on the dual rear grooved cam bearings. does it really matter where the oil holes are on the front cam bearing. say, if you put it in with the oil hole facing the passenger side hole? since the oil will travel to the holes anyways. or is it just ideal to put it in at 3 and 7 oclock?
The specific positioning of the bearings as recommended by TA, feed oil on the load side of the spinning cam if installed correctly . If the feed holes are orientated perfectly, that's great. After reading your post a few times, I assume that you are concerned about your installation of the bearings and the engine is already assembled. No worries IMO; the TA grooved bearing installed in ANY "clock" position is MUCH better than un-grooved bearings and your engine will be just fine. The only exception might be full race, 6000+ RPM applications or huge valve spring loads . The TA cam bearings are a excellent part and one of Mike's best contributions to our Buick hobby. (One of many) If you are worried about an incorrect install, reply to this post with more specific concerns and more experienced engine builders (than me) will chime in. Jim P
yep, its assembled all the way to the ignition switch on my run stand ready to be fired. lol. when i put the cam bearing in, just by looking at it, it didnt seem to matter. i just aligned one hole to the oil hole on the pass side. and the other hole somewhere around 1-2 oclock. engine has 40 psi with a drill. just double checking i wasnt going to have any issues. engine will probably be shifted around 5500. depending on what it feels like.
TA cam bearings are designed to transfer oil via the groove to the hole in the bearing which is to be positioned just before the high load portion of the bearing, which is about 4 o' clock, so you position the oil hole at 3 o'clock. If you install the TA bearings with the oil hole aligned with the factory hole on the right (pass) side, you kinda defeat the purpose. Buick's decision to have the oil hole on that side was more convienience than anything else. By introducing oil to the bearing on the right side, the oil had 180 deg. of "huge" bearing clearance to hemmorage out before the actuall high load portionou:
Why is there only consideration to 4 o'clock and not 8 o'clock as well? Is it due to the oil pump and distributor?
I would pull it out and get a new one and do it right. And make sure the block is spiffy clean no burs and u go in careful and straight with the bearing. I did something similar and when i removed the bearing I noticed i smudged one groove, so i had a single groove not dual groove bearing.
