Used Cam Break in??

Posted By: dodge413

Used Cam Break in?? - 12/03/13 01:42 PM

Ok Gear Heads! Here's A Question For You. I Am Installing A Used Hydraulic Cam And Lifter Set (Thanks To MikeyT) Into My Bone Stock 413. I Am On A Shoe String Budjet, Hence The Used Cam... Do I Need To "Break In" This Cam Into This New/Old 413 Engine? Do I Need To Use High Zinc Content Break In Oil? Do I Need To Run The Engine At 2500 Rpm For 20 Minutes?
Thanks For The Comments!

Posted By: jlatessa

Re: Used Cam Break in?? - 12/03/13 01:53 PM

Lifters and lobes have to be matched from previous use.
wear patterns are usually different, but that being said,
on a mild build, with low spring pressures, you can probably
get away with it using an additive, my

Joe

Posted By: drew72

Re: Used Cam Break in?? - 12/03/13 02:45 PM

As long as the lifters are matched to their original lobes there is no need to break in the cam. It's already done.

Posted By: BB65Barracuda

Re: Used Cam Break in?? - 12/03/13 03:07 PM

Quote:

As long as the lifters are matched to their original lobes there is no need to break in the cam. It's already done.

Posted By: 5spdcuda

Re: Used Cam Break in?? - 12/03/13 03:26 PM

It usually works. I would use a high zinc oil or some zinc additive. There is one thing to consider however. While it's true that the cam and lifters are mated to each other [ this assumes that each lifter is going back on the same lobe it was on before ], the lifer bores in the block you're using may and probably are at slightly different angles than the one it came out of. This MAY be enough to cause the lifters to wear prematurely. As I said at the beginning it usually works, just keep in mind that it's not guaranteed. If you're really worried you can just buy new lifters and go through the usual 20-25 minute break in procedure.

Posted By: dogdays

Re: Used Cam Break in?? - 12/03/13 03:34 PM

The last poster made most of my point. Lifter angle/placement will probably be a little different.

IMHO there is enough of an issue that you put the cam in covered with break-in lube and run the engine at 2000 rpm or so for the 20 minutes. Look at it this way, what does it cost you to do this? So why not?

I'd probably do this over replacing the lifters with new ones.

Make sure your heads have enough clearance between retainer and seal, also that the spring doesn't go into coil bind.

R.

Posted By: dodge413

Re: Used Cam Break in?? - 12/03/13 03:52 PM

Unfortunately The Lifters Were Not Marked Which Lobe They Were from When They Were Removed. Supposedly The Cam Has Only A 1000 Miles On It And It Barely Has Any Evidence It Was Even Used.

Posted By: dodge413

Re: Used Cam Break in?? - 12/03/13 03:57 PM

This Cam Is Just A Step Ovet Stock. It Is An Edelbrock Performer Cam With Like .425 lift. So There Shouldn't Be Any Issue With The Stock Springs Binding Or Anything.

Posted By: 6PakBee

Re: Used Cam Break in?? - 12/03/13 04:14 PM

Quote:

Unfortunately The Lifters Were Not Marked Which Lobe They Were from When They Were Removed. Supposedly The Cam Has Only A 1000 Miles On It And It Barely Has Any Evidence It Was Even Used.

New lifter time.

Posted By: 5spdcuda

Re: Used Cam Break in?? - 12/03/13 04:16 PM

If you don't know which lifter went on it's respective lobe I would definitely get new lifters. FWIW whenever I pull a cam and lifters and think there is any possibility they will be used again I put each lifter in a zip lock sandwich bag and write the position [ eg. 1 IN. ] on a piece of masking tape and put that on the bag. The bag keeps the lifter clean and oiled and separate from each other.

Posted By: MikeyT

Re: Used Cam Break in?? - 12/03/13 08:05 PM

That is good to know! I didn't realize that either

Mike

Posted By: Twostick

Re: Used Cam Break in?? - 12/03/13 08:58 PM

I used to swap used 340 cams into 318's when I didn't know any better and used the lifters from the 318 after taking them out of a bucket. Never had a problem. Never knew about cam lube either but I did slather everything in STP.

Me in your position, I'm cleaning everything up good, putting the assembly lube to it and making sure ALL the lifters are spinning before I fire it. Fill it with Rotella 15/40, prime it, fire it and call it a day.

Kevin

Posted By: MoparforLife

Re: Used Cam Break in?? - 12/03/13 09:35 PM

Quote:

I used to swap used 340 cams into 318's when I didn't know any better and used the lifters from the 318 after taking them out of a bucket. Never had a problem. Never knew about cam lube either but I did slather everything in STP.

Me in your position, I'm cleaning everything up good, putting the assembly lube to it and making sure ALL the lifters are spinning before I fire it. Fill it with Rotella 15/40, prime it, fire it and call it a day.

Kevin

That is what I would do too. Likely been done a lot more times without problems than with. With a mild set up I wouldn't worry about it.

Posted By: 6PakBee

Re: Used Cam Break in?? - 12/03/13 09:43 PM

Well, if you decide to go cheap at least verify that the lifters are rotating on the camshaft. Then you have a fighting chance. If they aren't rotating I don't care how little spring pressure you are running, the cam lobe won't last.

Posted By: MoparforLife

Re: Used Cam Break in?? - 12/04/13 12:49 AM

Quote:

Well, if you decide to go cheap at least verify that the lifters are rotating on the camshaft. Then you have a fighting chance. If they aren't rotating I don't care how little spring pressure you are running, the cam lobe won't last.

If the lifters aren't spinning it won't make a bit of difference if they are new or used. It will be instant destruction.

Posted By: 6PakBee

Re: Used Cam Break in?? - 12/04/13 02:25 AM

Quote:

Quote:

Well, if you decide to go cheap at least verify that the lifters are rotating on the camshaft. Then you have a fighting chance. If they aren't rotating I don't care how little spring pressure you are running, the cam lobe won't last.

If the lifters aren't spinning it won't make a bit of difference if they are new or used. It will be instant destruction.

Let's agree to disagree. If you light it up and a lifter is stationary, or barely moving, the 30 seconds it takes to determine this (assuming you've lathered everything up with break-in lube) won't kill the lobe.

Posted By: 383man

Re: Used Cam Break in?? - 12/04/13 03:14 AM

If the lifters get mixed up on a used cam and lifters I would just replace the lifters (as long as the cam was good) and then use the cam break in lube and oil with alot of zinc. Then just break the lifters into the new cam like breaking in any cam and of course make sure the lifters rotate. I was never a fan of using used lifters on a used cam if the lifters got mixed up. You have to remember for the lifters to rotate the cam needs to have the angle on the lobe and the lifters need to be concave on the bottom (concave going out from the lifter bottom) a bit so the lifters will be forced to want to rotate. A used lifter may not have enough concave left on it for it to want to rotate. I always worry about that on used lifters so as I said if they get mixed up I prefer to replace the lifters. Ron

Posted By: TJP

Re: Used Cam Break in?? - 12/04/13 03:59 AM

Quote:

If the lifters get mixed up on a used cam and lifters I would just replace the lifters (as long as the cam was good) and then use the cam break in lube and oil with alot of zinc. Then just break the lifters into the new cam like breaking in any cam and of course make sure the lifters rotate. I was never a fan of using used lifters on a used cam if the lifters got mixed up. You have to remember for the lifters to rotate the cam needs to have the angle on the lobe and the lifters need to be concave on the bottom (concave going out from the lifter bottom) a bit so the lifters will be forced to want to rotate. A used lifter may not have enough concave left on it for it to want to rotate. I always worry about that on used lifters so as I said if they get mixed up I prefer to replace the lifters. Ron

Posted By: TJP

Re: Used Cam Break in?? - 12/04/13 04:02 AM

Quote:

New lifter time.

Cheap insurance IMO

Posted By: BeEtLeJuIcE !

Re: Used Cam Break in?? - 12/04/13 08:46 AM

People have missed ......

....as long as the lobes on the cam are good, all lifters have a good crown on them and all lifters spin free in the bores ....you are good-to-go.

I have done this on my last couple of cam swaps and new engine builds ... put a dab of white engine enamal on the TOP EDGE of the lifter so you can observe the proper rotation EZ with the rocker covers off....

Posted By: dogdays

Re: Used Cam Break in?? - 12/04/13 04:53 PM

BTW, "concave going out" is called "convex".
The base Edelbrock Performer cam is something like 204/204 @ 50 lift, 0.420 or 0.425 lift, it is really one step over stock 360 cam and should be a really nice cam for basically stock 318.

So it's a mild cam and will work with stock springs.

I think there's a really good chance that it'll just slap together and run. Here's a few suggestions:

Test fit the lifters in the holes. You don't want a tight lifter in the bore. You may have to swap them around so every lifter will move easily in the bore.

Make sure the outside surfaces of the lifter are free of varnish and lubricate them with motor oil. Don't put cam assembly lube on the sides of the lifters.

Back in the day, some chevy lifters came out of the box with "too shiny" a surface. It was recommended to spin them and lightly tough the end with 1000 grit, IIRC, wet-or-dry paper.

To be sure the ends are still convex, put two lifters end-to-end and rock them. If they rock they're OK, still convex. If not toss'em.

Lifter quality may be improving, but there are enough substandard lifters floating around in the food chain that I'd rather use a known quantity (existing lifters).

Use cam assembly lube on the camshaft and bottom of lifters.

Make sure the engine fires right up, then do the cam break-in.

It occurs to me that when the factory test-fired the engine they didn't use any specific method to break in the lifters.

R.

Posted By: dodge413

Re: Used Cam Break in?? - 12/05/13 02:30 PM

Thanks Again For Everybodys Imput. Nobody Wants To Use Second Hand Parts, It's Easy To Just Say Buy New Parts, But The Way The Economy Is These Days There Isn't Extra Money Floating Around For The Fun Projects. I'm Sure I'm Not The Only One Trying To Still Have Fun While On A Budget. So Thanks Again For Helping Me Out!!

Posted By: MoparforLife

Re: Used Cam Break in?? - 12/05/13 02:47 PM

Quote:

Thanks Again For Everybodys Imput. Nobody Wants To Use Second Hand Parts, It's Easy To Just Say Buy New Parts, But The Way The Economy Is These Days There Isn't Extra Money Floating Around For The Fun Projects. I'm Sure I'm Not The Only One Trying To Still Have Fun While On A Budget. So Thanks Again For Helping Me Out!!

AMEN!!!
Even if the lifters were kept in order - putting them in a different block throws that all out of wack. I say treat it like a new set up with cam lube and break in and go for it. I would make sure that there is no rotators on the exhaust valves and if there is replace them with standard springs and retainers.

Posted By: mcmopars

Re: Used Cam Break in?? - 12/05/13 05:44 PM

HOW MUCH IS A NEW CAM AND LIFTERS?YOU MAY BE MONEY AND TIME AHEAD to just replace with just new,just saying.

Posted By: BB65Barracuda

Re: Used Cam Break in?? - 12/07/13 12:07 PM

Quote:

Unfortunately The Lifters Were Not Marked Which Lobe They Were from When They Were Removed. Supposedly The Cam Has Only A 1000 Miles On It And It Barely Has Any Evidence It Was Even Used.

IM sure someone has already told you to buy new lifters and break it in as if it was new. You wouldn't want to use the old lifters in your situation.

Posted By: ERAT340

Re: Used Cam Break in?? - 12/08/13 02:53 AM

Lemmee ask you this... if the previous owner wasnt happy with this cam, do you really think you will be?