is this normal??? put together my short block, put in distributor, when i turn rotor cap it pushes my cam forward about 3/8 of a inch. seems like alot of forward movement. not sure. hydraulic flat tappet cam / stock HEI dist. thanks 359 PETE

 

never knew a cam would move that much.you need a button on the front of your cam,that will stop the movement.summit got the solid button for 3.00 and they got a needle bearing botton for 7.00.

 

How do you know that it's pushing your cam forward?

RM

 

i turned the rotor cap by hand, just enough to drop in place after in place turned it in clockwise direction and it clanked against the timing chain cover. removed timingchain cover and sure enough then measureapprox 3/8". 359 PETE

 

A button isn't a bad idea, although completely un-neccessary.

My concern would be why your cam is moving forward ust with the insertion of your distributor.

Isyour timing chain and gears new? Do you have the right timing set on your car? Does your block have cam bearings in it?

I know that last one sounded kind of off the wall, and it is, but my point being with a brand new timing set, you'f be hard pressed to be able to pull the cam gear out more than a 1/16th of an inch when the chain is on (properly) and all of the cam bolts are tighened down.

What else can you tell us?

RM

 

it only happens when the rotor cap is turned in the clockwise direction. the distributor in place is ok just while moving the rotor cap. new cam, timing chain, cam bearings. old distributor. i think i was looking at this all wrong and thinking as if the distributor was the motivating factor when in fact the crank will be driving the entire works. it stays inline if i turn the crank. none the less a cam button is on order. 359 PETE