i am finally building my 383 that i have been piecing together for two and a half years, and ran into a problem. I have an 880 casting vortec block, and was told that i could run a retrofit roller cam and a thrust button instead of using the thrust plate on the block with a snubnose cam. I already had the cam at the time I got the block, and specifically asked the machine shop i got the block from whether or not this would work. plus, i couldn't pass on the deal. got the 880 as a short block for 300 and the block only had 3000 miles on it. Not even a thousanths wear in the cylinders. so... the problem is that my cloyes street true roller relocates the cam 1/16 inch too far forward. also, i have noticed that the sprocket from the original short block is almost 1/2 an inch bigger in diameter than the cloyes I have. Is it possible that the problem lies in my timing chain and not the camshaft? I know this is kind of a wierd question, but if I can minimize the amount of money I have to spend to correct this, it would be nice seeing as how I am a poor college student.

Thanks for you time.

Chuck

Chuck,
ANy cam should work in that block. If you have a problem, it must be your timing set. Is the timing set for a old style cam ? If it is, it should work but ... it is probably hitting the block right at the top of the chain. You will need to grind the block for clearance right above the top oil galley plug. This is typical on about 80% of small blocks when going to double roller chain.

ok... that makes me feel alot better about the money spent on my parts. I was worried that I would have to do something drastic like eat the cost of that cam and buy a new one. and yes the timing set is for an older block. Would I be better off going with a chain setup for a votec block? Will it work with the retrofit cam?
I will go ahead and clearance the block, and if I have any more problems I will post them on this thread so people can see where I'm at.

Thanks

Chuck