COMP-Cams quality.........

[bulletbrown]

Do not know if this would help or not but I sent my cam to Cam Research Corporation 3881 S. Jason St. Englewood Co. 80110 303-762-0022 and had it placed and ran on there Cam King machine for 30 min. and pretested and broke it in . The cost was 60 dollars . They shipped it back to us and the lifters numbered . We installed it with both springs and it has held up for two years now and it runs great . This saves time and the risk of a bad lobe ruining your engine. And yes they do find bad lobes on a regular bases.

[ERA Chas]

Originally Posted by bulletbrown

Do not know if this would help or not but I sent my cam to Cam Research Corporation 3881 S. Jason St. Englewood Co. 80110 303-762-0022 and had it placed and ran on there Cam King machine for 30 min. and pretested and broke it in . The cost was 60 dollars . They shipped it back to us and the lifters numbered . We installed it with both springs and it has held up for two years now and it runs great . This saves time and the risk of a bad lobe ruining your engine. And yes they do find bad lobes on a regular bases.

Didn't Jerry dyno and break-in the cam when he built it?

[madmaxx]

wow!!!! It would appear this step is a no brainer. I guess the question which begs to be answered is why would comp cams or other cam manufacturers offer this service?? Not only sell the cam but the lifters. They must know their cams are sheet.

Originally Posted by bulletbrown

Do not know if this would help or not but I sent my cam to Cam Research Corporation 3881 S. Jason St. Englewood Co. 80110 303-762-0022 and had it placed and ran on there Cam King machine for 30 min. and pretested and broke it in . The cost was 60 dollars . They shipped it back to us and the lifters numbered . We installed it with both springs and it has held up for two years now and it runs great . This saves time and the risk of a bad lobe ruining your engine. And yes they do find bad lobes on a regular bases.

[Barry_R]

Two things. First is that their cams are not sheet. Second is that - as interesting as the service may be, it does not account for variations in block bore location in any of three planes - so it's not all its laid out to be.

This engine was broken in properly on the dyno and performed without incident. While the true root cause of the failure may never be known, there are clear indications of secondary non-cam-related issues that are in play and may well have been the causal factor. Time constraints will prevent us from really making a determination - the engine is already reassembled.

[madmaxx]

Why would time constraints prevent from making a determination? Was the same cam put back in the engine? If not why not have it cut up to determine depth of hardening, etc. I guess in the auto industry it is cheaper to just replace parts since at time the diagnostic work cost more than the component.

As far as "their cams are not sheet", they must have paid for the warranty repair, LOL.

[Barry_R]

We sent the cam back to Comp for them to check it. But the results of that test will not be known until long after the engine is finished and back in the car. It was preoiled today and should be all buttoned up tomorrow. The owner needs the car quickly for personal reasons - the time constraint is his.

Comp shipped a replacement cam and lifters without question before the old parts were even returned. You cannot ask for any better service than that. Considering that I have installed more flat tappet FE cams these past 5 years than most anyone (there are only be two or three places nationally doing my volume on FE stuff) and that I have ONE failure - its a pretty safe bet that the quality is good.

[madmaxx]

When it comes to engines You know far more than I so if you say comp is good then it is good. Thanks for all the advice, I know guys like you and Keith C are busy and are not compensated for posting on these boards to help others understand what is going on.

Originally Posted by Barry_R

We sent the cam back to Comp for them to check it. But the results of that test will not be known until long after the engine is finished and back in the car. It was preoiled today and should be all buttoned up tomorrow. The owner needs the car quickly for personal reasons - the time constraint is his.

Comp shipped a replacement cam and lifters without question before the old parts were even returned. You cannot ask for any better service than that. Considering that I have installed more flat tappet FE cams these past 5 years than most anyone (there are only be two or three places nationally doing my volume on FE stuff) and that I have ONE failure - its a pretty safe bet that the quality is good.

[ERA Chas]

Originally Posted by Barry_R

Comp shipped a replacement cam and lifters without question before the old parts were even returned. You cannot ask for any better service than that.

Give my regards to Gordon.

[Excaliber]

Well I think it's fair and reasonable to make at least one assumption with this particular cam failure.

I'd rule out mistakes on the builders side, all procedures being followed, lot's of experience with flat tappet cam break in, solid reputation, etc.

Any manufacturer will have an occasional bad product, IF that is the case here with Comp. It might not be. If not, and the replacement cam goes flat, then an exhaustive analysis well beyond engine building industry standards would have to be done. That would be very time consuming for all involved, lets hope it's simply a bad cam from Comp. I hope it's not part of a bad BATCH of blanks from the original source that could be impacting a number of manufacturers!