VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 camshaft leaking at front bearing (bushing)

Hello folks; I'm in need of your help one more time. thank you all in advance. My 32 is leaking oil out of the front camshaft bearing or bushing.I just had the engine overhauled locally, and now oil is coming out of the timing gear cover crank hole. It 's even more noticable once you shut it down.I pulled the timimng gear cover, ran the engine and oil is just pouring out from behind the timing gear. More than the drain hole can handle, so the vover is filling up with oil. WHAT IS HAPPENING BEHIND THAT TIMING GEAR ?????. HOW CAN I FIX IT ???. Also, can I pull the timing gear off with a puller ?? or do I have to pull the cam out ??. I'm worried about damaging the timing gear. Thanks again. Hot Pockets

Seems to me, you need to get the guy that overhauled it down to your garage!

If the oil is pouring from behind the gear I would suspect that the front camshaft journal is worn and the cam journal is very loose in the bearing.The cam rides directly in the block, there is no replaceable bearing.The block could be worn also.To remove the cam gear it is best to remove the camshaft.The gear is pressed on .It can be removed with cam in engine but will be destroyed in the process.Removing the cam will better enable you to inspect the cam and bearing surface.

There is no cam bearing or bushing in the block.

Whoever rebuilt the engine should guarantee it and he is the one that should repair the problem. However, with early poured bearing engines one of the first things to remember is that you never take your engine to the local machine shop because they usually have no idea as to what they are doing with these old engines.


:( :( :(

I'm thinking to fix this one would ream the block and put in a sleeve to match the cam...maybe turn the cam to get a smooth surface of a standard size?? Remember to open the oil supply hole if you do this.

There may be a tool to do the reaming in the car. If not, turn the OD of the bushing to fit the block. Seems a nasty fix, but saves the block and the investment.

The thrust plate behind the cam gear should be right against the back of the gear (0.003 max spacing, which should slow down the oil flow into the cover somewhat.

It would probably be easier to have the camshaft metal sprayed and then have the journal turned to fit the worn bearing surface in the block. A friend of mine had this exact thing done on his 1932 camshaft several weeks ago and it worked great.

I thought about welding but was afraid it might warp the shaft. I guess spraying is much cooler, but don't know how it works or how hot??
If the hole is round, this is a great fix and avoids working on the block.

Have you verified that the drain is clear, maybe by blowing air into the hole?

Is it clear the oil from "behind the gear" isn't coming from the gear oiling nozzle?

If the "hole" is worn its probably just worn on the lower surface.If the other holes do not have equal wear the "holes" will be out of alignemnt with each other.The holes would require line boreing and all the cam journals would need to be enlarged.
If the clearance is too great between the thrust plate and cam it could easily be measured by checking the end play.

The cam bearings are either all the same size or progressively smaller from the front to the back of the block. If the front bearing surface is reduced in size then the other two may also need to be resized. Then there still might be a problem with the lobes fitting through smaller holes.

I believe that before you decide if the front bearing (bushing) is bad you need to see if there is too much end play, could the oil be oil that is supposed to lubricate the cam gears, and maybe the drain back into the pan is stopped up, and /or the cover seal, if there is one is damaged?

The timing gear oil nozzle actually recieces its oil from the oil that bypasses the front cam bearing.The oil travels down a passage behind the front mounting plate and block and is metered thru a small hole in the nozzle.
I would suspect that you could determine if the front journal or the opening in the block is worn by (carefully) prying up on the camshaft/timing gear from the front.Will be necessary to overcome valve spring pressure.If the cam can be seen as moving the clearance would be too great.The correct camshaft bearing clearance was .002" to .004" so that would be all the "up and down" movement.Cheking with the rocker arm stands unbolted would relieve the valve spring pressure and make the operation easier and more precise.

Hello folks; I'm sorry that I taken so long to reply to your suggestions.IT WAS THE THUST PLATE!!!. Apparently the engine builder cracked it during the installation of the new timing gear,tried to braze it, plus I found the thrust plate to the timing gear, was way more than .003 which should be the max. SOLUTION: Installed a new thrust plate. I set the clearance to .001 between the plate and the timing gear.NO MORE LEAKS !!. What actually happened,if there is any oil coming out of the camshft journal, it was slowed down significantly, now the drain at the bottom of the timing gear cavity, can handle whatever oil exist back to the crancase. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR HELP AND SUGGESTIONS !!! Regards; HOT POCKETS