Home
Page
welcome to our website
About Us
information about our Club
Contacts
our Officers and Committee
Events Diary
our events for the
months ahead
Event Reports
from the last four months
Member's Cars
a selection of
our active "Sevens"
Joys of being a 7'er
and a few stories
Do you fancy an Austin Seven?
advice on buying a "Seven"
Photo Gallery
of our past activities and
"Sevens" in close up
From the Past
Items from 1920/30s
magazines
Registration Marks
in the UK from 1903
Help at the roadside
fuel and electrical problems
Austin Seven Journal
advice for Austin Agents
& Service Depots
Austin Seven
Handbooks
information for the
new owner
Technical Articles
our Members help you
with various tasks
Austin Big Seven
Sixlite & Forlite
Magazine Articles
relevant to Sevens
Road Tests
for the most popular "Sevens"
Parts and Services
sources of spares etc
Quick Tips
a few handy ideas
Other Articles
of interest, not technical
Austin Seven Books
some of the books available
A7CA and FBHVC
CA7C is an active supporter
Links to other Austin
Seven Sites
Website Policy
on advertisements and links
Last updated:
23 September, 2023
Camshaft Bearings - Ruby 3-bearing engine
There are a number of differences between the 3 and 2 bearing engines,
apart from the obvious! The design of the camshaft centre bearing
is a considerable improvement over the earlier roller race, and is a
split bronze plain bearing located in the housing in the 3 bearing
crankcase by a special set-bolt (i.e. one with a plain dowel pin at the
end).
Much easier to fit than an array of 14 rollers, but I spent over an hour trying to fit the split bearing by manipulating the components on the camshaft into the appropriate hole in the crankcase, with my fingers in the limited space around the already fitted crank and the apertures for the tappets. Retreating to lick my wounds, I pondered how it was done at ‘The Austin’, where there must have been a simpler method.
I slept on the problem, and decided to try another route – attach the bearing to the camshaft where it would normally sit, and since the front camshaft bearing hole is larger diameter than the middle bearing then lower the assembly carefully through the front bearing hole and as long as the locating holes in the front and centre bearings are lined up with the set-bolt holes in the crankcase everything would be fine………….but how to secure the bearing halves around the camshaft? I considered various alternatives.
Sticking the bearing halves to the camshaft journal with very thick
grease or Vaseline and lowering the assembly into the crankcase. Holding
the bearing halves together with a springy collar that could be
unwrapped and retrieved, (probably how it was done on the assembly line
at Longbridge). Tie-wrapping the halves in place and cutting the
wrapping free. The method I decided on was to use a small rubber band
which could be snapped and removed once the centre bearing halves were
located, before final fitting.
Ten minutes later, the camshaft assembly complete with bearings was secure in the crankcase (although the job took rather longer if the time taken to photograph the proceedings is taken into account) and the timing gears were correctly meshed.
This article, written by Bob Kneale, originally appeared in CA7C Seven Focus April 2016, pp24-25
See also:
Camshaft Bush Modification