Thread: Using a used cam...???

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In one of David Vizzards books he goes into detail on how to use used lifters and cams and a big thing about sanding a convex shape to the bottom of the used lifter and how to achieve this...may wanna check it out.....if nothing else it makes for good coversational reading.

Originally Posted by shawnlee28

In one of David Vizzards books he goes into detail on how to use used lifters and cams and a big thing about sanding a convex shape to the bottom of the used lifter and how to achieve this...may wanna check it out.....if nothing else it makes for good coversational reading.

sanding just to smooth it the lifter foot not to change it . must be convex or it will not turn the best the 600 wet dry is to remove the rough grind that can hurt the cam lobes. that is some times very rough grind on the lifers when new.

Pat's reply is getting on the right track except for a small detail. Remember the cam has the slight angle built into it's lobes. I have stepped on to my own you know what by convexing the lifter in the 'ol budget days. Go as flat as you can when re-surfacing the lifters. If you can sweet talk or know of a shop with either a surface grinder or crakshaft grinder, pull some favors. Crank grinders have such a big stone with traverse capabilties that it does a sweet and quick job with a perfect swirl finish.

storm vulcan made a lifter grinder that did the foot to recon the lifter as far as the face being dead flat ?? i have gone by what crower said and allway check them for dish yes the cam as a bit offset to the lobe if not the lifter will not turn you want them to turn. here is what crower said about this. what causes a lifter to rotate ?? most cams lobes are not flat but by design have a taper of .0007to .002 this taper in conjunction with the (spherical radius) on the foot of the lifter induces ROTATION of the lifter due to the face that the lifter bore is offset with the cam lobe cenerline this rotation distributes the high unit pressures over a greater are at the lobe and foot surface i would add is the last thing you want like i posted is to chang the foot of the new lifter just smooth the foot a bit.

Good reply pat. I was considering offering my reply to someone cutting corners on their budget. Have been in their shoes and tried many "Wild" ideas. One note to remember, the turning geometry of the cam comes from the nose and heel of the cam. That's why the lifter spins and enjoys a "good life" for the duration of it's existance. Thanks again Pat for your dilegance in your responces. Nice to have good answers for these questions.

my cam and lifter set came out of a motor with 12,000 and it works fine but the lifters were inspected and indexed to the cam lobes and they were reinstalled back on the same lobes for wear purposes

I also built a budget 454 a few years back. Look at Performance Auto Wholesale or Warehouse. They sell a brand of cams called SSI cams. Cam and lifters are $79.95. I've used four of these on different builds and, using proper cam break in procedures, had excellent luck with all of them. There's really not a better deal out there that I've seen, and it's worth the money to know you won't have to tear it down again if the used cam has a problem.

So what did you do? Did utilize the used cam? I curious to know what you did. Considering your BB vs SB timing chain thread I assume you have settled on a cam...what did you go with?

I just picked up a new comp cams and lifter set on fleabay for $100. After a lesson in cam selection from the guys here on another string, I realized the used cam that was offered to me wasn't right for my application.

lots of good stuff here...