The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Camshaft retainer plate

Yea ,I broke it. Shattered like glass ,when I was trying to press the cam gear off the 235. Now to find one.I was hoping to have the bottom end all done today.This will slow me down,I paid extra for 2 day shipping,so I would have the new gears ,so I could get it together today.I guess it will be a while .

Apparently this is what they normally do. I don't know why unless the brass goes brittle somehow. Mine didn't break but I am installing a new one. Because my old one had wear the gear was starting to form a mark on the front plate.

Where did you get the new one.

PM me your address, I can help.

The thrust plate is cast steel, not brass, and it's brittle. Pressing an old gear off is a recipie for disaster. We used to break the old fiber gears off with a pry bar and split the gear hub with a chisel, then heat the hub of the new gear and tap it onto the cam with a block of wood and a BFH. An aluminum cam gear can be drilled and tapped for puller bolts- - - -it's junk anyway.
Jerry

I figured that out the hard way.

Well I guess there was a variety because with both my 216s and the replacement, they are made of brass. I believe I got mine on Ebay.

All the 216's I have seen are brass. The steel came later with the full pressure 235's.

Are the thrust plates interchangeable between the 235's and the 194-292 series engines?
Jerry

194-292 are thinner.
I have the correct one ready to go once he gets back with me.

Thanks for the part.it is a big help.

Are those plates scarce enough to justify tooling up to fabricate them? It looks like a very simple job for a CNC mill, plus a little heat treating to get the right hardness, and a quick surface grinder job for final thickness and finish.
Jerry

as far as I know napa has them readily available, along with the little spacer needed behind certain ones. Delta cam got me one with no problem, however they did lose my brand new cam. The retainers seem to be easy enough to get though
.

I was going to do this if I could not find one.I do miss working in a shop that had a CNC punch,CNC brake press,CNC mill,CNC plasma cutter,shear,and iron worker,any steel that I needed.I still have access to a CNC mill and water jet,but prefer not to use them for my own use.After using good tools ,it's hard to go back to doing things by hand.

I still do it the hard way- - - -hand cranked machinery and lots of hand-filing and measuring. Of course, most of the high-end firearms are still made by master craftsmen, and the old Mausers and Enfields I work on were made that way close to 100 years ago.
Jerry

What are the pros and cons of the cam gear being Alum.alloy vs. Fiber?
I'm replacing my crank pulley on my 56 235, ( it broke loose from the harmonic balancer, wobbled, stretched the rivet holes and made a LOT of noise!!!). Since the whole front of my engine is now exposed, (after one a year on my rebuild), and I have a new fiber gear "in stock", should I replace the alum. alloy cam gear with fiber? Yup, I have studs in the bottom two cover holes so removal will be easy. More noise reduction would be good, but I don't want less precision, performance or longevity. Pros and cons? What say you?

i owned a '67 Firebird many years ago. It had a fiber cam gear. One day the gear shucked its teeth off and dumped tons of fiber fragments in the oil pan. Boy was that fun.

Go with the metal gear. The chain will wear before the teeth do, and the chances of them coming off in pieces are slim to none.

What chain? The ones on the tailgate, maybe?
Jerry