distributor, and the front of the engine (timing cover, balencer, ect.) It is a pain to do it with the engine is in the truck. Believe me, been there, done that. I removed the entire front grill assembly to do that.

 

Thanks for the info WildJon 300, My Chilton and original Ford service manuals both say that I need to pull the oilpump and pan to do the cam change. It didn't make sense to me. Glad to hear that I don't need to, that would be a real pain if I did. Care to share any secrets on getting this job done the easiest and most pain-free way? Thanks again,
Craig

 

Make sure to have about a day and a half. MAKE SURE to have a good friend present. They help alot when you are going nuts cause you can't get something, and they help you get it. Well, what type of truck is it...Mine is an 85. I figured i'd be smart and remove the entire front grill assembly, PITA! I swear I've never cusses so much in my life with the rusted bolts. Make sure to have LOTS of WD40, Air Compressor, Air Ratchet, and a Impact Wrench. Once the front grill is off, then you have to remove the entire front of the engine. The fan is a reverse thread. (found that out the hard way) I usually worked from inside the bumper, but if I had removed the bumper life woulda been aLOT easier. You'll need a balencer puller it looks sorta like this \I/ with bolt holes)
I Make sure to set the engine to TDC before you get into the cam. You'll also need the remove the valve cover, rocker arms, and pushrods. (make sure to sort the pushrods in order, a couple of eggcartons stacked work well if you prepunch holes.) You then have to remove the lifter access panel (first remove the fuel pump, coil, and all that good stuff) and use a coathanger bent in an "L" and 8 penny nail (for the stubborn ones) to remove them. Then have fun seeing who can hit what while you are chunking them somewhere. It really eases the tension and I don't think they can be reused on the new cam.

That's about all I remember at the moment, feel free to e-mail me when a problem arises... wildjon3006(No Email Addresses In Posts!)

 

Thanks for the info Wildjon, my truck is a '68. What's the best way to prime the oil pump and lifters once I get everything back together?I'm going to wait till the weekend to tackle this job. I'm pulling the cam to investigate a bad metalic tapping noise thats coming from right around the first lobe of the cam. I already changed all the lifters once, but the noise is still there. It sounds like two hammer faces tapping together, I figured I probably have a bad lobe or something. If I find it's the cam I'll start looking for a new one.
Thanks again.

 

Hi there,,,How does the inline 6 sound with the blue racer cam....Like a 6 cylinder or more like an 8. I have a stock inline 6 with duals on my 65 Ford F-100 it sounds pretty good, close enough to a v8, but was wondering if the cam helped any.
Thanks

 

It added a nice rumble....

Inliner, I don't believe you have to prime theoil pump, as long as you don't remove it. When I changed my cam, I used a TON of White Lithium Grease and started it up, I heard a nice tapping of the dry lifters for about 10 seconds and then everything quieted up. It runs good now, but now I need to get under there and retorque the header to fix that exhaust leak.

 

The above poster is right, if you don't pull the pump, you don't need to re-prime the system. For future reference though, the best way to do it is to pack the new pump with white lube or petroleum jelly before you install it, and get a long piece of hex stock the same size as the distributor end. Chuck the hex stock up in a 1/2" drive drill and insert it down through the block into the oil pump drive hole and spin the pump until you see oil coming up out of the pushrod tubes. The white lube just dissolves into the oil.

This little trick takes all the adrenalin out of that first start up.