My epic delivery of engine goodies from RPI Engineering has arrived, so on with the build today. Next job is to fit the uprated Piper 270 camshaft – this should give a nice futher boost in power, whilst retaining everyday drivability hopefully. I’ll also be fitting a new Cloyes Duplex timing chain set.
After a final check that the camshaft bearings were all clean and free from any dirt, I very carefully slid the new cam in using plenty of assembly grease on all of the bearings.
These later engines all had this thrust plate securing the camshaft, so that went on next and was torqued to the correct setting.
With the crankshaft at top dead centre it’s very easy to align the camshaft by lining up the markings on the new timing gears. If you’re replacing an old camshaft, make sure to remove and keep the woodruff key from it before you discard it, as new cams do not come with them included. The new chain is fitted to the gears away from the engine, and then the whole assembly is slid over both shafts and tapped gently home.
Final job here was to refit the distributor drive gear to the end of the camshaft, and then fit and torque down the camshaft bolt. With that done, I gave the block another quick clean to remove a few stubborn final traces of old gaskets, just to make sure all the faces are ready for the next stages of the build.
