[74t/a]

First of all, If you have a worn cam, Where do you think the metal goes?

I always recommend removing the engine, or at least the oil pan and removing the metal out of the pan. I personally remove the engine for inspection if that happens to inspect the bearings and piston skirts for metal imbedment.

Second, if you shimmed the thrust plate to get the lifter centered on the lobe, that is the wrong way for 2 reasons. The first is, the lifter is positioned offcenter for a reason, to make the lifter turn. The lobes are usually ground with taper as well to promote lifter turning. The other thing with shimming the thrust is the timing chain will be out of alignment and will bind because of it.

Get those shims out of there!!!