Cam bind

[AMXguy]

How much pressure is acceptable to turn a new cam in new bearings? I lubed mine up and installed it but it takes more to turn it than I'm comfortable with.

 It turns smooth as glass with no variation in the pressure it takes to turn it but I can't turn it with just the bolt I used to install it, if I slip the gear on I can turn it with two fingers no problem. I stuck a cam bearing years ago so now I'm paranoid, it this going to wear in or do I need to do something?

[Chryco Psycho]

the cm should rotate freely , the cam brgs are too tight , I had a similar problem years ago & left it as I had no way to properly clearance the brgs & it tore the surface off all the cam brgs

[Changin Gears]

I've seen this happen when cam bearings are installed crooked.  The cam bearing install tool has a centering collar on it that prevents this.  To make it work, the end bearings need to be intalled from the opposite end.

[Chryco Psycho]

mine were installed with a cam tool & were still tight , sometimes you have to scrape the brg surface where it is tight , I bought a very long screw driver to aid in clearancing tight cam brgs

[AMXguy]

How do you find the tight spot? there is nothing obvious to see I've looked.

[Chryco Psycho]

the surface of the brg will be shiny but it can be very tough to see where

[boydsdodge]

IFIRC my machinist polised the cam a little where it was tight.
It didnt take much at all, he said it happens with aftermarket cams and new bearings.

[Moparal]

If you can move the cam with 2 fingers when the gear is on, I really dont feel you will have an issue as I see it.  If you had to exert force of any kind like a wrench or socket or pry bar, then yes, but to move it with 2 fingers on the sprocket shouldnt be an issue.

[AMXguy]

Well I cleaned it dry then put it in and turned it to find the shiny spots, after an hour or two of that and using a sharp knife to shave them a wisker now I can turn it with two fingers on just the bolt head. kind of a pain but I think it should smooth itself in now. If I hadn't had a cam bearing stick on a 390 once I wouldn't have worried so much but it caused a whole engine to go TU.

[Chryco Psycho]

it may not have caused a problem but you are better off fixing the problem before you have a problem , glad you got it solved 

[moper]

I've also had the installation tool "peen" over the edges a little, making the forward edge the tight spot. I always want to turn them by hand or else they are "too tight".