Block protecter,thrust plate with roller bearings
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Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2006
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From: Baltimore MD
Block protecter,thrust plate with roller bearings
Guys is there anybody running one of these roller bearing block protecter plates in their engine? Is there any problems with them? Seems to me if it went up on you ,all those little bearings would go through your engine. I have one of these and im debating putting it in. Whats the pros and cons on these things? Bill
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Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2006
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From: Baltimore MD
Also,i have noticed that when you put one of these on ,it pushes the cam out a little and if you look down the lifter bores,the lobes are off center a little too.Is this right? Hydraulic roller cam companies say you should use a block protecter plate when useing a HR cam,but it will off center the lobes a little.
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From: Who says "Nothing is impossible" ? I've been doing nothing for years.
Are you talking about a Torrington bearing ? If so I have one on my 427ci with no problems. Anywhere you can have rollers, I have 'em, I evan have a roller on the tip of my fuel pump pushrod 
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2006
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From: Baltimore MD
What about the torrington bearing moveing out your cam a little. I noticed by looking down the lifter bore hole that the bearing pushes the cam out towards the front of the block and the lifter lobes are not exactly centered.
Team Owner
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I wish that blockman would jump in. But when you run the torrington or bronze timing gear thrust plates you have to machine the front of the block or run billet cam timings gears made for them to get the correct spacing
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Melting Slicks
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From: Baltimore MD
I kinda was thinking thats what would have to be done,but you say they have timing gears to compensate for this?
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From: Who says "Nothing is impossible" ? I've been doing nothing for years.
Yes you have to machine the block unless you buy the $150 Cloyes timing set that comes with the bearing and the timing gear is machined for it instead of the block. Either way it's going to cost you 
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Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2006
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From: Baltimore MD
.How come i ran the edelbrock hydraulic roller without the thrust plate,they didnot say you had to run one with that cam,whats the difference?The cam from edelbrock was 2201 HR
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From: Who says "Nothing is impossible" ? I've been doing nothing for years.
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2006
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From: Baltimore MD
Im just trying to understand this,i dont get it,why you got to use one for one cam and not another?I will have to buy the billet timing kit i guess.
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From: Who says "Nothing is impossible" ? I've been doing nothing for years.
Nothing wrong with the billet timing sets, you can reuse them and the chain ain't gonna loosen up on you. This is the part number I got, Cloyes 9-3600TX9, I like when they say Only $131.99 at Jegs 
I think you can get cheaper ones with built in Torrington bearing but stay away from any Chinese junk
I think you can get cheaper ones with built in Torrington bearing but stay away from any Chinese junk
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From: I tend to be leery of any guy who doesn't own a chainsaw or a handgun.
I'm using a Torrington bearing setup on my 427. I was concerned about the durability of this bearing (so far most of the reports are positive), and what had to be done to deal with the bearing thickness. I looked through the Summit catalog and found a cam sprocket (and chain) that is already machined for the thickness of the bearing, and that the parts are American made. So far everything is working well in the engine.
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2006
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From: Baltimore MD
Thank you guys,this was a big help.I bet alot of people dont know this about the block protecters. I still would like to know the difference between the two HR cams,why you have to run a block protecter for one and not the other.
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On my stuff I drill a hole directly into the #1 main gallery in the cam thrust face to put pressurized oil to the back of the gear. This is on my 540 after 10 years of use. The 427 that I've had for 25 years still looks just as good.
JIM
JIM
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2006
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From: Baltimore MD
Do you run a block protecter? or would drilling that hole work? Or do you have both? Do you run a HR cam which needs a thrust washer?
Last edited by Billysvette; Nov 21, 2010 at 09:55 PM.
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I don't use the Torrington bearing ones. Added complication to my way of thinking. No block protectors. That thrust surface has had a cam running against it all the time. If I had a block that was ruined by someone either not drilling this hole or from setting cam up wrong I would repair it by either milling that thrust face and installing a wear plate of the right thickness or machining it and using a torrington bearing. You have to find room for the extra bearing thickness somewhere..either by machining the block or the back of the cam gear. Otherwise it does as you described and pulls cam too far forward.
A soild or hyd roller needs some way to control end play. The factory uses a thrust plate that fits over a stepped machined nose on the Hyd roller cam. There is no block protector..it just holds cam in place. Engines that don't use the thrust plate use a thrust button on the end to take up clearance between cam and timing cover and hold it in place. Both work fine. I usually just use the thrust bumpers. You can get trick Cloyes timing covers with built in thrust adjusters that make it very easy to set them up.
JIM
A soild or hyd roller needs some way to control end play. The factory uses a thrust plate that fits over a stepped machined nose on the Hyd roller cam. There is no block protector..it just holds cam in place. Engines that don't use the thrust plate use a thrust button on the end to take up clearance between cam and timing cover and hold it in place. Both work fine. I usually just use the thrust bumpers. You can get trick Cloyes timing covers with built in thrust adjusters that make it very easy to set them up.
JIM
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2005
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From: League City TX
I dont claim to be an expert, but this has never made any sense to me.
When you run a flat tappet cam the taper of the lobes pushes the cam into the block.
A roller cam is not ground that way so other than the oil pump drive, there is nothing pushing the cam rearward.
Thats why you have to run some form of cam thrust plate or button.
Why would you need extra block protection for a cam that loads the front of the block less?
When you run a flat tappet cam the taper of the lobes pushes the cam into the block.
A roller cam is not ground that way so other than the oil pump drive, there is nothing pushing the cam rearward.
Thats why you have to run some form of cam thrust plate or button.
Why would you need extra block protection for a cam that loads the front of the block less?
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That's another reason I don't mess with the bearings. No need for it with a roller. But many a block has been ruined over the years and providing some oiling sure doesn't hurt things. Plus this 540 and the 427 have also run flat tappets off and on through the years.
JIM
JIM