dry cam

[lawson]

Hello, I'm new to this or any forum. Feels great to be in such good company. I found ya'll while looking for some advice. I have a gas, 6cyl., 1961 220sb. Recently, I changed it over to electronic ignition and ripped the gears out of the timing shaft and timing drive gear. I sent it to the shop for repair. When I picked it up and started driving home, a horrible squeal came from under the hood. I have since found that there is no oil getting to the cam. The oil pressure gauge reads a normal pressure. I wonder if anyone would care to help.

[t walgamuth]

there is a tube that bolts to all the three cam towers that carries oil to them. i bet they left it off.

tom w

[lawson]

About a year ago I replaced the valve train on this car, including the cam. The old cam was hollow and oil flowed through it. The new replacement is solid and requires the tube. The tube is in place. I checked and it is not plugged. Thanks, I appreciate the response. I wonder if some shreds of the ruined timing gears could have made their way into the oil passages? My shop manual doesn't have any diagrams of the oil flow.

[Tomguy]

Something has got to be plugging the tube somewhere. Take it off and run carb cleaner through it. I bet either metal shards or gunk will come out.

[t walgamuth]

also check the bolt that holds the tube on. iirc, it is hollow and the oil flows through it. perhaps they subsituted a solid bolt after twisting the hollow one in two.

tom w

[Chas H]

The bolt isn't hollow, there is a port next to it that feeds a stub on the oiling tube.
There is likely a connection between the 2 problems. When you say ripped the gears out-did they fail or?

[wbain5280]

Please add some pics.

What do you mean by

Recently, I changed it over to electronic ignition and ripped the gears out of the timing shaft and timing drive gear. I sent it to the shop for repair.

FYI: The distributor drive sprocket drives the distributor and the oil pump.

[t walgamuth]

Originally Posted by Chas H

The bolt isn't hollow, there is a port next to it that feeds a stub on the oiling tube.
There is likely a connection between the 2 problems. When you say ripped the gears out-did they fail or?

ok. sorry... it has been a while since i had one apart.

tom w

[lawson]

Thanks ya'll. It all started when I changed the points and condenser to a Pertronix (part#1864a) electronic ignition. I didn't remove the distributor for the procedure and when I cranked the car the distributor bound up, probably due to my using the wrong screw to hold the ground on the outside of the housing. This stripped the gears at the bottom of the distributor shaft and the timing drive gear inside the block. I know that the oil pump also works off of the timing shaft. However, the pressure guage reads normal pressures. I am sure the oil tube is clear. I will drain the oil pan and remove the filter tomorrow. Maybe that is where the block is. If not, I guess the oil pan will need to come off. I really don't want to remove the head, but I will if I have to. Thanks again.

[wbain5280]

If you're lucky, the engine has a two piece oil pan, the front section unbolts from the main section. Some versions used a one piece aluminum oil pan, which would be harder to remove.

[Chas H]

You might try blowing back through the oil hole in the front cam bearing. Maybe take out the drive gears when you do to give any swarf that might be in there a place go.
I don't know what would be in the oil pan to cause the problem.