I just put a pretty stout 406 in my Vette. The aluminum heads were cause to run the valves (solids) a few thou tight COLD to compensate for the aluminum expanding away from the block therefore loosening the lash. The fucker was noisy before any heat allowed the heads to "grow". So, i'm pretty sure i'm in trouble already. As irony would have it, 3 months ago when my Vette was on the cover of Hot Rod there was an article in the very issue about a rash of cams going flat due to some properties being removed from engine oil. Well i used the Shell Rotella T that Comp puts as a bulletin with their cams, used the right lube, break in procedure etc. Bottom line, this fucker was eating itself right from the fireup. With the tight lash to allow for head growth it should've been as quiet as a hydrauilic for the first few minutes. It was noisy from the get go. Any thoughts?
Don't you mean at the valve? YES, ended up with .200 long (8 inch) pushrods to correct the geometry. I'm NOT new at this. This is what bothers me. Is it that the "good" lifter factory has closed and now the shit's made from shit overseas? Was it an oil additive issue?
My 406 has .030 intake and exhaust cold lash with aluminum heads and a Lunati solid lift cam. It has run this way for 2 hard years with not so much as a lash adjustment needed since the break in was completed. If I recall correctly the cam is 300/310 at .006 lift and 256/270 at .050 lift. I suspect that the ramp speeds are more the issue than anything else. I will agree that if there was a change in the make up of the oil that we use then that could be a contributing factor.
I've been running the flat tappet solids with a.021 hole in the bottom for a few years on bigger cam engines,figure every little bit helps,but it drops the oil pressure a little but not enough to worry about,the cam companies such as comp has a grooving tool that cuts a slot in the lifter bore to produce more oil to the lobe also but i havent used one of those.Been hearing of alot of flat cams but i havent had any yet running amsoil or rottella t in my flat tappet engines.
I'm gonna go with the EDM hole in the bottom of the lifter, but it shouldn't be necessary. I've never had a problem in the past. Also, i've run more agressive hydraulic grinds where the EDM hole's not an option
I hear ya Groucho,theres been alot of problems lately with cams but i feel the extra oil to the cam is whats saving me from the headaches your having.I buy my lifters from competition products they are excellent quality.Just my .02
If you kept it wet, and it died on first fire, the camshaft heat treat was shit. Metal's metal... Did it wear a groove in the bottom of the lifter, or just kill the lobe? If it chewed on the lifter, it may have tried to turn on lash and presented an edge to the lobe. Coulda been the lifter... If the lifter's still good, and it's GOT oil in there,... gotta be the stick.
I'll know more this morning. I plan on ripping it apart in a couple hours. The guy at Comp Cam's trying to tell me, well this, and well that. This ain't my first cam break-in. When i fire an engine, i have the timing lite hooked up (so's not to cook the bitch with the timing so retarded it's firing in the headers), a big fan aimed at the grill, the raytech infrared aimed at the water outlet, bla bla bla.
I had a simalar sisuation in my wife's 454.Whiped comp flat tappet cam.First tech guy when ordering cam had to cut head for bigger valves springs to use a hyd roller cam.He was wrong.2nd tech said roller cam will work fine with comp springs from flat tappet cam.I hate flat tappet cams.I Even use roller cam in my flatmotors.Use a roller cam or suffer ,I learned the hard way.
We killed a solid lifter cam within seconds of fire-up on my son's bracket racer. It was a new Erson cam ( we had been using Erson for years), new everything and it was set up right from the get-go. We've got a couple of decades building race motors so it wasn't like the first one we put together. Erson said we screwed up somehow.....we didn't.....anyway we ended up with a Lunati cam and another set of lifters, set up exactly the same and it's been down the track so many times now I've lost count. Sometimes I think you just get a shitty part, as simple as that.
yah i learned the hard way too... i plan on using a roller in the flathead im building for competition. on this note, are there any articles or words of wisdom on roller cam installation in a flathead?
Check this. I maybe have 4 miles on this besides the break-in. But it was noisy from the gates. I'm pulling the thing apart and one of the 3 junk lifters won't come out of the block. I grab it with a pair on channelocks and it shattered like a piece of glass. These lifters are supposed to be harder than a whore's heart. Anyone want to see a picture?
Comp has had a lot of flat cams in the last few years. I have a Crane HT284 hydralic in the Camaro, a Mopar Performance (Isky makes the cam) 284 solid in the mopar, a Lunati in my friends T-bird, and a Crower in another friends Fairlane, Haven't had one go flat yet.... I run Shell Rotella, and GM EOS on break in.
Compare the "squareness" of lobe 2, compared to lobe 3. This in ONLY 4 miles or so after break-in....................................................
I'll knock this one down after i pull the pan and rotate the rods out of the way. I grabbed it hoping it was only a couple wiggles away from coming out the top when it shattered
SHIT HAPPENS but damn.i'm sorry to see what happened to the cam WHAT HAPPENED? i have never used comp lifters before always used isky or crane. was the material those lifters were made from the cause looks like they just fell apart WTF??? also in the first and second pic you show there looks no be no sign of any oil thats the dryest looking motor i have ever seen after 4 miles of run time.
It's "dry" looking because i ran 2 gallons of mineral spirits (paint thinner) through the heads and valley areas before pulling the pan to get some of the metal out from the ground up cam. That's why it's dry. Also, i've had good luck with Comp Cams as far as horsepower, and they WON'T stand behind their cam with someone elses lifters. PS- there's only one or two companies in the WORLD that make lifters. So, Crane, Isky, Comp, and whoever else could be from the same place just with their name on the box
If it broke like that just squeezing it with pliers, I'd say it WAS hard. Too damn hard. Or... you are a very well-spoken gorilla...
GROUCHO dont read to deep, what good is horse power if the parts making it are shit i only asked about the lifters quality so that i don't buy some and run into the same problem if that was the problem and as far as the motor looking dry i was not aware that you washed it down if you havent washed it down my guess woukld be you have a oiling problem thats wy i said what i did
another possible flat tappet would be a set of schubecks.....but for that money ....you could put a roller in it....they pretty much say you'll never wear them or the cam out.....we did have one that started seperating...they replaced it....they also claim you can run some really stout spring pressure.....but i would have to think the cam would have to be treated or something....as for cams going bad quick ....i had a lunati in my model a that lasted maybe 5 miles.....it ended up breaking a pushrod when a lifter stuck ....and it came out like yours.....with channellocks....brandon
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