[Fot] Cam Bearings - TR-2 to 4A

[Jack Wheeler]

 I've never seen any cam bearings that were solid rings.  The Vandervell bearings may look like a complete ring, unless you look real closely and see the clench design.  I always installed my own cam bearings.  I made my own tool years ago.  When installing non-Vandervell bearings, with a straight cut, I used to put a hose clamp around the bearing before I started driving it into the block.  This kept the ends of the bearing aligned.  As I drove the bearing into the block, it pushed out of the hose clamp.  Obviously, before driving the bearing in, you needed to make sure the bearing was properly aligned and the oil holes and the securing bolt holes were properly lined up with the block.  Not a difficult job if you have the right tools (driver, hose clamp and a flashlight), and have done it a few times.

You can run into a problem if the holes in the bearing are not properly lined up with the holes where the cam bearing securing bolts screw into the block.  When you screw the securing bolts in, they may catch part of the bearing, pushing it in.  If this happens, the cam won't go in and if you force it you may score the cam.  If this happens, you should get a new bearing, and start over.  I speak from experience!
Jack

    On Tuesday, February 9, 2021, 10:46:43 AM EST, J.C. Hassall <jhassall at gmail.com> wrote:  
 
 Hey Jack,What a great story!  IFF I recall correctly, when I rebuilt my TR4 last time, the cam bearings were complete rings.  The machine shop had a rough time aligning the bearing holes with the oiler holes in the block.  
I'm just curious.
tnx--
jim  W4BEA
On Tue, Feb 9, 2021 at 10:20 AM Jack Wheeler via Fot <fot at autox.team.net> wrote:

I worked for a large diesel engine manufacturer and Vandervell was a major bearing supplier to us.  I was working on a new product introduction team and one day the Vandervell rep was in visiting our purchasing manager.  The purchasing manager introduced me to the rep, and during the course of our discussion I shared with him the fact that I was racing a TR-4 at the time.  I had recently experienced problems getting Vandervell cam bearings and asked him about the status of bearing supply for the TR engine.  He said he would look into it.
A few weeks later, our purchasing manager walked into my office with a big box and said, "this is for you".  He told me that the Vandervell rep had gone back to the UK and had one of his materials managers gather all of the TR-2/4 cam bearings from all of their major warehouses in the UK, and sent them to me.  There were over 100 bearings.  Since they were all the wide bearings, I had about a third of them cut down to the width of the narrow bearing.  To make sure the oil holes lined up with the holes in the block, the machine shop had to cut an equal amount off each side of the bearing to get the appropriate width.

Where is all this going?  Well, I changed the cam bearings (because I had them) every time I rebuilt an engine, which was about every 4 races.  For whatever reason, I kept a number of the used bearings with 4 race weekends on them (or less).  I have a total of 17 wide bearings, plus one new wide AE bearing, and 9 narrow bearings, or about 9 sets.  I don't know if anyone is interested in running used bearings in your race engines, but if you are, I am offering them to anyone on the list for the price of the shipping cost.  The wear in these bearings is visible (see pictures), but barely perceptible when you run your finger over the areas of wear.  About what you would expect after 3 or 4 pace weekends.

What is the benefit of Vandervell cam bearings?  The AE or all the other bearings that are on the market today (to my knowledge) have a straight split in the bearing, which can result in the ends of the bearing becoming misaligned.  The Vandervell bearing has a design that looks like a jigsaw puzzle piece, where the ends of the bearing are clenched together, preventing misalignment.  In the third picture attached I tried to get a good shot of this feature.
If anyone is interested in one or more sets of these bearings, let me know how many you want.  Thanks.
Jack
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-- 
jim  W4BEA
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