Can I reuse these cam bearings?

[joesregalproject]

I'm swapping the cam in my Buick 350, and I'm trying to keep this as minimally invasive as possible. I know the front cam bearing needs replaced, which isn't a big deal, but I'd like to keep from pulling the crank and rods to replace the rest of the cam bearings if at all possible. What do you think of these cam bearings? Reusable? Or change them?

 

[TURNA]

nope

 

[Bar50]

I would swap them.
Run a B12B or whatever brand you prefer turbo 3.8 Buick front cam bearing.

 

[81cutlass]

This is going to sound like a total hack comment, but I wouldn't bother changing them. Unless they look worse in real life vs. the photos or have scratches your finger nails get caught on it's OK.

I had concerns with an engine I rebuilt where the cam bearings were changed and I couldn't get the cam in the block. I talked with my machinist and he said cam bearings are something people worry way too much about.

To summarize his points
1. Cam bearings get oil last (after crank/rods) so any slightly large clearances don't affect oiling
2. The contact pressure per square inch of bearing on a cam is a fraction of what the rods see so oil film control isn't as important as rods/mains
3. It's not uncommon when changing cam bearings for the bearings to be tight on the cam and for the cam to be snug to turn by hand. This is not desirable but the solution is to ream the bearings using the special tool OR cut a slot in the old cam and ream the bearings with the slotted cam and a drill spinning it over.

Theres nothing wrong with changing the cam bearings but if you pull the crank/rods I would just rering and bearing the block along with head gaskets and everything. Taking old stuff apart that works lets the magic out sometimes.

I don't see any copper on the bearings showing yet so is there a reason you think they need to be replaced?

 

[joesregalproject]

This is the worst part I can see, is this edge. The engine ran fine before I tore into it according to the previous owner.

I don't know enough about cam bearings to know if these are bad enough that they require replacement.

 

[fleming442]

My Series 2 bearings looked worse than that.

 

[TURNA]

. The engine ran fine before I tore into it according to the previous owner.

Unfortunately where i come from that means it's blown or broke!!


Ask yourself


How much will it cost to change them?

Then ask yourself


How much will it cost you to change them after the engine is in the car all ready to go and now you have to start all over again?

 

[lilbowtie]

This is going to be a little confrontational, if the engine is out of the car I would go for bearings. In the car I would personally leave well enough alone, you can't change the last one anyway and have fun installing them in the car. Bearings don't look bad - in the end your choice.

 

[joesregalproject]

This is going to be a little confrontational, if the engine is out of the car I would go for bearings. In the car I would personally leave well enough alone, you can't change the last one anyway and have fun installing them in the car. Bearings don't look bad - in the end your choice.

My issue is this- this engine ran well according to the previous owner and was supposed to be a drop-in ready engine.

I never intended this to be a full rebuild and I'm already way farther into this engine than I ever wanted to be because of the "well since I'm this far" mentality. At some point I gotta say enough is enough. This is a running engine and everything so far has looked pretty good.

If I pull the rotating assembly, then the next thing will be "well might as well change the main and rod bearings, and polish the crank" and "might as well hone and re-ring". Then I'll have to pull the heads to get the pistons back in, and I'll need new head gaskets and head bolts, and I don't want to be doing all this work I never intended.


I'm not gonna be racing this engine. It's going into a cruise night car that'll get driven a couple times a week in the summer only.

If they don't look bad, I'd prefer to leave them, and leave the bottom end alone. That way I can leave the heads on, leave the crank and rotating assembly in, stab the cam in and get this thing back together without throwing a whole lot more money and time at it.

 

[TURNA]

Did you hear it run?