Hitchcocks Forum

I'm rebuilding my 2006 Classic Iron Barrel again and have a simple question. My workshop manuals are not clear about shims and washers in the timing case. I noticed at my first re-build there were no shims behind each cam shaft, just one at the front. The two timing gears, between the distributor gear and inlet cam gear have a washer front and back on each. Shouldn't there be a shim behind each cam gear as well as at the front which would make sense?

Thrust washers are placed either side of the gear wheels to prevent them running directly up against soft aluminium to prevent unwanted wear. Both cam gears run up against the hard steel shoulders of the cam spindles so a thrust washer is not deemed necessary at this location.

Thanks Ric, Since I posted this I searched for previous answers on the same topic and find some people do shim both sides and I presume this may be to stop end play and maybe make the engine quieter. Mine has always been a noisy motor and I have never figured out why. This may be the answer but I know the gears must still be free to spin.

In all probability the main culprit responsible for excess end float is the timing cover gasket.
If it was only available in one thickness it would be so much easier to resolve, but unfortunately it isn't.

Hi Guys--------- as the gear teeth are straight-cut they will always be noisy to some degree, alas........Also, because they are straight-cut there is no end loading generated BUT, I would always advocate fitting shim washers on the cam gears if you can....Better the shims wear rather than the other parts....as ric correctly points out, those different thickness gaskets can cause some heartache to the unwary !!