Stripped the timing teeth on my cam.. need a good shop in LA.

[brianlolly]

Hey Guys,

So driving home last night on the highway and my bronco backfired and died. I could not get it to fire back up. Cranks fine, getting fuel. So i had it towed back and pulled the distributor cap and could freely spin the rotor. I though i broke the distributor shaft or roll pin for the gear. I look in down the distributor hole int he block and see the teeth on my camshaft worn/ sheered off.

So now i don't want to just throw another cam in as obviously all those bits and pieces are in the engine somewhere.

can anyone suggest a good place in LA that i can take this truck to. It is a 1976 bronco., 351 carb, c4 auto, no ac no ps. easy as can be to pull and swap.. i am thinking of just getting a 408 and dropping it in.

any suggestions would be great!

thanks ahead of time!!!!!

BL

 

[El Kabong]

LA Los Angeles or LA Louisiana?

On most of our vehicles I do the work myself. If for some reason we take it to someone else, Ward Service in Monrovia, CA is the place we go. From our experience they aren't the cheapest, but they are honest & reliable. They were in Pasadena forever & moved to Monrovia probably 10 years ago. The owner, Jim Ward, is 3rd or 4th generation in the family business. I would describe them as full service mechanics, as opposed to Bronco specialists. I have also heard that Carburetor Carl is working there now.

 

[brianlolly]

im in los angeles.

i will give them a look. i am looking for a good crate motor now. or maybe a junkyard 351. undecided. not sure if i wanna dump 5k in the motor!

 

[Broncobowsher]

FYI the destroyed distributor gear is usually a result of the wrong match of cam gear material to distributor gear material. Roller cam with a cast gear on the distributor for a flat tappet cam for example. Can be argumented with a high volume oil pump putting extra load on it as well.

As for replacing what you have now, the minimum is a cam and distributor gear. Cam is a bigger pain then you may have though becuase the cam cannot be removed with the engine in the frame because the grill to engine measurement is less then the length of the cam. So either remove the grill (and many grills do not like to be removed and/or risk paint damage) or remove the engine which is usually the prefered method. Since you will also need to pull the intake and valve covers as well, and the timing cover. With shavings better drop the pan and do an oil pump. Yea, pulling the engine for this repair is the better idea.

 

[brianlolly]

yeah i put a hey distributor in the motor maybe 5 -7k miles ago.. that must have been it as the cam gear is ground down not really broken...


so i guess the next question is.... wheres a good place for a 408 long block? ;D

 

[Bronco Junkie]

I suggest Barrington Engines in Panorama City. I had my Bronco motor done there last summer. They will still remember me.