replacing cam bearings?

highwaystar said

So I went to the local advanced auto parts, they don't rent the tool. I went to my local chivy machine shop. $30.00 plus bearings and rear cap for $2.00. Great that is cheap enough. He says bring him the bare block? I said why. He says you can not line up the oiling hole with the hole in the bearing unless the crank is out. What?? It's in plain view with the intake off. He was giving me 350 this 383.440 this. The end result; He won't do it unless the crank is out. Am I missing something???

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Yes you are missing something, sorry to say. Just because the bearings are visible with the intake off doesn't mean squat. The problem is when you slip the bearing onto the installation collar and place it in the block you can no longer see the oil hole very well so he's right that the engine needs to be taken apart to do it correctly. This hole were talking about aligning is only about 1/8" diameter and I can tell you by experience (I've installed numerous cam bearings) aligning the oil holes isn't as easy as it sounds. Even with the engine apart you have to be careful to get the holes aligned. I even go as far as making sure all 3 holes are aligned because several blocks I've seen aren't drilled perfect so you have to do a little compromise to get all 3 holes aligned as close as you can. This applies to LA engines of course as Magnum blocks don't use the upper holes to send oil to the top.