4 replies to this topic

[dklawson]

I was flamed on another board for suggesting that a tight cam retaining plate be flipped over (since sometimes they are bowed) OR having the plate surface ground to get the desired endfloat. I was told that under no circumstances should I recommend this because the plate has "white metal" on only one side.

I have never seen a cam retaining plate with Babbitt on any surface. I would expect that if the plate had such a bearing material on one surface the manuals would tell you which direction it should face (towards the cam or towards the sprocket). Have any of you seen cam retaining plates with bearing material on one side and/or seen a reference to retaining plate orientation in any of the manuals?

[Southy]

I was under the impression that the cam retaining plate would only fit on one way round and in a certain position due to the configuration and layout of the bolt holes?I cant say that i have ever seen a bearing surface on any of the cam retaining plates on the engines that i have stripped and built, then again i havent built an engine for 5 months so i may have forgot by now.

[Rosslin Racing]

the plate has two types of metal on it that is correct.

[lrostoke]

This is off a 998 A+ engine

And like mentioned the holes only line up one way.

[dklawson]

Thanks for that.

It appears I was both right and wrong. I was wrong, you cannot flip the plate over because the bolt pattern is not symmetric. I was also wrong as some plates do have white metal as mentioned/shown above.

However, I have been informed that I have not completely lost my mind. Early plates (and replacement plates ordered by friends of mine) were not given the Babbitt coating on either side. This is an instance where my familiarity with older cars (and non-Mini cars) caused me to provide misinformation.

Thanks for setting me straight.