Olds442redberet

Here's a question.

I just pulled the fuel pump actuator and the actuator retaining bolt out of my 350. Is that a bad thing? Do I need it to keep the cam in place? Or is there a thrust plate on the cam that keeps it in place? Thanks

joe_padavano

If by "fuel pump actuator" you mean the eccentric on the front of the cam, yes you want to keep them. Assuming you are not using a mechanical fuel pump, the eccentric does serve as a washer. The bolt itself retains the cam gear on the cam and also acts as a snubber to keep the cam from walking forward and bears on the backside of the front cover. There is no cam retainer plate because the natural force of the distributor gear pulls the cam backward into the block, which is why there's a step on the front end of the cam that rides on the block face. It is possible for some cam walk, which is why the bolt acts as a snubber. Why do you want to remove them, anyway?

Olds442redberet

Eccentric bolt was improperly installed. And as a result it backed itself out, causing damage to the eccentric, the timing chain cover, the water pump, and the bolt itself. The car runs fine with the eccentric removed. Actually it runs real good. I was just hoping to drive it awhile before investing in a rebuild. But since I need to replace the cam in order to get the eccentric back on, coupled with the fact I don't really know what else is going on internally, I figured I would just go ahead and get everything looked at now.

in regards to your response, I figured as much when I was working on removing the eccentric. The bolt was definitely designed to keep the Cam in place. I was just hoping that there would be two bolts holding the Cam in place as well.

Anyway, I bit the bullet today and sent the Cutlass in to have the motor pulled and rebuilt. And although that sounds bad, I am actually excited about the fact I will have a really nice 1969 Cutlass Supreme when I get it back.

The Transmission was rebuilt and duel exhaust put on it two weeks, installed front disc brakes and a new set of Coker brand tires on it over the weekend, and now the engine is being freshened up. All that'll be left to do is install a headliner.

All in all, and to the surprise of my lovely wife, I still believe I got a good car.