We use Joe Gibbs break in
oil with great luck. The flat tappet camshaft deal can be a pain in the ass. You are right about building engines as a full time job. you will never make it on 40 hours a week. There are to many problems that companies will not stand behind.
One thing that we try to do when building the engine is to make sure that the lifter is turning in the bores. In the past with our stocker stuff which have a pretty aggressive lobe we would run the front of the camshaft with a drill and watch to make sure the lifters would rotate in the bores. We would run the camshaft this way for a while and try to break the lifters in a little to the lobes. All of this trouble is one reason we have gone with the hydraulic roller stuff.
I do not know how aggressive the camshaft was but like Barry we have had pretty good luck in the last couple of years since using the break in
oil, light spring pressure and higher rpm break in for about 30 minutes. More than likely Comp Cams will warranty the the parts but that does not make it any easier on the customer or Barry.
I have had a few wierd things happen here lately at my shop that have cost me a few thousonds dollars. Takes a little time to recover from that and extra work.
Make sure the lifters turn in the bores when you go back together, use a good break in
oil that are special made by a few companies including Comp Cams. Sounds like evrything else was done right. Could have just got a bad core. I had a problem with the hydraulic roller stuff a few years back eating the cam gear on the cam shaft up. I know it was a core issue but Comp said I was the only one with the problem and I know better than that. When you do as many engines as we do you seem to be the one that has some of these problems. Good luck.
Thanks, Keith Craft