1958 Buick Special camshaft problem and question

Hi,

I´m from Germany, my english is not so well and I hope I write right what I mean.

I have a 1958 Buick Special 4 door Sedan with 364 cui V8 engine 6 liter and 300 SAE hp.

My car is from Texas, 2013 it moved to Germany.

The Buick is a survivor car with original 34100 miles.

In the moment we make all seals from engine new.

At that work we saw, that the camshaft can move to front and rear from engine round about 4 millimeters (how many inch I do not know).

If the engine will turning, the camshaft move back in the right position and the distributor is turning.

Now my question.

That´s right that the camshaft we can sliding with hands?

Is that normally?

We changed also the timing chain, but at that moment we felt not that we made a mistake.

Hope someone can help me with information.

Best regards from Germany

That moving back and forth from the camshaft is not good at all. You will never have a consistent timing for the ignition; you saw yourself that the rotor is moving when the camshaft is longitudinally moving. If you don't have a shop manual I would first buy one, maybe you can see if there is something missing on your engine. Probably other Buick owners know the answer and will tell you what you are missing.

Good luck!

Might do better posting this down in the Buick section??

Looking at my 1955 manual the desired cam end play is .1 to .2 MM. I suspect the 58 engine is similar. The 58 shop manual would list that under engine specs...............Bob

Here are those specs from my '58 Buick Chassis Service Manual.

At that work we saw, that the camshaft can move to front and rear from engine round about 4 millimeters (how many inch I do not know).

If the engine will turning, the camshaft move back in the right position and the distributor is turning.

Now my question.

That´s right that the camshaft we can sliding with

Best regards from Germany

I don't think I would worry about your camshaft end play. Your crankshaft has it also. Although I'm not real familiar with your Buick engine, I would expect that there is a plate behind the cam drive gear that's bolted to the engine block and holds the camshaft in place. This is commonly known as a thrust plate. Examine the back side of it, where it rides against the end of the camshaft. If you see excessive wear on the plate, then possibly your concern is valid. Otherwise, just a small amount of shine should be nothing to worry about. Other more knowledgeable Buick aficionados are welcome to dispute or dispel my advice. Edited February 10, 2015 by Larry W (see edit history)