**Problem Solved** I was lining up the pushrods to see if any were bent and low and behold, one was missing the "cap" on th end and YES it was the suspect cylinder. I had the cam mich'd today, great shape! Now, anyone want to buy a MEAN Crance cam! I am still going with the new one tommrw. Comp Cam 282s. THANKS ALL.....Scott I am assuming the cap was worn off with the ecxess lash on that bank. I found it attached to th drain plug magnet. I will always have MULTIPLE magnets in the pan! edit; upon further inspection of the pushrods I see that 7 of them have end damage. Makes me wonder if I really got the moly rods I paid for. I will be chatting with my machine shop in the am..
Okay, I know this sounds like B.S. now, but I was going to suggest that it was a damaged push rod tip (broken). This recently happened to a buddy of mine's 351. He found part of the tip in his oil pump. After inspecting all the parts, sure enough, one of the tips had come off. The other part was in the bottom of the oil pan. He was using hardened pushrods also. He went back with a stock MOPAR push rod that happened to be the same length. 'Glad you found the problem. Heck, I'd try the new cam - 20 years of advancement in technology and testing could be worth another tenth or two (as I recall, the new cam was close to, but not the same as, the old cam specs). Good luck.
Don't breakin the cam without the proper oil with ZINC content! I recommend Shell Rotella Diesel Richard
Laeey, I agree. Comp has an aditive that I bought for that very reason. In fact,with the cam came a long letter talking about todays oils. Almost got political on me! Rick, I beleive you (wink wink nod nod) And I am going with the new cam
If you are going to sell the old cam, are you going to sell the lifters it has been running with? caution: installing an old cam with new lifters can ruin both pieces. Installing a new cam with old lifters can ruin both parts as well.
That's really not true. You can use new lifters with an old cam with no problems. Never use old lifters on a new cam though....
The parts wear together. Once they are worn they fit together. (would you replace one contact button of a contact set?) If you try to make either part wear to a new part it is possible that the angles are worn enough that the new part will just wear out both. The cam comes with an angle on the lobes and the lifters come with a slight dome on the bottoms. The angle on the lobes wears to fit the curvature on the lifter and the lifter wears to fit the lobe. Believe as you wish but if either part is used, you are depending on luck. If you are lucky you might get away with new lifters on a fairly new used cam - Do you feel lucky?
The procedure has been done for many years with no problems. It's a common practice, especially when restoring cars to original and using the original cam that has been mic'd and shown to be in good condition...
Also, using that logic you would not be able to put a matched set of cam and lifters into a different engine. There are undoubtedly machining variances from one block to the next and you would likely never be able to get the lifter to ride on the exact same section on the lobe than when in the original block. And I try to disagree with TL whenever I can! I can't here, however.
Maybe Roller cams are OK. With flat tappet cams the surfaces of the cam and bottom of the lifter are machined to make the lifter rotate. If they are not working together one or both will be damaged. Can you reuse them and mix and match? Sometimes you can get away with. Sometimes you can do it more than once. For me the work and cost of pulling an engine, replacing the cam and lifters, re-bearing it, cleaning the oil pump, flushing out all the oil galleries, etc. is more than enough incentive for me to use a new cam and lifters. Can you have the same problem with a new cam and lifters? Yes. But with proper install including cam lube, oil addative, and Rotella oil you've eliminated as many of the gremlins as possible. Again, roller cams OK. You can reuse the lifters with the new cam.
