[Roadsters] U20 - Cam Broke - Valve Worries

[dave]

It sounds like you have an alignment issue on the cam bearings, or a cam
bearing with the oil hole in the wrong place. I would guess either the head
is twisted or maybe a machining problem from the rebuild.  Resolve it before
breaking more parts.  The cam needs to be able to spin freely with no bind,
head on block and torqued, rocker arms not installed yet.

-----Original Message-----
From: nmleeds at mindspring.com [mailto:nmleeds at mindspring.com]
Sent: Sunday, July 12, 2009 7:31 PM
To: datsun-roadsters at autox.team.net
Subject: [Roadsters] U20 - Cam Broke - Valve Worries

All,

Continueing on the saga of the U20 -> U10.  It wasn't the carb.  It wasn't
electrical. So I took off the valve cover and found a broken cam.  The video
is good for laughs.

That raises a couple of questions:

1) Any ideas why my new cam, on my freshly rebuilt (5,000 mile) engine
broke? What should I look for and address before putting a new one in?
2) Should I be worried that the snapped cam might have caused the pistons to
hit the valves?  I noticed a the sparkplugs on the 3 and 4 cylinders were
wet, and worried about valve, valve guides . . .
3) Any thoughts about what cam I should put in as a replacement?
4) And, does anyone have one cheap they would sell me?

Nathaniel

'69 U10

Status: Parked.