VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 29 Camshaft gear help

AS NOTED above you can get a shop with a tool to do it or use it and a gear puller to remove the hub. as noted it will get destroyed/ distorted. if you are this deep replace it !! better safe then sorry !!

Hello Larry 30,
OK, blame it on the beer. No, I love beer too. The center part of the old fiber gear that remains on the cam is called the 'GEAR HUB'. The suggestion of most all here is that you should see a machine shop for assistance and ask to watch so that you may learn. It depends on the rules of the shop, but at least they should tell you what they would do. Pullers have to grab the back of the hub to work, but that is where the retainer is. Pulling on the retainer and hub together forces the retainer to jam on the woodruff cam key inside. At best, things break and it comes apart. At worse, things break and doesn't come apart. Another way is to split the GEAR HUB and spread it apart to loosen and slide it off the cam. Similar to splitting a frozen nut as not to damage the stud. I'd try to cut and spread the hub at the keyway so as not to get near the cam. Machine shops have the tools and imagination to make things happen. Take your new gear with you and show them what you've got. There is nothing special about the woodruff key, it's press fit into the cams key slot so as to lay level for the gear to pass over. When exposed, remove the key using a chisel and tap it out.

So have an update. Took the cam in to a shop today and apparently it looks worse than what I thought according to the shop. Which is fine he recommended sending it to effingham regrinding in IL. Has anyone ever used them before?

Second the shop attempted to get the gear hub off with a bearing splitter and was unable.. suggested carefully cutting it off. What suggestions do you all have to get it off with our damaging the cam?

Thank you for the help.

Well I got impatient and took a dremel with a cutoff wheel to it. Had it off in about 15 minutes.

Still looking for recommendations on where to send it to be reground.

Hello Larry30,
Talk to 'The Filling Station' to learn about their 1929 Chevy cam regrinding service, what is done, what is needed and so on. Chevrolet Parts -

Chevrolet Parts - CAMSHAFT REGRINDING SERVICE - 6 CYLINDER RW-331-6
USD $149.50 EA
Add to Cart
Options CHEVROLET CAMSHAFT REGRINDING SERVICE - 6 CYLINDER
This is a rebuilding service, must send in your original/core for regrinding.
For 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 Chevrolet Cars and Trucks
Well, if you've verified cam wear, better inspect the lifter surfaces too.

Harrys31coach,

looks like either way I’ll be sending it off to get it ground. I’ll call the place in IL to get a quote at least, I liked their website, seemed like they have the experience and knowledge.

The lifters from that specific motor are not going to be used. I’ll more than likely just get new ones to be safe and start off right. Trying to eliminate the chance of something failing and breaking something expensive or not made anymore.

Hello Larry30,
Good for you getting that 'gear hub' removed. I am a youtube viewer of 'Nicks Garage', a muscle car and engine rebuilder from Canada with an engine dyno at his shop. A very widely known person and crew especially known to those with classic muscle. Anyway, I'm trying to learn about camshaft break-in issues and procedures. His youtube and others discuss engine building do's and don'ts. It seems that the hardest stress on a new cam is lack of lubrication on start-up. Not having a pressure oiling system to the camshaft relies on flinging oil mist from the rotating crankshaft. On start-up, the engine needs to come up to high RPM quickly so as to generate that oil mist and do so for as long as the recommended cam break-in procedure states. So, when you install cam and lifters, I would absolutely flood lobes, lifters and bearings with the sticky assembly lube (you can't use enough) to protect your investment.

I have used Effingham Regrinding and highly recommend them. The current owner is third generation in the business.

Many of us in the NW use an old school business called Oregon Cam Grinding (Vancouver WA). They can recondition a camshaft, your lifters, and arc grind your valve rockers. They do not require the gear to be removed. The older cams have enough space between the first lobe and the gear so as to not be a problem. Yes the fiber gears are getting harder to find because of the number of people who think it absolutely has to come off like a more modern camshaft.

Oregon Cam Grinding can build up and add material to help the amount of lift so that the engine can breathe better. If I remember correctly the stock lift for '29 was .25". Not much. With the smaller stock valves only used in '29 I thought it needed all the help it could get. They were able to regrind and increase the lift another .060" and did a "performance" grind with longer duration and more overlap to help cylinder scavenging. They only had to spray weld and build up 2 lobes to get that amount of an increase which added $50 to my total.