#21  
Old 11-04-2021, 02:41 PM
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Were the followers a roller design?

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Old 11-04-2021, 07:18 PM
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No exact copies of the OE design, only made out of tooled steel. And that is what they told us a set would cost if we wanted one. I see no benefit in those parts.

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Old 11-05-2021, 06:07 AM
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Not without some sort of matching Cam

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Old 11-07-2021, 09:57 AM
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My thoughts exactly on the followers.

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Old 11-08-2021, 08:34 AM
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When he first pulled one out of his pocket I thought someone had finally figured out a roller option.

When he said it was a copy of the stock follower, I could not figure out why they went to the trouble and expense.

I could see spending the money polishing a set of followers and/or coating them and the cam.

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Old 11-08-2021, 05:41 PM
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It came down to what is available out there these days. The only ones you can find are not very good and really look nothing like the factory parts. Some of them work (the ones that are made to the proper thickness) but when talking to the guys at Ed Pink's, they had the same issue I did with them. They actually got 3 our of their twelve that were made wrong so they decided to go ahead and make new ones.

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Old 11-08-2021, 08:14 PM
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The aftermarket followers are .030” to .050” oversized. I measure each one I sell and only ship the ones closest to .030. I have not had anyone run into issues that I am aware of on a new cam. I assume the ones you had trouble with ran closer to .050”, holding open the valve(s). I wish they were closer to the stock dimensions, but it is what it is. The followers .040 to .050” should only be used on a reground camshaft after doing some math.

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Old 11-09-2021, 12:47 PM
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I noticed in the article that they did apply a DLC coating (Diamond-Like-Carbon) and that they saw no wear on the followers after use.

I wonder if it would make sense to clean up or polish the stock ones and then have them coated?

I heard there were some minor issues with the aftermarket followers but did not know they were oversized. Would it be possible to machine or re-surface them to get them in spec?

  #29  
Old 11-09-2021, 01:14 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 66sprint View Post
I heard there were some minor issues with the aftermarket followers but did not know they were oversized. Would it be possible to machine or re-surface them to get them in spec?
I am sure you could machine them to make them work, but when you're trying to get an engine to fire for the first time and are scratching your head trying to figure out why you have a dead hole there's really not time to go to the machine shop. I ended up with two that were off and somehow managed to get them both on the number two cylinder. Both the intake and exhaust were hanging open when the cam cover was bolted on.
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Old 11-09-2021, 10:38 PM
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63 Bomb, that is a very good picture of the difference in the followers. Thanks for sharing. The one cam grinder I spoke with has no way of easily measuring the followers. They just take enough off of them to get the surface correct and then heat treat and coat them. They have no real control in place to guarantee the final size. So these could be resurfaced, but would have to be measured against a control (NOS) to see where they end up. Then it would at least double the cost of them to my customers. ��

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Old 11-09-2021, 11:57 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 66sprint View Post
I noticed in the article that they did apply a DLC coating (Diamond-Like-Carbon) and that they saw no wear on the followers after use.

I wonder if it would make sense to clean up or polish the stock ones and then have them coated?

I heard there were some minor issues with the aftermarket followers but did not know they were oversized. Would it be possible to machine or re-surface them to get them in spec?
Last Sprint I built was when those lesser quality followers were in the parts pipeline. I hand-dressed the crown on a fine sharpening stone until they looked good, like any good shade-tree guy would have done, then finished the build. Didn't bother to coat them. Ran that engine brutally hard for 50,000 miles and they and the cam looked fine at that time.

  #32  
Old 11-12-2021, 08:22 PM
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The article did say there were extras made so others that needed them could buy them.

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Old 11-12-2021, 09:29 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Goatracer1 View Post
The article did say there were extras made so others that needed them could buy them.
Yeah at $2800 a set.

  #34  
Old 11-13-2021, 02:21 AM
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It was about a year ago when I reached out to the General Manger at Ed Pink's to discuss building my OHC. I figured they would be a good match seeing how they had just done Leno's. Well, it was me who reported that the GM had only bad things to say about the whole OHC building experience and how he never wanted to see one again.

Flash forward to yesterday when I stopped by Ed Pinks to meet with the NEW General Manager who is much more receptive and who was previously the dyno operator who ran Jay's OHC.

The article in Hemmings Classic car does state extra followers were made for OHC owners but that is not the case. They made 4 extra and those went to Jay. The price to make a set of 12 is very high as stated but could be lowered a little with a larger (group) order but I'm sure still out of reach for most.

The new GM was very generous with his time and gave me the full tour of the shop introducing me into a number of technicians and even the owner (not Ed, he sold the company). He showed me many of their current engine projects and it was all very impressive. These guys specialize in mostly European and race motors. they the even had a Cosworth F1 type motor. I don't think I saw one steel block or head, aluminum everywhere. Lots of one-off custom parts.

When I spoke with the old GM a year ago, I got the feeling they did not try too hard in sourcing parts. This became even more apparent when speaking with the new GM. But I kind of get it. This motor is really far from their wheel house. These guys aren't really doing any American muscle much less the OHC. We as enthusiast kind of take it for granted of our much larger shared knowledge base.

Anyway, according to them the followers they found were not the correct ones and had to be cut or modified in some way. (I don't have the details on that) They ran the motor, took off the tower to discover they were getting damaged. After a few more try's they gave up and decided to scan an original and CNC new ones from tool steel and have them coated with a diamond like carbon coating.

They had one follower that had not been coated and it was quite impressive. He then showed me some Porche rockers that had the DLC and it was amazing how slick they felt (sorry I did not take in pics). Coincidently a few calls had come in that day prior to my arrival asking about the followers. I think he had 5-6 inquiries. The followers do go through a number of processes and are QC'd to the en'th degree. I didn't take any notes but do recall him telling me they are very hard but not brittle so they could take a great impact and not shatter. They will actually machine a few more than your order in case they need to reject any during the manufactuing process.

This is a common DLC description you find: "Diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings are attractive tribological materials due to their high hardness, low coefficients of friction against themselves and other materials and low rates of wear. They are now widely used in applications ranging from automotive components (e.g., camshafts and tappets)" Now maybe I'm wrong but I have always felt the cam to follower was a big friction/heat creating machine. So using a follower with an incredibly low friction would be a big plus.

Now with stock cast followers they are softer than the cam. With these tool steel/DLC followers they would now be harder than the cam. It's my understanding you want one component to be harder than the other. So does anyone think these could be a liability? According to Leno he has put 1000 miles on his Firebird and at some point, they checked the followers and there was no wear to be seen.

I don't know if this makes any difference but my current cam is not a stock grind. I may change it but for now its 455 lift, 300 duration. Over the years I have had followers wear often leaving a raised edge where the cam makes no contact.

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Last edited by HOT OHC; 11-13-2021 at 02:54 AM.
  #35  
Old 11-16-2021, 10:40 AM
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Good information

Anyone have a ballpark number on what it costs to have the DLC applied?

I looked around and found some BMW followers sold with it but could not tell how much it added over a stock set.

I am assuming it can be applied to cast followers and not just tool steel.

  #36  
Old 11-17-2021, 07:20 AM
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Might reach out to RAU to see what they offer.
A few members have had their OR rockers "dressed" by them just not sure they offer anything like DLC.

http://www.rockerarms.com/index.html

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  #37  
Old 11-29-2021, 06:02 PM
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Jay has posted a video about the car on his Jay Leno's Garage channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5gWSWH053Y

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Old 11-29-2021, 07:48 PM
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I saw that! It's a good looking car. The exhaust note is not particularly flattering, but overall I really like the finished product.

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  #39  
Old 11-29-2021, 08:07 PM
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To me the exhaust note is fine - how they routed it though...

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Old 11-30-2021, 12:31 PM
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Yeah I don't care for it going under the rear axle, the only cars I remember routing it that way were the GM Full Size wagons in 71-76.

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