pulling a motor apart today, dont know how this thing ran as good as it did with this problem.

looks like they put the number 3 cam bearing in cockeyed. it is stuck and wont come out...the cam that is. you can see where the cam bearing was just starting to shave off, no scores in cylinders or any shrapnel in the motor to be found.


i have tried turning with cam handle to remove, wont come forward, it spins fine, but wont come out.

is the best choice to remove rear plug and tap on the cam? the cam has few miles, would love to resuse if possible, but if i smack on it, thinking that is out of the question.


and its not binding on anything else, there is nothing left in the motor except the cam!

Going to have to come out some how, so I say do what ever it takes. Use wood on the cam and light taps from the rear and you may not hurt it.

ever drop a cam on its end? it explodes! breaks into tons of peices, think about whats gonna happen if you hit it with a hammer... either way, im betting that cams junk on that bearing surface anyways.

just for piece of mind, id probably just beat it with a hammer so i know its no good. if it was rubbing on something, id be a bit nervous to put it in a fresh motor. just do what it takes to get it out so you can be done.

I had this problem last year, you will have to pound it out from behind, take a BFH and pound right on the big freeze plug for the cam. Just make sure you don't hit the block.

I dont plan on the cam BEING usable, just hope it is. Got the motor cheap and in great shape other than this foupa! Had it kept going there would have been serious issues and destroyed a perfectly good motor.

Mike-did you not take the plug out first and then smack it? or smacking the plug got it loose? I think i will have to hit it more than once, the next journals are going to problably get stuck too unless i can pull the cam bearing out, then get a grinder in there to split it up.

Dnchevy- never saw a cam explode, dropped a few, never used after dropping, but no explosions.

I just smacked it right through the plug, it shouldn't hurt anything. The cam I had to pop out was frozen by a melted cam bearing, a couple good whacks and it popped right out.

ever drop a cam on its end? it explodes! breaks into tons of peices, think about whats gonna happen if you hit it with a hammer... either way, im betting that cams junk on that bearing surface anyways.

really? this happens? im going to have to try with an old small block cam from a 67 mustang i have at work;)

mine just cracked in half even with my dad throwing it at a concrete floor.

darknight,, dig the rear cam plug out from the rear or pop the cam rearward to knock the rear plug out,, then use a brass drift and pop it out from the rear towards the front. cam can actually come out from either end. all the journals are the same size,,,, it's the housing bores that are different sizes. so which ever way it moves easiest. it will shave off the ridge of bearing material that's holding it in,, and only be easier for each next journal that passes that tight spot. no biggie. have to get a little rough with them sometimes,, but worst case scenerio will take the bearing out with it. then you can cut up the bearing through the main saddles and go on out with it. good luck.

I've used old cams to hold down tarps for years. I've thrown 'em across the shop and smacked 'em on concrete pretty dang hard and I've never had one break. Flat tappets are cast, good rollers are steel - none of them are made of glass. Sorry, I gotta call BS on that one.

Cam is out, two cam bearings not in all the way and one cockeyed. Cam journals look fine though, so guess not that DELICATE. lobes fine too, had little use on the car. Hopefully didnt oblong the cam bearing mains, from the threading of the bearing, looks like it was taking the abuse first. That sure explains what the guy was saying about it "missing". An out of balance rotation, can never adjust the valvetrain accurate.

Sweet steal of a 406!!