So a member here was interested in my old Mopar Performance / Direct Connection 509 cam. I ran this cam for a short while in the 80's in a stock bottom end 440 with home ported 906 heads (I did not do good work back then). In race trim the 67 Coronet went 11.70's. I was happy. Then I built a new motor and this cam stayed in the short block for decades. I had run 20w-50 Kendall oil in it.

I take the cam off the shelf and it looks purty darn good till I measure the lobes in the lathe. Its really bad. When I really looked at it close I could visually see some rounded lobes - at first glance I missed it.

Fast forward a few months. I find another 509 cam hanging in the garage. No idea where it came from but its been there around 25 years - that's when I put the shelves up and tucked the cam away. It looked even better. Back in the lathe and lo and behold 2 wiped lobes. One 0.036" and the other 0.062". WTH?

I always thought I was totally successful with my hydraulic cams back in the day. My paradigm is shot. Anyone else have similar experiences on old school cams and oil? Here I thought it was just a new era phenomenon............ I have a couple more used cams in the basement. I will measure those too just to see.