Distributor not going in all the way

[smoothlandin]

You know that was my plan upon buying this truck, then life happened and I tried to make due with what I had.
Thanks everyone for the help.

[fitz]

What is plan B?
Are you going to do cam bearings and give it another shot? Or just look for another motor?

[smoothlandin]

I'm kinda at a loss as to what to do at the moment. I bought the truck with the intention of swapping in a 454 or caddy 500 to use for towing and side jobs. All while restoring it while using it. Done it before..
Life stuff happened so I just bought a cam and headers, cleaned out the parts bin, and crossed my fingers. My budget went to moving, long story. Now I have no budget and no engine!
I guess I will be looking for another 350 at this point, use what i have for it, because I can't see myself doing only cam bearings on an engine that could really use a rebuild, but stranger things have happened. We'll see. I think I ought to start a build thread, to keep me motivated on this project.
Luckily this isn't my daily driver.

[bd]

That's a bummer Smoothlandin!

[fitz]

  In my younger days, I'd be tempted to reach down there with a long screwdriver and try to nudge the bearing into place. What's the worst that can happen?
  Now that I'm a little older, I'd still try the same thing.
   

[smoothlandin]

Funny you say that about reaching in there...that's the plan for this afternoon!

[fitz]

Ya, it might not be the best idea, but I figure at this point, what can it hurt.
The caddy motor would be cool.  Too bad most of the old donor cars that you would see on the side of the road for $500 are long gone.

[smoothlandin]

Well, got the rear most cam bearing back in place...put the thing back together, but upon tightening rockers, found the second to furthest cam bearing out of its hole, lifter wouldnt go down all the way.
Bringing the engine to a local builder to install new cam bearings for $45. He is interested to see it, this is the first he's heard doing this. We will be checking the cam as well to make sure it is the right spec for sbc cam bearings.

[bd]

Curious - how do the old cam journals look?

[smoothlandin]

Honestly, the journals don't seem any more worn than they should, but there is a line on the rear journal that looks as though the cam bearing might have rode toward the edge of the journal and out of the block a little, if that makes sense. But no other crazy wear.

[hatzie]

The caddy motor would be cool.  Too bad most of the old donor cars that you would see on the side of the road for $500 are long gone.

The 472 is a stump puller too.  A friend has one in a 77 GMC K20 that he uses to tow a big Airstream up the grapevine at highway speeds.
He claims it doesn't feel like he's towing anything.

From orbit on my Android.

[HAULIN IT]

Were the bearings slid forward or backwards out of place? Did you find yourself tapping/prying the cam into place for some reason? Maybe it's just me, but it seems odd/unrealistic that this could happen carefully sliding the cam into place being careful not to bump the edge of the cam bearings.
 If they moved out of place by carefully removing or installing a cam, it would seem unlikely that they will stay in place while the engine is running for any length of time.
This was a running engine that you just decided to change the cam one day, correct? Keep us posted, Lorne

[smoothlandin]

I didn't use any force to remove the old cam; it slid right out without hesitation. I almost wondered why it was so easy to pull it out. I installed the new cam the same way, very smoothly. A little resistance towards the back of the block, but I figured it was just due to it being a new cam that wasn't worn. I didn't have to use any force to install it, nor would I have, I'm not one to use a hammer or pry bar when working on an engine.
The truck was running, but quite rough. I tore it down and upon seeing the timing chain severely stretched, decided to replace the timing chain and figured the cam while I was at it.
Upon further inspection, and why the distributor wouldn't go in, the rear most cam bearing was riding on the cam, in between the cam gears and the bearing journal. Once I saw that was the issue, I pushed the bearing back into place, easily, by using a screw driver. The bearing had to be worn pretty good if it just slid back in without any force. I figured I would just put it back together for the whatever it was worth and look for a donor in the meantime. When a lifter mid way through the block wouldn't go down, I reached in and could feel something moving around on that lobe. I crawled underneath and by rotating the engine could just see the second from the back cam bearing riding on the cam. The thing that seems odd is that the bearing in the back was moved forward, like it came out with the old cam, and the second bearing was moved back like it moved in with the new cam.

[HAULIN IT]

VERY strange indeed! Reality is...for the cost to fix the block, it's junk now. Those bearings have had to be turning in the block & wore down to be able to slid them back in place. It would sure seem like they will move again & there has to be metal filings all through the engine...better come up with Plan B quite soon. Take Care, Lorne