[Verdoro 68]

Originally Posted by grivera

Good news. Have you taken it to the track for a timeslip? Or are you able to estimate how fast (ET) it's running?

No, but it feels strong - at least a lot stronger than it was. I could guess what it might run but I'm sure I'd be disappointed if I actually ran it. It's also short shifting right now at around 4300. I need to dial in the governor so it shifts higher.

Originally Posted by HWYSTR455

Couple comments, others please chime in...
On post # 108, looking at the cam, the visible lobes are worn all the way across the nose of the lobe, indicating excessive wear. To be safe, I would at least measure total lift.

Thanks for your comments.

What should proper wear on a flat tappet cam look like? It may very well be worn. It's possible the wear was from the stock retainers binding up on the seals. However, there's no indication that there's a flat lobe. The timing and vacuum are steady and the oil has always looked clean.

Originally Posted by HWYSTR455

On post # 111, the pic of the lifter, in my experience, with that low of miles/run time, you should only see a light circle on the face of the lifter, and not all the way to the edge. Re-read #110, Mick's suggestion is a good test, but I believe the wear pattern says it all.

Based on my uneducated eye they did look more worn than they should so I took the lifters to my machinist when I had him fix my heads. He attributed the wear to the cam's aggressive lift but said they were fine.

Originally Posted by HWYSTR455

Post # 112, Looks like there may be some contact on the rocker body by the retainer, you probably want to check that clearance again.

I see what you are talking about, I never noticed that before. I haven't seen anything on the new retainers to indicate there's any contact, but I'll check again.

Originally Posted by HWYSTR455

Also, 2000 flash isn't enough for that cam in a 400.

Agreed, but it seems to work well enough for now. Down the line I could see the benefit to the smaller Continental converter.

[rohrt]

I read through this whole post last night. There is a lot of good information to had. I would still be curiouse what your cranking compression is now with a warmed up motor. I would also be interested in where your dialed in now, but like you I have never done that my self or do I have the tools to do it.

So what did the machie shop do to the heads the second time to get the proper clearence?

To bad Christmass is over I would ask Santa for that Torq converter and some roller rockers

[Verdoro 68]

Yes, I learned quite a bit working through this. The main lesson is it's probably not going to be one thing causing something like this.

As far as the heads, I'm pretty sure he didn't machine the guides down far enough the first time. If you look at some of the earlier pics there's space between the seals and the bottom of the head. They sit flush on the head now.

[HWYSTR455]

If you look at the nose of the lobe, from the top, it should barely, if at all, be worn towards the one side of the lobe. You should see a shadow that narrows, where you see the lifter rides on the one side of the lobe.

Look here at the side shot of the lobe/lifter and how it rides to one side.

http://books.google.com/books?id=VX4...20wear&f=false

There shouldn't be any, or very little, contact, on the edge of the lifter face.

It may be just across the nose worn, but usually, once you break through to a certain point, the wear occurs rapidly, and you may be looking at another teardown to clean it up. This might be a good time to look at a different profile too, one that matches your stall and gearset better. Know it's probably not what you wanted to hear, since you just got it all back together, but think someone should mention.

Rockers are a good investment, as are polylocks. In general, unless it's a low performance budget rebuild, I wouldn't bother with the stamped ones. The Scorpion ones are inexpensive and come with ploylocks for like $220, think Harlands are a little more. You get more accurate ratios and you won't have to worry ever about the nuts backing off.

.

[Verdoro 68]

I see what you mean in regards to cam/lifter contact. If the crown of the lifter is in place it should limit the amount of contact with the lobe.

I don't mind hearing this kind of info at all. That's why I posted the pics in the first place. Changing a cam is easy and reasonably cheap presuming the rest of the engine is in good shape.

[Verdoro 68]

It's running great so it's time to take it apart.

I started thinking about the wear on the cam and lifters - and the cam in regards to the rest of my combo. Going to change things up with this Lunati cam which should put the power band more inline with my converter and gears. Thanks for the recommendation gtofreek.

Advertised Duration (Int/Exh): 262/268
Duration @ .050 (Int/Exh): 219/227
Gross Valve Lift (Int/Exh): .468/.489
LSA/ICL: 112/108
RPM Range: 1300-5500



I should get the mods to change the title of this thread ; )