Defective NEW camshaft. Ever seen one like this?

[BSB67]

Yeah, that is what I'd say. It doesn't look like anything but casting sloppiness but since the grind of the lobe is even, I'd use it as is. Mine looked like a narrow strip of grass left UNmowed in the yard.

That's actually been known to happen in my yard from time to time.....

 

[beanhead]

Yeah, that is what I'd say. It doesn't look like anything but casting sloppiness but since the grind of the lobe is even, I'd use it as is. Mine looked like a narrow strip of grass left UNmowed in the yard.

I so want to post a picture to go with this, but it would get this thread sent to the 'blue room' hahaha

 

[Kern Dog]

Racer Brown, a.k.a. Jim Dowel, Philadelphia Rd Baltimore 410-866-7660. 2pm-7pm most days. No website, no BS. All cams are Parkerized. Ground on Van Norman machines. ( The Imperial of cam machines I am told )

There's a mild one in my Charger. Over 3k miles on it with Brad Penn or VR-1, no worries.

A business that is only open 5 hours a day? Sounds like a semi-retired guy running the show!

 

[Kern Dog]

https://www.hotrodders.com/threads/...orry-about-casting-flash.471609/#post-4112473

That wouldn't bother me. I have seen that before. The sloppy casting was ground down to match the rest of the lobe. This Comp Cam has no flash past the edge of the lobe. It is unfinished AT the edge.
I could file it down and run it but I wonder about cutting through the hardening treatment...Plus, it raised my doubts about their overall quality control.

 

[66 Sat]

Nothing wrong with that as long as nothing sticks up above the lobe. Not pretty; but doesn't hurt anything.

Yeah, that is what I'd say. It doesn't look like anything but casting sloppiness but since the grind of the lobe is even, I'd use it as is.

Ok thanks for the advice, I'll leave it alone. I'll also have a close look at the existing cam that comes out as that's a Schneider too, just a different grind, and has been fine for the last 5,000 miles. I'm interested if there is the same sloppiness in the finish. If it was my company, I think I'd spend the extra 10 minutes per cam cleaning them up so nobody had these concerns in the first place.

 

[vintage chromoly]

Somewhat cam related, and 100% Comp Cams related.....

I bought a set of solid roller lifters for a small block ford drag engine I’m building. Somewhat “max effort” (in my world, anyhow) I’ve had them for several years and they are the made in the USA ones.

when I took the Dart block to be machined, I took the lifters with me to have them checked for size in relation to the lifter bores (Dart blocks have a bit of a reputation for tight lifter bores)

the shop called and the lifters were on the small side and the bores were on the high side. Not what I expected. The tolerance between lifters was not super consistent either.

I’m ordering a set of BAM lifters for the engine.

not worth the *** ache to fool with loose lifters and loose tolerances.

 

[Kern Dog]

I talked with Jim at racer Brown. Nice guy. He is working up the numbers for a custom grind. I told him I'd rather err on the small side than large. A fat cam in a smaller engine is a pig. I don't want a cam that comes alive as the heads are maxxed out for flow.

 

[moparmarks]

Racer Brown has been around for quite awhile. Kind of surprised that he is still doing it. He does custom grinds. I've had a couple of his bump sticks over the years. Had a 472 Hemi with one and man that motor really had one hell of a power band.

 

[Kern Dog]

His suggestion sounds milder than I would expect but he knows far more than I do about that stuff.

 

[moparmarks]

Well when it comes to choosing lift, duration, overlap and all that a Unicorn knows more than I do so let the experts figure it out.

 

[Slap Stick]

Didn't I read somewhere Racer Brown was sold to one of the employees?

 

[hunt2elk]

Didn't I read somewhere Racer Brown was sold to one of the employees?

Yes, probably 10 years ago now.

 

[hunt2elk]

A business that is only open 5 hours a day? Sounds like a semi-retired guy running the show!

He only answers the phone 5 hours a day. The rest of the time he is in the shop grinding cams. One man band last I talked to him.

 

[ckessel]

The MP cams of old were done by Racer Brown.

 

[Kern Dog]

Hmmm....
A guy I know that was an original owner of this 71 Road Runner had a Racer Brown cam in his car. He said it broke in half!

Can't blame the cam grinder though...I would guess that was a casting problem.

 

[moparmarks]

I broke a Sig Erson cam in my 69 Charger 440 while idling back in the 70's. This after it probably had around 10,000 miles on it. Should say it broke.

 

[dvw]

Deburr it. It's a casting. They dont machine the sides of the lobes. Doesnt look that unusual for this style cam. Its not a fully machined billet roller. No parts get installed without debuting and cleaning in my stuff. They all need a little work.
Doug

 

[Barry Woodyard]

Built a Stroker 540 Motor a few years ago. Machine shop did the entire build. Comp Hydraulic Roller Cam, Lifters and pushrods. 5 miles and started to hear lifter rattle. pulled the cover and a pushrod end had completely came off the push rod. They gave me a new set of pushrods and before I got a mile down the road same thing happened on a different cylinder. Bought a set of I believe Diamond push rods and never had another problem

 

[MoparDanMan]

For those of you that have stumbled into my thread about the build of my wrecked 1970 Charger XH, I am rebuilding the original 383. The crank and pistons are in and yesterday I started to install the cam.
It is a Comp Cams 270/470 Magnum series.
I was slathering on the cam lube and as I was smearing it on with the cam lobes in my right palm, I felt some rough unfinished edges that cut my hand a few times.

View attachment 1012018 View attachment 1012019 View attachment 1012020
Take a closer look. You will see at the edges of the lobes, some fabric remains where I used a towel to clean off the lube.

View attachment 1012021


These spots are right on the outer edges.

View attachment 1012022
That one above was the worst.
View attachment 1012023
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View attachment 1012025

The lifters ride along the middle and edges of these lobes. I thought of just taking a file to the edges but what if I cut through the hardening treatment? Why should I have to do that anyway?
I haven't seen this before. I've installed maybe 20 cams over the years and this is the first one that I have seen like this. 7 of the lobes have sharp, raised edges on them.

I've never seen cam lobes that rough. It looks like they were unfinished.

 

[MoparDanMan]

Looks like the typical junk that Comp Cams is making these days. They have really gone to ****. They'll never get another dime from me.
Their roller lifters are junk as well as their roller rockers. Not just Mopar stuff but GM and Ford stuff too.

Lunati