Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines Can the cam be salvaged?

I am not sure why it happened but check out the attached photo. I have a lifter that just got trashed. The bottom got worn really bad. My question is could the cam have survived and is there a way to check it with out pulling it out? I was tempted to just drop a new lifter in and see what happens but I don't want to do more harn than good. So I am looking for some guidance here.
Thanks,
Ian

bad news,that cam has to come out.good news, it is time for that cam you always wanted. sorry for the misfortune. tom

Sorry to see that,I've been there.It's all to common today with the lack of zinc in motor oil,the internet is full of info on this topic.
In my opinion,if you have money invested in this engine you should pull the engine,break it down,clean it out carefully.My engine had two failed cam lobes,the metal debris was imbedded in the bearings,oil galleys,inside the oil pump etc.And I was using a quality oil filter.
If you were using oil with zinc or a supplement like GM EOS,then you might be able to make a warranty claim with the cam grinder.Good luck.

OUCH that has to hurt. But like the guys have already said. Brake it down and CLEAN it OUT.
And DOUBLE CHECK EVERYTHING over to make sure nothing else was Hurt.

that is another good reason to block the stock oil filter bypass. on cold starts, when the oil is thick, the oil has trouble going thru the filter and bypass's it. then unfiltered oil see's it's way thru the engine. tom

Dear Ian;

Check your valve spring pressure too.

This was a common scene on the 'early' engines using double springs in the 50s. It was on all of them though. Sometimes we just installed a new set and sometimes we did what was sugested.

See what's in the pan, look at the cam & then decide.

Also; check the past postings. I seem to recall some counterfiet lifters "in the mix" a while back.

It's a combination of things, not just the oil, I think. Tom may be right on the "by-pass" issue too.

Good luck.

As long as you need to tear it down, check the condition of the distributor drive gear and the retainer at the front of the motor. Lost a cam due to it "walking" at high rpm.

The problem with removing the oil filter bypass is that you risk rupturing the inner oil filter tube and spreading the both paper fragments and whatever the debris the filter had caught. There are warnings about this in the filter catalogs.

This motor had about 1500 miles on it after a rebuild. I did not rebuild the motor, it was in the car when I bought it. I noticed a "knocking" one day when we were trying to get the carbs tuned and sync'd. Pulled the valve cover off and found the rocker arm on the #6 cyclinder intake off to the side and the push rod bent. Was checking the lifters and found the exhaust valve lifter damaged. All the others have no signs of wear at all. I will pull the pan and see whats in there. Could this have been a faulty lifter or perhaps a valve adjusted too tight?

I;

If that's the one that had the bent rod, perhaps.

If it was Adj. to tight it would have 'missed' badly. I would guess a random defect, or a tiawang counterfiet.

The "by-pass" is probably good blocked for racing, but okay for street usage. I'm not really sure, as there are good points to both sides of this question.

Another thought:

You could clean the pan, change out the lifter and trash the oil filter. Then; install the pan and replace the oil leaving the filter off.

Now; crank the engine with the ignition off pumping all the dirty oil out of it. Install new filter, make up oil and fire it up.

Most of the debris was in the pan or the filter/dirty oil, which has now been removed.

This way you can see how it works (checking new lifter @ 2,000 miles) before you decide to tear it all apart etc. You have use of the vehicle during this period too.

Happy trails.

Chopped 31,

When you buy a car from someone, you just never know. Unless you know the person well or know the car, it's buyer beware! Everyone does a motor differently and make sure of who's doing it.

Case in point, my motor was done over 3 times until it was done correctly. I won't go into the horror stories.

I've bought cars that have been "Modified" by the previous owner and the work has never been done the way I would have done it. So everything comes off or apart after a purchase from a "Blind" customer. That way if everything looks good, it's a plus. If you find a problem, your still a winner. I especially found this out when purchasing a 1940 Buick Sedan some years ago. The fellow said the brakes were done and everything was perfect. Well, one small thing he forgot to tell me, that the car was just out of a 15 year storage! It was a slow and careful 5 mile drive home, I replaced every component, lines, wheel cylinder, etc. and then knew I could stopped when I wanted to.

RapRap
1940 ChoppedChevyCoupe