Thread: Why has God forsaken my Chevy motors

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Ok, so the SJ 327 I bought from a private seller was put together pretty well, except for the high lift cam which had a rounded off lobe and lifter #6 exhaust. I had to gently pry the cam out of the block. It's gonna need new cam bearings. Ok well thats a project because now I want to go through the rest of the block to see what else is wrong. Well the other project I have is a Caballero I bought from a friend. It has a Weiland single plane xcellerator intake on it and some hooker super comp headers. He told me it has a 2500 stall converter and a shift kit. The original motor caught on fire and burnt the hood up pretty well. So he swapped out the motor for a 350. Casting # 14010207. 80-85 2-4 bolt main. With a set of redone 882 heads. Well the motor never ran right. So he told me he though it needed a valve adjustment. So I do that and notice that #7 exhaust is not lifting at all. Well to make a long story short, rounded off lifter and wiped out cam. This time the cam is stuck in the block. I've tried prying it out from the front with the cam handle installed. So I guess I've got to pull the motor and pursuade the cam to come out by tapping on it from the back of the block. The block only had 60,000 on it and it was out of a box truck. I'm thinking somebody put new lifters on an old cam. But I thought it was just weird how the last two motors I've bought have had that problem. I'm just trying to nickel and dime the Caballero right now to get it running. I don't know if its a good idea to put some new cam bearings in and buy a cheap cam. If I do that I won't have to worry about what I had lost it if it breaks again. I just need something to run back and forth to work. Any thoughts.

If you are looking for a cheap cam, check out PAW, performance auto warehouse. I've bought several cam kits from them over the years, and cam and lifter setup was about $ 90.00. Haven't checked lately, but shouldn't be much more, if any.

This is their house brand cam set, and it is actually a Crane cam, because there is a Crane cam timing card included. They offer about 5 or 6 grinds for each application, ranging from mild to wild. I have never had a bit of problem with them. I lived near the Crane factory, and was talking to them one day, and the guy there admitted they private label cams for PAW and some others.

I also bought their house brand double roller timing chain set, and sent it back and exchanged it for a brand name one (don't remember which brand) because when I installed it there was slop in it already. The name brand fit tight right out of the box.

Just thought this might be a good deal if you are looking to save some money on a new cam.

Don

What cam would you recommend getting. Everything is pretty much stock but it has a 2500 stall, super comp hooker headers, and a single plane weiland intake.

Don't get too crazy on the cam,if you go over .450 lift you'll need better springs,and for all around street use I'd recommend a dual plane manifold.Hank

I know this may sound dumb. but did you pull the fuel pump, and push rod out before trying to remove the cam?

Originally Posted by mod67

I know this may sound dumb. but did you pull the fuel pump, and push rod out before trying to remove the cam?

And distributor?

Yes everything is out but I've had this trouble before with the 327. I tried tapping it out from the back of the block. Nothing worked. I sprayed it down with Blaster, let it sit overnight, and in the morning the cam was laying almost all the way out of the block. I had the block on about a 45 degree angle.