454 Mag rebuild parts question

[qcarlson]

we are rebuilding a 1989 Merc 454 mag Bravo and are in need of the cam thrust plate after 2 weeks of searching and 3 calls to mercruiser tech support we found that on this engine the part was never sold as a separate part. This means NO mercruiser part number. So we contacted GM and found that they didn't have a parts listing for it and the motor was only used in the 1988 Chevrolet 1 ton pickup and only the ones made in Indiana. We cant finish the rebuild without it and cant locate an aftermarket part.....anyone have any ideas? I have contacted the local bone yards to no avail as well.

 

[72GT160]

Have you called Jegs or Summit racing?

 

[DeepBlue2010]

This is not a a Mercruiser part. If you have the old part, take it to any Auto Zone, NAPA or O'Rielly and they will match it for you. There is nothing marine about thrust plates. Just buy a good quality made in USA one.

 

[qcarlson]

Contacted Jeggs and Summit they make a cam retainer for gen VI roller cams but not for a gen IV with flat tappet cams, normally you wouldn't need a retainer as the degree of the cam lobe keeps it from walking like it does with a roller cam. That said mercruiser uses a cam retainer on numerous engines so im abit confused by DeepBlue2010's statement that there is nothing marine about thrust plates? Unless you simply mean that there is no need to use a marine vs auto application in that case no we do not have the old part.

 

[DeepBlue2010]

That exactly what I meant. You don't need to order the part from Mercruiser, any auto parts store would do. but since you don't have the old part, they got nothing to match for you.

 

[qcarlson]

Well we came to the conclusion that it was pre drilled for a retainer in the event a roller cam was used but it is not needed with the cam we are using (Flat Tappet). Next the reason for failure was the remote oil filter adapter blew its cover off and leaked the oil out. the part is NLA from Mercruiser so I am wondering can we re-route the hose back to the adapter and eliminate the remote and put the filter directly on the adaptor. this would leave the oil cooler in place and eliminate the need for the remote housing, also eliminating the need to track down a new cover. thoughts?

 

[DeepBlue2010]

I am not sure what you mean by " blew its cover off", it is a threaded in cover! do you mean the oil pressure increased to this point and the cover blow off?!

The remote filter adapter is not known to have this issue often. It is working fine in a lot of engine out there including mine. There is a rubber gasket that need to be changed during maintenence and sometimes this what leaks oil. Also, when the oil leaks to the point of very low oil pressure, your alarm should go off. Anyway, I would not give up on the remote filter setup because of this.

 

[qcarlson]

That is exactly what happened it Blew apart the threads on the aluminum adapter cover. So leaving the adapter inplace and replacing the cover with the oil filter and re routing the hoses from the remote back to the adapter would leave the oil cooler in place and flow shouldn't change, but I am wondering if this will cause any issues I'm not considering, or am I not thinking this through correctly? the few parts that would be removed are 1 the cover for the adapter 2 the remote oil filter and housing and the oil line from the adapter to the remote the return line from the remote would be routed back to the adapter.