Comp cam stories!

[polyjohn]

Back in the 90's, we used Sig Erson and Iskanderian camshafts.
Sometimes we also used Mopar Performance as well....

So we were stepping up to a proper Dragster and used the 440 engine out of my mates 70-GTX.
It ram mid elevens with ease and thought it would run a Ten in our new/old drag-car.

But the mighty Sig Erson solid ran a lobe off so we opted for a Comp cams replacement.
We had a pro company spec the cam for us and they said a grind around .550 lift.

The GTX street engine was running a bigger cam than that 'on the street' with no probs.
So we asked them to supply the biggest Comp cams had in a flat tappet solid.

The camsahft arrived after many weeks of waiting and we fitted it with excitement.
We did the break for 15 minutes at around 3000, then a misfire occurred...

 

[polyjohn]

My mouse has gone into meltdown just like the valve train did!
On removing the valve covers we found a melted mass of Crane rockers.

OMG what have we done wrong to cause this?
After many hours of dis assembly we worked out what was the cause.

Any guesses folks before I reveal the answer...

 

[Mopar Hunter]

No oil?

 

[tonysrt]

The rocker shaft oil supply was cut off by shaft installed incorrectly.

 

[Don Frelier]

Coil bind.

 

[3sloppydogs]

You ran a northern hemisphere cam down under so the oil goes the other way

 

[dvw]

I guess I would have checked the new part and made sure the oiling holes in the cam intersected.
Doug

 

[polyjohn]

Very close Guys.
Compcams forgot to drill the oil hole for the rocker oiling!

It totalled the top end and the metal fragments went everywhere.
The whole engine was toast and we never saw it coming...

Comp cams said ''tough luck'' you should have checked the cam first.
So we sued the UK supplier and he went ballistic!

In the end Compcams sent us a load of strange parts that were next to useless, but that's life.
We always check the cams now and make sure oil is coming upstairs, no matter what.

Its a tough lesson to learn , but that's ''sod's law'' in action.

 

[Backrd.Junkyard]

I like Herbert's. They cut a groove in the journal in conjunction with the oil hole for full time rocker oiling. This grind would be more in line of a cam for an actual dragster...
CLD5XS 270/270 [email protected], 600/600, 108LC, 3500-7500, 3 BOLT, Cam & Lifters 37904

 

[Dutchrebuild]

Comp cams equals junk these days...I wouldn't run one in a beat 305

 

[RemCharger]

Very close Guys.
Compcams forgot to drill the oil hole for the rocker oiling!

It totalled the top end and the metal fragments went everywhere.
The whole engine was toast and we never saw it coming...

Comp cams said ''tough luck'' you should have checked the cam first.
So we sued the UK supplier and he went ballistic!

In the end Compcams sent us a load of strange parts that were next to useless, but that's life.
We always check the cams now and make sure oil is coming upstairs, no matter what.

Its a tough lesson to learn , but that's ''sod's law'' in action.

I would ask them if checking for oiling holes was in their instructions??

I ran a comp 310 .585 once and it was a great topend cam

 

[Fran Blacker]

Tough to hear about crap like that, easy to say coulda shoulda woulda. I bought a Erson cam and lifters 1971 ish. Was looking at lifters and one had no groove for snap ring for pushrod seat snap ring just sitting there. Won't say I check everything but it's good advice.

 

[65CopCar]

Years ago I rebuilt the engine in my tow vehicle. 454 Chevy. Comp cams cam. Don't remember how many miles later, I had to take the cam out. All inner cam bearings were toast - only the end ones were good. Put the cam in my lathe and could see that the journals that had toast bearings had a periodic runout of over 0.001" - the end journals were good. My belief is there was chattering with the grinder when those surfaces were ground. They sent me a new cam.

 

[6PKRTSE]

Almost all of the racing industries quality has tanked in the last several years. Everything has been made to be so expensive to manufacturer anything these days due to the economy that everyone is going cheaper on their products. The more the 50+ years old family and Mom & Pop racing businesses want out to retire. The big investment companies swoop in to buy them up, the worse it gets.
Check, re-check and triple check everything before you use it.

 

[dvw]

Would anyone here install a cam, crank, pushrod, rocker without measuring and checking the passages? A friend built a 572. It kicked a rod after 6 passes. The #3 rod cap looked like a black cast iron skillet. He asked me what I thought. Told him the main feed had to be OK since the #2 rod was fine. Had to be sizing/clearance or lack of oil to the #3 rod. Asked how he checked the crank. He replied "sprayed brakleen thru it". I said "no brush"? Nope. Told him maybe there is something in the feed hole, a drill bit or something. Pulled the crank and tapped it on the ground. A broken end mill fell out of the feed hole to #3. New Eagle crank. They told him to bad. Here are two instances that anyone reading this can learn from. Check everything, Trust nothing. Learn to be builder and not an assembler. Found plenty of issues over the years.
Doug

 

[Geoff 2]

Other cam companies buy their cam cores from the same company Comp does. These days, it is not like there are dozens to choose from....A cam from Howard's might have had the same problem.
The fellow grinding the cam at Comp may not have known that there should have been holes in the #4 journal. Not an excuse, but a possible explanation....

 

[moparedtn]

China cores...

 

[nitro_rat]

Compcams forgot to drill the oil hole for the rocker oiling!

It's vitally important to check ALL aftermarket parts. Used factory stuff had much tighter quality control and if it visually looks ok, any stack up will at least run and function. It may smoke, leak, rattle, or tick but it will run. Aftermarket stuff sometimes is just a good decoy. It LOOKS like the part you need. It may actually be what you need, or it may be something that can be MADE into the part you need. But sometimes, it's just a DECOY. No matter what you do, it has been machined some way or cast improperly or whatever so that it's just not suitable at all.

One of my mentors stressed to me to check the lubrication system on everything. Follow the flow from the pickup, through the pump, through the galleries and drillings and figure out how each part gets lubricated. And if you can't figure out how something is supposed to get oil STOP. Either you just don't understand, or if you're dealing with an aftermarket part, it may be your job to figure out how to make it get oil. Following this training has saved me countless times in dealing with various types of machinery, not just engines...

 

[polyjohn]

Check and double check everything, otherwise you will get caught OUT!
Life is a tough learning curve for some and others never get a bad cam, crank, rod, bearing, rocker etc, etc, etc.

 

[JC Boatguy]

Would anyone here install a cam, crank, pushrod, rocker without measuring and checking the passages? A friend built a 572. It kicked a rod after 6 passes. The #3 rod cap looked like a black cast iron skillet. He asked me what I thought. Told him the main feed had to be OK since the #2 rod was fine. Had to be sizing/clearance or lack of oil to the #3 rod. Asked how he checked the crank. He replied "sprayed brakleen thru it". I said "no brush"? Nope. Told him maybe there is something in the feed hole, a drill bit or something. Pulled the crank and tapped it on the grond. A broken end mill fell out of the feed hole to #3. New Eagle crank. They told him to bad. Here are two instances that anyone reading this can learn from. Check everything, Trust nothing. Learn to be builder and not an assembler. Found plenty of issues over the years.
Doug

I 100% agree with you Doug, I inspect everything I buy, looking for even small debris, burrs, etc.