Cruising the Coast and general happenings

[fordsbyjay]

The last part you add to your new engine build should be the rear cam plug, after you lift the motor off the stand. Leave that plug out, so you can see how those gears are meshing. If you've cut the deck of the block and the deck surfaces of the heads, how do you know you don't need to shim the distributor up a few thousandths, unless you check?

When I read this I was like WTF? How can you see the distributor from the back. Then it hit me like a brick chevy boy.... lmao ...I checked camshaft end play and dist. gear placement on the shaft to make sure they were both correct.

 

[Mike]

When I read this I was like WTF? How can you see the distributor from the back. Then it hit me like a brick chevy boy.... lmao ...I checked camshaft end play and dist. gear placement on the shaft to make sure they were both correct.

Yeah, that technique won't work for you guys running the Blue Ovals. It's amazing how many people never look at it.

 

[Mr T Bucket]

I've been exchanging emails the last day or two with the guys at Comp. Told me my cam is cast iron, which I suspected, but wasn't sure. The other thing was something I've been trying to find the answer to for about the last week. New cam, new timing set and found out the pin, the longer pin, was only sticking out barely 0.030" which is supposed to engage or lock the fuel pump eccentric. That's not enough to my liking, as I was sure the factory had much more than that. I didn't have the old timing gear, so I couldn't check it against the new gear. But I did have the old cam and old pin. Put the new gear on the old cam and wouldn't you know, I gained 0.060" more pin. The hole on the new cam is deeper and the pin can't stick out as far as it should. At least now I know I wasn't losing my mind, LOL. I mean, I was going crazy, but now I know it wasn't me. :ciao:

 

[sstock]

I have been concerned over breaking in my smallblock Chev, more specifically breaking in the flat tappet cam. I purchased my cam from Delta Cam, it is a regrind to Comp Cams Specs. They are a reseller of Compcams. Through discussions with them, a couple topics came up, number 1 was the lack of zinc in todays oil, second was that of the hydraulic lifter. The lifter they sell now has a small groove machined into the side of the lifter that runs longitudely down the lifter. The purpose of this is to get a small spray of oil down on the individual cam lobe. Hmm, has me wondering if these smallblock chev. engines after millions produced now has oiling design problem?? I doubt that, but for some reason they felt necessary to machine this groove in the lifter. I don't know if softer cam cores are the culprit but I can say it was topic discussion over the years, at car shows, get togethers, bench racing sessions and yes at the machine shops. With that said Compcams does sell alot of cams and I do believe many people do not follow correct break in procedures and the combination of lack of zinc in the oil is claiming many a cam lobe IMHO.
I did alittle homework myself on my setup, look what I found:

This concerned me, no way I'm cinching the distributor hold down and binding the cam/dist gears, I will be purchasing some shims.
And as a recommendation of Compcams at the SEMA show this last week, purchased :

 

[Mike]

The purpose of this is to get a small spray of oil down on the individual cam lobe. Hmm, has me wondering if these smallblock chev. engines after millions produced now has oiling design problem?? I doubt that, but for some reason they felt necessary to machine this groove in the lifter.

It's just part of an ongoing evolutionary process.

Years ago, before learning how critical it is to keep a lot of oil on the valve springs, it was common to use edge orifice lifters. The oil hole was moved from the waist groove up to the edge, which cut down on the oil to the rocker boxes. It worked a treat, keeping oil in the bottom end.

EDM lifters are available, which have a small hole EDM'ed into the face of the lifter, to provide more oil to the lifter/lobe insterface.

I've seen people machine a small flat down the side of a lifter, to achieve the same end. You really want a whole lot of oil pump to cover this modification up.

So the groove is just another means to skin the same cat.

Look how oil pan design has evolved over the last 25 years. Oil pan manufacturers learned how to control oil within the pan and then moved on to learning how to make power with their designs.

You know, there is a way to eliminate all of your flat tappet wear woes. It's not a cheap solution, but it will put an end to all of it. Can you imagine running a flat tappet combination for a few hundred miles, tearing everything down and not having to worry about keeping the lifters in order, so they go back on the same lobe? Can you imagine building a new engine, with a new flat tappet camshaft, and not having to spend time with a break-in procedure? Can you imagine running a hydraulic lifter at zero lash, rather than trying to juggle pre-load?

One of the best kept secrets in Stock Eliminator are the Schubeck lifters. When Joe introduced his lifters, the Stocker guys were suddenly looking for stock diameter valve springs that would give them 200+ lbs. of seat load. His Roller-X lifters eliminate the problems of pounding needle bearings, because they have no needle bearings. How about a roller lifter that has no roller at all, but uses a radius face, instead?

Joe's hydraulic lifters have a composite face, which eliminates almost all the friction at the lifter/lobe interface. No friction = no wear = no break-in. He machines his lifter bodies to accept a real snap ring, which eliminates nearly all the pump-up problems inherent in hydraulic lifters. And his piston design eliminates nearly all the bleed-off problems you find in a mass-produced lifter.

Sound good? OK, how does $45.00 per lifter sound to you? Are you ready to drop $720.00 on a set of lifters?

And yes, this is Joe Schubeck of Hurst Hairy Olds and Lakewood Industries fame. You'll work hard to find a nicer guy. And you'll work pretty hard to find anyone who can think as fast and as deeply as joe.