heres my question.


i have a solid roller cam with the necked down nose, ment to be a replacement cam for a roller block. it has the necked down nose for the retaining plate.

im putting into a 400 small block chevy. now i know i need a roller timing chain because the cam gear bolt pattern is diffrent.
and i know i need my thrust button to keep it from walking forward.


reading online, i see some people mention a "spacer" that covers where the old retaining plate goes.

why would this be needed? as i see it, the thrust button keeps the cam from going forward, and the rear of the block keeps it from going backward... if i put a spacer there what would it do?? is there anything wrong with how im going about setting that up?

 

I think you would need to have lifters that are retrofitted or something like that and a thrust plate for the cam but I am not toally sure.

 

The thrust plate is not required, and frankly I've never understood why people say you need a spacer there. The only thing I can think of is oil control (to keep the front cam bearing oil from leaking through too fast.) You'll also need retro-fit lifters (the ones with the bar across each pair to keep them straight.) You're looking at probably $500-600 just for that.

 

mmk, so that im not helping the spread of mis-info i'll post what ive found...


the cam uses the block side of the cam gear to keep the cam from moving rearward.

because of the space ment for the plate, the cam gear is far forward... so the cam would walk backward if i didnt have a spacer there.



as for the rest of the valvetrain, im already set.


thanks.

MrDude_1