Dexta camshaft oil way alignment

[Kipperwood]

Hello everyone, I have recently changed the head gasket on my dexta. Whilst I was doing so I noticed some end float on the camshaft and at this time I did not think nothing of it, as it was still giving lots of contact on the followers. I left the rocker cover off when I started it back up and realised that I had no oil to the top of the engine. I have plenty going into the camshaft port but none coming out.
I have looked at the Fordson manual and it shows a machined slot in the camshaft, that has to be lined up with the oil port. I suspect with the end float the camshaft is not aligned and I will have to take it out. My question is, what to expect behind the timing cover and what keeps the camshaft aligned? I cannot see anything in the manual that shows this. Thanks Steve

[Brian]

You would have to have a lot of end float to prevent the slot from passing oil to the valve gear.

I would check oil pressure and possible blockages in the pipe before the cam shaft. It would have to be wearing through the timing cover before the slot would be out of line. There is no cam shaft end float specified in the manual

That is not saying it is not possible but I think you might have noticed a bit of a strange noise. If you have no oil getting to the valve gear then the camshaft is also running dry and that could be the reason for your increase in end float.

[Kipperwood]

Thanks for your reply Brian. When I took the timing cover off I noticed a piece of spring steel that would normally be pushing on the end of the camshaft gear, keeping it in the correct position. This must of been flattened against the cover by the previous owner and it was allowing the gear to move forward, to the point that it had indeed marked the inside of the timing cover. When I tried to bend it back the pop rivet holding it broke off. I drilled through it and the remains of the pop rivet with a 4mm drill. I secured it back to the inside of the timing cover with a 4mm nut and bolt and now it is in the correct position the oil has started to flow again. Before I did this I had taken the cam out to check for a blockage and the cam was not damaged so all is good. Of course all the hoses have perished and split as I was removing the water system but that's another day. 2 steps forward 1 step back! Thanks Steve