3.2 Cam Spacer/Shim Questions

[Smoove1010]

Last night I reinstalled my cams on my '87 3.2 (part of this project 87 Drop Top - Drop-n-Top End) and I've got questions that I Googled for, but didn't find answers to:

Do the spacer/shims and thrust washer spin against each other, i.e., in effect act as a bearing? Assuming that the thrust washer presses against the stationary retainer plate, and the cam gears spin with the cam, they would appear to do so.

Presuming I'm not missing something, shouldn't they be lubed on assembly? Wayne's book and Bentley are silent on this. I coated each with assembly lube.

Second question: I've got three shims on the left (as expected), and three shims on the right (was expecting four.) I was excruciatingly careful during tear-down, so I know I didn't lose one. Is this uncommon? The engine shows no obvious signs of having been opened up before in it's 99,000 mile life.

Any thoughts and feedback are much appreciated!

Thanks in advance,
GK

[vytenis]

The spacer placement is to ensure that the cam sprocket is aligned with the intermediate shaft sprocket and is dependent on how the heads were installed. It may not be the same as before. There is a procedure for determining spacer placement around here somewhere and in the Bentley manual.

"V"