cam lube

oldspert

oldspert

Senior Member
I am ready to assemble my block and wonder if I need to use Moly lube on my cam lobes and the bottom of the lifters? Or is regular assembly lube good enough?
 
Lubriplate 105 assembly lube for me, including lifters and lobes. It’s kinda heavy white grease.

Back in high school we were taught to dip everything in STP during assembly. Including all fasteners…
 
I use a 50% molybdenum disulphide powder dispersed in bentone grease. Rocol Assembly and Running in Compound. Also on the distributor cam. It is non conductive, unlike graphite greases.
I used to manufacture it under licence to Rocol UK.
SAJ in UK
 
johnneilson said:
Depends on what motor you are putting together.
Cam material is the issue, better safe than sorry, moly anti seize

J
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Just a stock Model A engine bored .080. Stock cam, counterbalanced crank, stock head, so no high cylinder pressure and low pressure springs. I am not sure of the cam material but I suspect it is whatever factory cams were made of.
Ed
 
Does it really matter? In some ways, probably not. Think about this ....how many revolutions does the camshaft make during the entire assembly process, going thru the valve lash adjustment process, then the engine assembly installation process, and finally the initial start-up.

Would it be fair to say most engines will see in excess of more than 10 lobe revolutions across the face of each tappet? If so, how much assembly lube/white grease/moly lube will still be there after that 10th revolution?? Granted that 'something' is better than no lube, but in all likelihood there really won't be much lubrication to make one coating better than something else.
 
Brent, Assembly lube is pretty sticky. I found that it does not get squeezed out between the cam lobes and the tappet, leaving them dry. Nor does it get squeezed out of any bearings.
 
nkaminar said:
Brent, Assembly lube is pretty sticky. I found that it does not get squeezed out between the cam lobes and the tappet, leaving them dry. Nor does it get squeezed out of any bearings.
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Neil, when a pointed lobe is wiped across a compressed face, it probably won't squeeze it out but it will definitely scrape it off.
 
I've always thought the same thing about assembly lube being a temporary resident of the camshaft (or any bearing) but I figure it will contribute its benefit till the oil came through on the first startup. That is, assuming the owner doesn't crank the engine without plugs beforehand.
 
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Synchro 909 - your comment raises a question in my mind: Is it better to crank the engine a bit with the ignition off to begin circulating the oil before starting, or go for starting it right away? I would think the loading on the bearings would be less when the engine isn’t yet running.
 
If I remember correctly, the instructions for the Burtz block say to crank the engine over without plugs before the initial start. The intention is to get oil to the insert bearings and to assure that there is oil pressure. The instructions also say to use assembly lube.
 
David in San Antonio said:
Synchro 909 - your comment raises a question in my mind: Is it better to crank the engine a bit with the ignition off to begin circulating the oil before starting, or go for starting it right away? I would think the loading on the bearings would be less when the engine isn’t yet running.
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I believe Henry burnished the bearings in his motors by driving them with an electric motor. They knew when the job was done by watching the current being drawn by each motor. Only then were they run.
 
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