Technical Recommendation needed please. New camshaft kit or NOS?

Greetings and salutations.

Most of us are aware that a lot of products these days just don't have the quality that they used to. Almost everything's questionable now. For that reason, tried and true used and NOS parts have become more attractive.

No less of an issue, we've heard so many times about bad lifters and flattened camshafts.
"Gotta use the zinc."
"Gotta make sure the lifters are spinning."

I need a cam and lifters for my 440.
You think maybe I ought'er buy this NOS camshaft and lifter kit available near me instead?
Wondering how I could know if it's even old enough to make a difference.

Thanks, fellas.

 

Performance level and street manners seems like it'd be reasonable.
Yes?

 

Asking price is near what a new kit costs. $350. So no real cost savings. But I thought, considering quality...

 

I'd jump on it. If only to get some old lifters

I sold a set of NOS Chevy solid lifters (in GM boxes from the early 70s) on ebay recently for 800 bucks....

I put some old still in the package Erson lifters in the 327 I just put together, it's working fine still after 7k miles.

 

I used a number of purple shaft cams in the '80's with zero problems .

 

I was hoping you'd speak up, Jim. Thank you.

That's all I needed to hear.

Went right back to the ad to send the seller a message.



Sold

Gal dang flippin floppin
...HOSTICKLEPHEIFER!!!

 

I happened upon a new forty year old Sig Erson cam, lifters and springs kit for a sbc at a swap meet and jumped on it. Given the current situation of substandard valvetrain parts, it's worth a lot to me.

 

The original 1978 RV cam and lifters are in excellent condition. 33,000 miles.
I think using those would be a good option.
Low RPM high torque.
Good quality.
Low cost.
Kept'em in order just in case.
I rarely run my motors more than 4,500 rpm.

 

The way i see it, if the grind is what you want, the quality cant be as questionible as todays parts. How can you go wrong? That packaging looks to be from the early ninties from my memory.

 

I have one cam that I originally bought and ran in 1991. It then sat on a shelf until about 2014, when we stuck it in an engine for my son with a new set of lifters. It broke in and ran just fine. When it came out of that engine, I saved it yet again and the lifters as well this time, numbered for location. I have another engine I'll stick it in eventually, I just don't have reason to build it yet.

I gave my son another flat tappet cam a couple of years ago, I put it in a used engine that knocked immediately upon fire up, so I pulled it back out and numbered the lifters as well. He'll be firing that engine soon and we both have our fingers crossed even after checking everything.

I've had a couple of flat tappet cam failures, so for an engine I care about, it's got to have roller lifters these days, even though they're more expensive. It's expensive in my time as well as money to tear down a freshly built engine to replace a cam that failed immediately.

Devin