Cam end play setup advice

[BigBlueIron]

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 If we keep talking about it, probably someone will know why the factory bolts require a Phillips driver to tighten them. Does anybody know---or want to hazard a guess.

KS
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No idea but I reuse them, why not?

[gregaba]

How true.
I was a line mechanic in the early 70's of the local Ford dealership and we were all ways going to classes on the latest repair procrdure's on Ford product's.
We were never told about the plate bolt's blocking the lower feed. I wonder what else we were not told about.
Brents mention of this is the first time I had heard of it myself.
I will admit this is the first FE I have buildt since the middle eighty's as I was working on 351's-429-460's, sbc's,bbc etc as those we the hot engine's of the day. There just weren't many affordable preformance FE part's around then.
I think the reason for the phillip's head screw's is the head engineer for bolt's, stud's and fastener's had a hangover that day and just didn't want to in the effort to design a hex head screw.
Greg

[blykins]

I hate those Phillips bolts.  Almost impossible for me to get the torque spec on them that I feel is appropriate with a roller cam setup.   I torque those 7/16-14 thrust plate bolts at 55 lb-ft.  Hard to do that with a big fat Phillips bit.

A lot of this FE stuff is left over from 1958 ways of thinking.

[BigBlueIron]

I hate those Phillips bolts.  Almost impossible for me to get the torque spec on them that I feel is appropriate with a roller cam setup.   I torque those 7/16-14 thrust plate bolts at 55 lb-ft.  Hard to do that with a big fat Phillips bit.

A lot of this FE stuff is left over from 1958 ways of thinking.

Not at all difficult to torque. I pull the adapter and I think its #2 bit out of my impact screwdriver set, pop it on the torque wrench and done. Bit fits perfect and the feel is the same as a regular bolt when torquing. Figured this one out few weeks ago set wrench for 50ft-lb. Honestly after doing it I decided that's how I would it here on out, it worked that well.

This is the set I keep around for stubborn screws/bolts but first time I ever used that honking Phillips bit. Really fit perfect.
https://www.amazon.com/Lisle-29200-Hand-Impact-Tool/dp/B0002NYDRG/ref=asc_df_B0002NYDRG/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309807921328&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10434914323829841396&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9017807&hvtargid=pla-762199117352&psc=1

[machoneman]

My guess: bean counters. At the time, I'll venture an off-the-shelf Phillips screw met the clearance needs and avoided the need for a thin headed cap screw, likely a special that cost two cents more!

[Falcon67]

I always measure and check thread depths on every fastener.   You just never can tell with aftermarket parts.

Have learned this lesson well.  The most excellent advice.

[galaxiex]

FYI and just for the record....
Those are NOT Phillips head screws for the cam retainer, they are "Pozi-Drive" screws.

A "normal" Phillips bit will foul the head,
you need to use the proper Pozi-Drive bit, it will grip the head properly and you should be able to torque them too!

Google search Pozi-Drive vs Phillips, they ARE different!

[cammerfe]

See---

You ask the question, you get an answer.

KS

[galaxiex]

Questions answered that nobody asked.... 

To be further pedantic about this.. (sorry about that...)

Here's some pics... should be self explanatory...


You can see the Phillips #3 bit fits quite poorly in the Pozi-Driv screw.


Should be obvious by now, but I'll say it anyways...
The Pozi-Driv screw is easily identified by those 4 little "hash marks" between the slots where the bit goes in.
 
Phillips screws were originally designed to intentionally "cam out" of the screw head.
The purpose was (maybe still is) production line speed.
The tools back in the day of the assembly line did not have the finesse and control capable today.


So imagine an assembly line worker with many Phillips screws to install...
... but we don't want the screws over torqued or even broken off...


So he grabs his power tool and the screws and quickly installs them...
and as the screw tightens up the bit "automatically cams out" of the screw head...
and he knows it's installed with as much torque as it needs..... on to the next....
BTW these are best for trim pieces and such....


Phillips are a very poor choice for a fastener that needs significant amount of torque.


Thus Ford used the Pozi-Driv screws for the cam retainer.
These don't cam out and can be torqued quite a reasonable amount.

BTW I've had that Snap-On Pozi-Driv bit since the early 80's when I built my first FE....



Ford also used Pozi-Driv screws on 60's (and probably 70's) cars door latch striker plates.