I had a cupped lifter on my 318 and it was so bad there was a hole in the bottom of it. I installed all new ones and broke it in like regular. Its a high performance comp Cam and was wondering if the hardness would make it so that maybe it would accept a new lifter. Either way in going to check in after a couple hours of running. I'm just hoping somebody who knows more than me might be able to shed some light and say yes or no.
If the cam ate a lifter, that lobe is probably damaged. You really should replace the cam and lifters....
There's a 99.96% chance that it is no longer a high performance comp Cam. If the lifter had a hole worn in the bottom of it, you have a lot of metal dust in the engine, and it's time for a teardown. Show us pictures of the new lifter that you put into the bore that had the bad one in it after your two-hour run test.
Yes, you have problems. The metal from that lifter has circulated completely thru your engine. You need a gasket set and a set of plastic gauges along with cleaning brushes and Naptha. I think you know what's next. Good Luck!
Bazillions of lifters have collapsed, gotten eaten, and cams have gone flat. In everyone, metal shavings have circulated thru the engines. Some were junked, Many were completely torn down and cleaned and rebuilt. A lot more than the many got a new cam, lifters, and timing chain and lived happily ever after until the end of their designed life span. Unless its some kind of extra special 318 I would not invest in a teardown. I'd take my chances on some new parts. If you want it 100% right it needs a lot of work, too much for a 318 that will just be a 318.
Replaced several soft cams in 305 chevys that went south back in the 80s Without a complete tear down. And they went on to run mile after mile.
Drain your oil into a white paper paint strainer and you will see all the little bits of metal, it is a good way to see what is in your oil learned the trick running on the Traco Dyno, as those guys knew all the right stuff to do for finding out what is going on inside the engine before tear down G Don
Check that lifter bore and make sure that the lifter moves freely not only up & down but is able to spin. Id there are ant burrs etc that impedes the lifter rotation thr re will be problems such as this.
There is the worn out lobe and the new lifter cupped. Kind of hard to see the cup but it's easy to feel. Of course it didn't mate but I had to try. I got the car for 2 grand so it would have been nice if it was that easy. Im going to take a look at the main bearings before I say rebuild. But plain bearings are pretty tough so if there is nothing that will catch a fingernail on the crank I'm going to throw a Cam in it and drive it.
Just like has been said, with a lifter like this, the lobe on the cam is bad as well. Usually this is caused by the lifter not turning in the bore. When you tear it down, make sure that the lifter can rotate in the bore.
Since you'll be interested now, you'll probably want to study up on what oil to use for flat tappet cams.
cut open the oil filter and see what's trapped inside. Theoretically, if it's doing it's job, metal particles should be caught before circulating into the oil galleries. But, as you plan to look at the bearings, that will be the ultimate proof of condition. Ray
I use diesel grade motor oil +a zink & other heavy metals additive in my flat tappet motors...as for your 318 the filter should have caught the bulk of the debris, worth a shot to pop a cam & lifters in and try it!....good luck! Let us know how it turns out
Ray is right in that most of the debris should be in the filter. However, on a cold start, before the oil is warmed up, there is a high likelyhood that either the bypass in the filter, or the one in the engine itself, opens until the oil gets some heat in it. Cold oil is pretty stubborn about going through a filter, so chances are some of the abrasives did circulate through the engine. That said, bearings are pretty forgiving, and allow a lot of debris to embed itself into the soft metal of the bearing. Hopefully your 318 will survive with just a cam and lifter replacement.
The bearing looks pretty bad but it soaked it up. The crank is perfect. No swelling no burs. Seems like it was put together pretty good. As for the lifter it was because the pushrods were to short and one happened to dance and popped the clip. I probably should have mentioned that in my first post. As for the first guy that told me to check and see if the lifter can spin freely, I will check that everytime from now on. I guarantee one day in going to be building something or working on somebody elses shit and I'll think the motherfucker was right
The Jalopy Journal
