Quote Originally Posted by Rrumbler View Post
In the diagram above you see that the oil is pumped through the filter to the three oil galleys above the camshaft, and follow the path the oil takes. If you keep the pressure up long enough while "priming" the engine, the oil will overflow the lifters and the pushrod tips a bit and run back down through the valley and drip onto the cam lobes.
I may be wrong (please correct me if I'm wrong), but I seem to remember the valley drains offset and not directly over the cam. Again I may be wrong, but I believe the cam is oiled by crank splash (unless you have bottom oiling lifters). I believe this is why it is so critical on a flat tappet cam to break the cam in at 2000+ rpm for 20 min, to ensure the oiling of the cam.
Also, on a new motor I was taught to minimize turning the motor over once the valves were set, to minimize wiping the high pressure lube installed on the cam lobes off before break in.
If you installed a new flat tappet cam and did note use high pressure lube on the lobes, I would recommend removing the cam and installing the lube on the lobes prior to start up.