jaa1992

So I'm putting the 383 together and have issues

Put the oil pump on and the cam would rotate about 180* in either direction - off it came and opened up the housing.

CARP - gears are all pitted and gouged and the dings keep it from rotating. - replacement on order and should be here Monday.

Now to the problem - the original waterpump drive has a torn up gear. I used the drive gear from my original 350 and test fitted the new cam gear. Now the came rotates almost 360* before getting hung up.

Aarrggh - so I'm going to pull the cam gear off and the waterpump drive off and inspect every single tooth.

Question - I have some 2 jaw pullers around - can I use one of those to pull the old broke gear off? any other ideas on how to get it off?

Once its off - how do I get the new one back on without messing the bearing up???

dizwiz24

It is possible. I took mine to a local trans shop and they pulled it all off and put it all back together.

Whatever puller/ press you use needs to engage both the outer and INNER races of the bearing.

If you pull just the outer race of the bearing you will destroy it.

Im sorry I dont have more information, as I didnt do the work myself.

I just handed the parts to them, paid them $25 and they did it all. I stood by waiting for about 20 minutes and they handed it back to me.

BTW. I had to do all this because I went with the extreme duty timing kits where you must put the kits special metalurgical gear onto the shaft.

jaa1992

Winner winner chicken dinner!

Took the old assy and new gear to a machine shop I use and they took it apart, put the new gear on and didn't mess up the bearing.

All for $10!

mtwoolford

when you installed the cam retainer plate, did you reuse the button head screws ? they provide the necessary clearance, if you used cap screws, the will interfer with the back of the cam sprocket and create the type of interfernce you are experiencing

dizwiz24

be careful w/ the retainer plate!

I broke off the ear on mine when I hammered out the shaft from the intake side to remove it...

I had forgot to fully unscrew both retainer plate screws before hammering on the backside of the shaft to remove it! Duh!

96GS#007

Not unless they recently changed. I read all the internet hype, so I tested both the OEM LT4 water pump gear and the LT4 Extreme Duty gear. The hardness result....identical.

I ran my water pump stock gear with the Extreme Duty cam gear for years before switching to an electric water pump. With my 383 I switched back to the mechanical pump. I've run my OEM LT4 water pump gear with the Extreme Duty cam gear for the last two years...nearly all on road courses.

jaa1992

Cam plate - yep used the button head screws.
Didn't get a chance to pull things apart tonight so not sure where the exact interference is, but I'll get it figured out.

I'm happy having the shop pull the broken gear and put it back together. With the interference issue it means when I rebuild the original LT1 I'll do it again. Best $10 I spent