Mike,
I don't know how extensive a problem soft cams present, but I believe the
real issue is soft lifters that then destroy the cam lobes. This happened
to me on a Isky Z-19 regrind of my stock cam after only 15,000 miles. Great
cam profile for a mild street hop-up but when I took my engine apart last
year after sitting idle for twenty years the damage was obvious. Three
lifter faces were destroyed and the respective cam lobes were worn down
considerably. The other cam lobes and followers were fine, looking like
new. So three out of sixteen lifters were bad. It was not the cam. And as
far as I know any good cam regrind shop will harden the cam before shipping
it out.
I come from the school where if you're going to spend a decent amount of
cash just to do something half-assed you might as well spend the extra bucks
and do it the right way. Not to say hardening refaced used lifters does not
work, but if I'm going to invest major cash for a performance cam and
related hardware I do not want to later wish I spent the extra few dollars
to avoid doing it all over again. New hardened followers will set you back
about $130, not a terribly expensive investment. Although not exactly at the
top of anyone's list of exotic engine components, a engine will soon be in
trouble without good lifters riding the cam.
And frankly, if $130 bites too deep into one's wallet I would have to
question the logic of doing engine mods in the first place. It's better to
plan ahead and buy the right components over a few years as the budget (or
wife!) permits then to take shortcuts and rush into the job just so you will
have the car back on the road by summer with a hot engine, only to have the
engine self destruct. Patience absolutely pays off here!
By the way, with 10:1 compression you are a candidate for cam bearings if
you decide to go to a high lift cam, which requires that the block cam
saddles be line bored (~$200-$300). Then comes tubular pushrods (~$100) and
a nitrided rocker shaft (~$80). Also check your rocker arm faces. Not
unusual to see these pretty worn. And what about performance valve springs?
Can you hear that sound? Ka-ching, ka-ching!
Good luck!
Greg
CD6250L
----- Original Message -----
From: "michael lunsford" <mblunsfordsr@yahoo.com>
To: <6pack@autox.team.net>
Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2003 9:20 AM
Subject: Soft Lifters
> All of this talk about soft lifters, soft cams and etc is increasing my
normally abnormal paranoia. Somewhere down the line I expect to swap out my
early cam for an S2 type with new lifters. I have a 10/1 compression ratio
so think I would benefit from this upgrade. Is it possible to send the
lifters and new cam to a shop that does race type hardening and get some
added insurance for this problem? If/when I do this I don't want to have to
re do it again in 6 months or a year.
>
> Mike Lunsford, 1970 TR 6
>
>
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