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Cam Bearings
Pontiac V8 Cam Bearings
Pressed In First — Cam Bearings for Pontiac V8s
Cam bearings are pressed into the block before anything else goes together, which means getting them wrong means pulling the engine back apart. On a Pontiac V8 the correct set is decided by two things: the year of the block and whether the cam bores are still stock size.
Butler stocks Clevite 77, Federal Mogul and Dura-Bond sets for the 1963-79 Pontiac and the earlier 1959-62 389, plus the specialty pieces — an oversized outside diameter Dura-Bond set, a 55mm coated set for aftermarket blocks, and a Butler 50mm roller cam bearing set.
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1. Year decides the set
Pontiac did not use one cam bearing set for the whole V8 run, and the split catches people out on early cars.
| 1963-79 | This is the common set. Butler stocks it from Clevite 77, Federal Mogul and Dura-Bond, so whatever your engine came out of between those years, there is a standard replacement here. |
| 1959-62 | Clevite's early set is listed for 1959-62 and, in Butler's own product data, 389 only. If you are rebuilding an early 389 do not order the 63-79 set out of habit. |
| Performance versions | Dura-Bond's performance Pontiac cam bearing is a bi-metal, chill-cast micro babbitt design, offered coated or uncoated in standard size. |
2. Oversized OD and big-journal blocks
This is where a cam bearing order goes sideways, and every one of these is a machine-work decision, not a parts decision.
| Plus .010 oversized OD | Dura-Bond's uncoated oversized set exists for blocks whose cam bores have been opened up. Butler's product copy is explicit — cam bores in the block must be machined for these. They are not a fix for a loose bore you have not measured. |
| 55mm | The Dura-Bond 55mm coated bearing is a bi-metal chill cast micro babbitt design with a 2.282" camshaft journal outside diameter, typically used in aftermarket blocks machined specifically for these bearings. |
| 50mm roller | Butler's 50mm roller cam bearing set is the one that goes with a big-journal roller cam package, and again the block has to be built for it. |
3. Before you press them in
Cam bearings reward a little care on the bench and punish shortcuts permanently.
| Line up the oil holes | The bearing oil feed has to index with the block passage. A blocked feed will not show up until the engine is running. |
| Check the cam turns free | Drop the cam in dry before the crank goes in. If it binds, it is a lot easier to fix now. |
| Order them with the rest | Cam bearings go in at the same stage as freeze plugs and the rear main seal, so they belong on the same order as the mains and rods rather than as an afterthought. |
If you are not certain which set your block takes, get the year and the cam journal measurement in front of you before you call. That is the whole conversation.
Not sure what your Pontiac needs?
Call our tech team at 866-762-7527. Tell us your engine, heads, car, and power goal, and we will put the parts together as one combination that works.