I’ve been running a Comp roller in the avatar 56 since the early 2000’s. Same cam since and running same stock distributor all this time as well. Many miles on it at 4 hours straight at times. No issue. Cam instructions said no gear needed and I even spoke with Comp about it.
Reading between the lines..........If there is little or no market for these lifters, even in 2010 when this happened, why did he steal that equipment? Where did the equipment end up? Seems like it would have been moved to the Florida plant or back to Michigan upon recovery. I can't imagine its still sitting in that warehouse not being used anywhere. While the volume obviously is less since OEMs aren't using them, it would also seem that there is still a very good market for flat tappets if there is a sufficient market to need companies to make the cams. I don't think its as much about the quality of the machining as it is about the quality of the steel being used and where its coming from. They can get them cheaper from some foreign country, so the companies that are bigger just do that instead of taking control of the situation. If just one company would start producing quality lifters people would make them king of the hill. What will we do when OEM cars are all electric and no OEM uses roller lifters? Better stock up...........
I hope I'm not around for that day. Probably end up in a nursing home by then. Turn me towards the Sun and leave me alone...
My comp cam BBC solid roller custom grind, which is sorta in the extreme energy line was also made in the early 2000s, had to have bronze or polymer gear, according to them. Bill
Rather than pay these crazy prices for retrofit roller lifters, why not just buy a later '87 or newer roller block with one piece main seal? The roller lifters for blocks using them stock are under $150 for Elgin, Delco, etc. and my Elgins were $121 for my 1990 motor. Or buy a lifter cage as used on the newer blocks and drill and tap your block so you don't need the retrofits with links that cost so much? If you're rebuilding a SBC that's a 283 or 327 and want to keep it, it's worth fitting it to accept factory style roller lifters vs. paying these insane prices for roller lifters with links.
I picked up a Harbor Fright engine leveler, IIRC it ran me $29... I was amazed how I was able to drop the engine into the Ford with zero drama. I just cranked the leveler as needed. I was able to leave the radiator support in place.
Yes, that can be done. I do just that every week at the engine shop where I work. We use a Sunnen tappet grinder made for the job. All my personal engines get the hydraulic or solid flat tappet lifters reground to make sure the crown and finish is correct...new or used. Delta Cams also offers the same thing. Terry
Well, damn. Muskegon was already depressed when I left there three years before all this happened and now, I find this sorry S.O.B. lives in Tennessee. I must be cursed by the gods.
Getting ready to dig deeper into my 283. I hope to find more nice new parts inside to avoid all of this hassle
I run Erson Anti-pump up lifters in the Timex. I am using an L79 blue print cam from Crane. At the time they were the only company authorized to sell that cam by GM. I am making more HP and Torque than I am supposed to so I must have screwed something up. I am not running my cam straight up nor advanced. We are in the neighborhood of 150K on the clock. You got to run good lifters and a quality cam shaft from the git. I like genuine GM parts but every time I think cam shaft I remember all the 307 cams that I have changed over the years.
Just spit-balling here, but could someone build a machine that would support and spin camshaft with the (flat tappet) lifters in a jig, and lightly load the lifters against the camshaft. Engineer an oiling system, and run for 20 minutes to pre-break-in the camshaft? You could then inspect lobes and lifters for proper break-in pattern. A strobe could also help one monitor lifter rotation in process.
Use a spare block would be easier. But that block and or jig would not be just like the engine to be used.
The jig would have to MATCH the exact alignment of the lifter bores and cam. Might as well have it bolt up and spin the parts in the block to be used. A jig that spins the cam is fairly easy. Next, a jig that bolts to the deck surface and accepts the pushrods at the proper spacing and has adjustable spring tension.
Hey, Don; Don't know if this'll help. When I strolled thru the Edelbrock tent at the btt50s, I noticed they had some tool steel lifters for sbc, under the comp cams name, (maybe?)? Guys weren't too talkative, & I don't remember a catalog. Didn't look too close at the stuff, teamE didn't seem welcoming... I thought I took a pic for the part#, but ph camera is having issues. *If* they were/are tool steel lifters, & they're radiused correctly, + hardened properly(you know - correct design, engineering, manufacturing. Like it's supposed to be done, normally???), cam problems should be a thing of the past - if the cam isn't junk/soft. They are the answer for the acvw guys - but cheap they're not, however they'll be the last set you'll buy for that mill. Can be used w/any of the current cam materials available now, of course flat-tappet stuff only. Want or *need* another cam? No problem, reuse the lifters, no break-in required, no new lifters w/each cam, etc. Lifters will outlast engine, assuming the lifters are made correctly. Might be worth looking into? Marcus...
The 1974-ish 350 was known for eating cams. Some of them were dealer warranteed, IIRC. The 1974 block in my car was used in a stock car for a few races, I was desperate. Upon stripping it down in 2015, I was surprised it ran so well with 5 bad cam lobes. 2 were close to being round.
I’m not trying to derail this thread, but are Small Block Chevrolets the only ones affected by this? The last few engines I’ve built have been Fords, and I had no cam trouble at all. Please understand, I’m not putting down Small Block Chevrolets, I love the engine. I also built a 318 Dodge and had no cam trouble.
I've heard all of them having this issue. I guess you hear more Chevrolet because there are so many in use.
The FE Ford guys are having problems also. Anyone remember the Racer Brown plastics lifters, sure would like to get my hands on a set of them.
I had some thoughts on doing something like this using an old or scrap block...........but I'm more interested in roller cams, so probably won't. A simple engine cradle......the ones where they are like a small cart with a leg at each corner to bolt a block in place. Weld a few brackets to hold an electric drive motor and an electric pump to force/flood oil and a plastic or steel pan in the bottom of the cradle to act like an oil reservoir. The one thing I noticed at the end of the video was a note that the cams were submerged in oil during the process..........didn't mention forcing oil thru the lifter, so maybe they don't worry about that.
Simple guesses, but the cam had a Vee under it, allowing the oil to pool around the cam seen at :18. I'd guess the lifters were solid, but either way the fixtures holding them were plumbed for oil :43 to :50 to lube the bores, and there were no orifices to spray the cam :23. I didn't see much oil coming out of the top of the bores around the lifters at 2:21, but there was the upper Vee placed between the fixtures to help with that. I'd expect the whole area to have more 'mist' than what was shown. No soaked shirt or apron at 1:45. What was interesting was that it was hot when removed. Just shows how much friction is developed and that there was probably heat soak from the oil. 100 pounds of seat pressure (typical stocker number) to much higher over the nose is a LOT of work. I doubt a 1/4 HP Chinese motor is going to do the work of spinning this at 2000 RPM for half an hour.
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