I just have a few questions about my 390. A little background on my question: Almost two years ago I decided to put a hotter cam in my truck, and I though that I had did a good job, but when we started it up, and ran it for about 15 seconds, the passengers side quit making noises and the drivers side didn't. Popped of the drivers valve cover and started it and only the tiniest bit of oil was coming out, so we shut it off, and latter concluded that the #2 cam bearing had spun on me , since the drivers head wasn't getting oil and the passengers side was.
So now my questions
(1) In installing the new cam bearings, is there anything special that I should do or look out for? I've never installed a set of cam bearings before.
(2) I figure I'll put new lifters and push rods, but the thought of a new oil pump had crossed my mind, since I'll have the motor apart. The truck would hot idle about 20psi and about 50 running down the road. Is this a good idea? The motor has about 30k miles on it.
(3) And finally do you think that the cam will be ok? It was run for about a minute overall before we discovered the oiling problem.
Thanks in advance!

 

Ooooooooooohhhhhhhhhh crap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope you have not taken anything apart yet. Your oiling problem may well be in the rocker shaft mounting bolts. There is one special bolt that is necked down to permit oil flow. If you put that bolt in the wrong hole, guess what happens....

It does not matter which side of the engine you are on, the second hole from the left is the oiler and should have the necked down bolt through the pedestal.

 

Thanks for the response Hypoid, I had thought of that and when I was putting it back together, when I was torquing down the rocker bolts, I noticed one that was longer and it didn't fit in any other hole except the second one. I had thought that that was the right one, but I could be wrong, and I will check that the second one form the front is necked down. I would much rather replace lifters and pushrods than cam bearings!

 

Well I popped off the valve cover and the second hole from the front had the longer, necked down bolt, so does this means my cam bearing spun?

 

If you do indeed find that a cam bearing has spun, you will likely also find that that bearing bore is worn, meaning that the bearing insert does not fit as tightly as it should. That means the block will have to be torn down and returned to the machine shop for repairs.

Don't you just love the sound of those expensive noises?!

 

Personally, and I really hope, that it didn't get spun in so much that it ruined the cam journal, but twisted enough to cover the hole for the head oil. I'm going to get an old dizzy and take off the cam gear and rig it up so I can spin the oil pump with the rockers off.
BTW that would really suck if that did happen cuz that motor has about 30k miles on it D'oh!!!!!!!!!!!! I guess that I'm like the government fix it until its broke.

 

I'm not sure a spun cam bearing would limit oil to the head. I think there's a groove around the bearing (in the block) that allows oil to get from one gallery to another.

Check this pic out:

http://repsdirect.net/FordFE/Images/OilGalleries5.jpg

I'd remove the whole rocker arm assembly on the problem side and crank the engine with the sparkplugs out and see if oil shows up (or spin the oil-pump drive-shaft).

Were restrictors ever installed in the heads? Might be plugged up.

Got rockershaft support on right way around?

Necked down bolt in right spot (as previously mentioned)?

Drip trays properly installed (can't imagine how they couldn't be unless jammed somehow that keeps the rocker stand from coming down all the way.

Rocker shaft end cups in place?

hmmmm.............

 

So I'm getting ready to start fixing the motor, and I'm going to build an oil pump spinner, which will consist of a 1/4 hex head socket, so I don't have to take out the oil pump drive welded to a section of 1/4" square stock, but I have a question, which way would I spin it, clock wise or counter clock wise?

 

CCW...(same way the rotor turns.) I jsut did this for the first time. Spins real easy until the oil gets there. Then you'll know it. Use a 1/2" drill.

I used an old dist shaft. The "store-bought" ones include an upper suport to keep the shaft centered, but I didn't find I needed to add that.

Before this, I usually jsut cranked teh enigne with the plugs out until the oil pressure came up. Didn't seem to work this time. Air lock I guess.

Once, I just packed some vaseline in the pump. That worked perfectly when I went to try the cranking method above.

 

If a cam bearing spins in an FE, it would block an oil passage to the crankshaft, not the heads, depending on which journal it is. In an FE, except for side-oilers, the cam gets oil first, then the crank.

 

Ok, apparently I was smoking something funny when I thought up the crackpot idea of the cam bearing spinning because I got my oil pump primer today and took off the rockers, and primed the system and oil was Niagara falling out of the head. I then put the bolt in the second hole, and tightened it down, and oil still came out!! I am soooooo happy that I am only going to have to replace the lifters and pushrods!!
So now my deduction is the rocker arms must of got a chunk of crap in the passages, and stopped them from oiling.
So now my question is, do I take them apart or? I have a parts washer, should I just wash them up the best I can and blow out the passages as best I can or????

 

Question is why are you changing parts without knowing what - if anything - is wrong? The lifters get oil from a ompletely different passage than do the rockers. The rockers won't make a bunch of noise if dry - but the lifters will. Sounds like lifters were lacking oil on startup. When you spin the pump do you have oil pressure? A $4 pressure gauge from the plumbing supply can screw right into the oil pressure port on the filter mount so you can see it while spinning the pump with the drill. Might be nothing wrong.

 

I haven't changed nothing yet, when we started the motor up, it was making noise on the drivers head, the passengers quit, had damn near 70lbs of oil pressure at 2200rpms. So I popped off the valve cover, and started it up again, and almost no oil came out, rockers almost bone dry. Now I may only be 20 years old, 18 at the time, but I know enough if you take the valve cover off with the oil getting to the head, it should squirt it all over the fender well.
Oh and yes, I have an oil pressure gauge, and not a $4, but a very nice Stewart Warner, and it read about 60lbs when I primed it yesterday.