454 that eats lifters?

[smilliron]

Ok, just wondering if any of you guys would have any suggestions on this one. I helped a buddy put together a 454 that he built up pretty good, has about 9. 8 : 1 compression, Cam with . 550" lift, and around 240* duration... well, got it running last weekend, ran it the 30 min. to break in the cam and started to hear a little valve clatter... one thing led to another and he ended up finding two lifters that looked like the cam had worn through the bottom of them. It literally ate about a 1/16" off the bottom of the lifters. We're both kinda stumped with what could have caused this... I've never heard or seen anything like it before.



Any suggestions / comments??

 

[metal tech]

I've seen this before

When using a hydraulic lifter cam that has the specs your does, break-in is critical. The way I've heard to cure this is to use only the outer set of springs. Here's why, it lessens the pressure and allows the lifter/cam surface to develop a wear pattern. I had a 234/244 . 553/. 575 in my old 433. It cupped the bottom of half the lifters. I skipped trying another hydraulic cam and went straight to a solid roller. Remember, you only need to run the engine @ around 2500 RPM for cam breakin, so only using the outers is safe.



Al

 

[smilliron]

Thanks a lot for the quick reply... so yet another question... now that the cam is broken in, stick new lifters in it and it should be good to go, right? It does make sense though about taking the insides out of those big springs out for the break in. I'll have to do that when I get my 350 built



Thanks again for the info!!!



--Sam

 

[metal tech]

You really need to call the cam company about that one. Mine was so far gone it wore the edges of the lobes round. I hate to say it, but probably the best thing is stick a new cam& lifters in it.



Al