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Re: Tappets and Cams

To: Larry Colen <lrcar@red4est.com>, mgs@autox.team.net, hans@hi-flow.com
Subject: Re: Tappets and Cams
From: Barney Gaylord <barneymg@MGAguru.com>
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2003 02:06:05 -0500
At 11:03 PM 6/9/03 -0700, Larry Colen wrote:
>When you replace a cam, do you need to also replace the tappets?

Absolutely, yes.

>Or, if they are still good, can you just go with the old ones?

Never.  That would be a death sentence for the new cam.  You would have to 
have the tappets re-ground, which is generally more expensive than buying 
new ones.

>I've heard some talk of tappets wearing in, but I don't know how much of 
>that is reality and how much is superstition.

It's real.  You can install new tappets on an old cam, but not the other 
way around.  Find a description on how tappets work here: 
http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/engine/cm101.htm
Additionally the few pages that follow give a nice picture tour of wear 
patterns on the cam and tappets.

Barney Gaylord
1958 MGA with an attitude
http://MGAguru.com

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