Is this Comp Cams Camshaft wiped-out?

[khryslerkid]

After cam break in I just pulled the plugs, pulled the valve covers, hook up a remote to the starter solenoid, crank her over watching each lifter to rotate.

 

[RemCharger]

@RemCharger When I turn the crank with a ratchet, no you do not notice any lifters turning. However, I think they are turning running at idle since I think I see wear indicating they're spinning.

Pull each lifter out by hand, 1 by 1, and look at the bottom of them. If they're all polished in a circle, good.
A bad one will show a scrub pattern easily seen. Post pic of any questionable ones.

 

[roadrunnerh]

All pulled, and look ok. One shows some different markings than the others.

 

[roadrunnerh]

Use a dial indicator & compare the lift from that lobe to the rest of them....

Yes, that would be optimal, but very tedious for me with cam in the motor.

 

[Kern Dog]

Just an observation but the last three on the top row look scuffed.

The white arrows point to where it looks weird to me.
The lifter with the orange arrow looks like it has odd wear at 10 and 4 o'clock.

 

[eldubb440]

put some sort of mark on the top edge of the lifter and see if it changes position after turning with a ratchet......the movement may not be noticeable without some sort of reference

 

[roadrunnerh]

Yes, they turn clockwise slightly. Marked red sharpie at high Noon, a few rotations they turn to 1 O'clock position.

 

[roadrunnerh]

Here's a pic of my timing marks: Do they line up? I drive myself crazy sometimes!

 

[Geoff 2]

Just another example of the crap lifters today. For 20 min of running they are toast. So sick of saying this on this forum & others: if you want your FT lifters to last until the end of the driveway, find some 25 yr old lifters [ they are made of quality metal ] & have them re-faced.

 

[71Beeper]

Roadrunnererh, your lifters are not as bad as mine were.


I posted this on my build thread.

If you look closely there are 3 of them that are not turning in their bores.
Remember these are solid lifters.
The one in the upper right - the 5th one down on the right column and the 6th one down on the left column.

While I was at it I took photos of the cam.
The photos are from the front of the engine to the back.

And that was only engine break in time and 4 dyno pulls.

 

[71Beeper]

Geoff 2, I hear what you are saying about finding some old lifters....
" if you want your FT lifters to last until the end of the driveway, find some 25 yr old lifters [ they are made of quality metal ] & have them re-faced."

The problem is finding old lifters - no one has them.
I was fortunate to find a set of old Mopar Performance solid lifters from a guy on Moparts.
The issue with them is that the body of the lifter is longer so a shorter pushrod will be needed.
I am currently using the Crower solid lifter with EDM hole - but the Mopar Performance ones are my back-up.

 

[Kern Dog]

Old lifters? What about USED lifters from an old engine? Can they be resurfaced ? I have a few of those!

 

[4speed68rt]

Here's a pic of my timing marks: Do they line up? I drive myself crazy sometimes!
View attachment 1506945

Isn't the timing mark supposed to be on the bottom of the top gear and the top of the bottom gear? No straight edge needed.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Isn't the timing mark supposed to be on the bottom of the top gear and the top of the bottom gear? No straight edge needed.

If you line them up that way the engine will be on compression stroke for cylinder 6 not cylinder 1.... Which is fine, as long as when you down the distributor in your aware of it...

 

[roadrunnerh]

Thank you everyone for the responses! I live and learn...
Yes, I messed up stalling the timing chain. It's on wrong. 180* off I think is an accurate description.

My original post regarding the cam was part of a post mortem. This '69 383 engine I rebuilt ran poorly, I made a rookie mistake thinking this could generate some cylinder psi with just a hone and new rings, with low compression 2 Bbl pistons. WRONG! (Ugh, the time I wasted cleaning)! Although I did learn A LOT going through the process. The dejection I experienced led me to let this project SIT for two years as I did some other slow upgrades to the car.

Well... back at it, and I'm going to do it right this time. Currently, my 906 heads are at the machine shop getting work, and this 383 bottom end will be there soon. The Comp Cams Camshaft is moot. I'm going with a little more aggressive cam anyways. I'm leaning toward a Hughes Cam. I also plan on shorty headers and dropping the HP Manifolds.
The machinist told me he would zero deck the pistons/block, as I shared my concerns over 383's being dogs with crappy pistons. He assured me of true 9:1 compression at least. Good reputation and nice guy.

I am fortunate to have FBBO input from you more experienced engine builders here! Thank You!

Harry

 

[Kern Dog]

Thank you everyone for the responses! I live and learn...
Yes, I messed up stalling the timing chain. It's on wrong. 180* off I think is an accurate description.

No, if the engine RAN, the timing chain and gears are NOT off 180 degrees.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

As Greg said, It runs it's not 180 off, You can line up the gears dot to dot like GM & Ford does or you can line them up the odd way that Mopar does it... Either way works but if you line it up dot to dot the distributor will be 180 out... It runs so obviously you found the proper relationship before you stabbed the distributor....

 

[Kern Dog]

I worked on my Chevys when that was what I drove. I changed a few timing chains and always deferred to the "dot to dot" method.
With Ma Mopar, I actually read and took the advice of smarter builders. The cam sprocket and crank sprocket BOTH at 12:00 has been my standard procedure if I'm not degreeing the whole schmere...

 

[roadrunnerh]

I think I understand, as far as both are lined up when #1 is TDC. ?

 

[RemCharger]

I think I understand, as far as both are lined up when #1 is TDC. ?

Yup. Crank turns 2x to cam. So 6, then 12. 6 then 12.

I'm not sure who makes a zero deck 383 piston, but make sure it has valve reliefs.