I was checking rocker geometry on my 440 with a Voodoo hydraulic roller cam and must not have noticed the direction of the roller on the checking lifter. I put a decent scratch on one lobe that I can barely feel with a finger. Do I have to replace the cam and take everything apart because of a stupid mistake or will it run just fine?

Also, I'm not sure what's going on with the adjuster to pushrod angle but does what's going on in the second picture look concerning? I can't even think of how to correct that if I needed to. The roller is centered right were it should be on the valve spring.

Thanks for any piece of mind.

Personally Since the cam is a roller and you can barely feel it I would run it, but , I would check it after break in time and then after the first couple weekends.. if nothing changes at either of those intervals I would probable check it at the end of the season..But then again your barely and my barely could be different..

Your pushrods are too short.

The actual measurement is that the adjuster should be down 9/32 inch, plus or minus .025 and yes, it's that critical. See how the PR cup is so far away from the oil feed hole in the rocker?

Before you buy new pushrods, contact Mike at B3 racing engines and learn how to set your rocker arm geometry. I'd bet big money yours is off. It always is.

You can go to his web site and read his tech articles. Don't do anything until you correct geometry, then get the correct length pushrods.

As for the scratch, polish it off and let it go.

Edit: b3racingengines.com

I don't know Mad but that sure looks like a quarter inch to me. Are those 3/8-16 thread per inch? I'm seeing three and a half threads. It looks as if the feed hole will fill that cup perfectly. Just my .02.

Oh! Like you said on the scratch, run it...

Are these rockers Crane extruded aluminum? If so call Crane and ask them how much adjuster they want you to have exposed under the bottom of their rocker arms
As far as the scratch on the lobe I would dress it down with a very fine file to eliminate the raised portion of the scratch
What is the deal on the double nuts on the adjusters That is a big no no to me I would buy some good grade eight 12 point nuts with the flat washers built into them from one of the better cam companys or from Manton pushrods, Smith bros. pushrods or trend pushrods
As far where the roller tip is on the valve stems is that at max lift or mid lift?

I.was wondering about penetration of the parkerized hardening of the scratched lobe and and the effect this may have on long term durability. Of course to be even scratched at all, has me wondering just how hardened the lobes were anyway. Perhaps not at all.

Thanks guys

Crane says they like 2-3 threads showing on the adjuster.

With the actual lifters I'm using in place and valve lash set the adjuster is showing 2 threads so it's a little shorter than what's showing in the picture and the pushrod would be slightly closer to the oiling hole.

The lifter I'm using is a mock up lifter from Hughes that I can adjust the cup up or down with, I was messing with the cup height/rocker adjuster depth to see if the angle changed any and it didn't...this just happened to be the picture that I took.

The double nut rockers aren't staying, I just put those on there so I wouldn't lose them...the heads aren't "on" yet.

Cab, I marked the valve stem with a sharpie and the pattern is centered perfectly. I "think" when I looked at it in action mid lift may have been just barely to the inside center of the valve stem and max lift put it on center...but I'm thinking again and that hasn't worked out very well...

Thanks again

I'll tell you straight out Crane is full of [censored]. There were some of those rockers where Crane moverd the oil hole down to try and fix an issue with the oil holes in the shaft. It didn't work.


The oil feed hole is in the Chrysler designed position. You should have NO MORE than a thread visible. Like I said, it's 9/32 plus or minus .025 and you have too much adjuster hanging out.

That also changes the rocker ratio by a little bit.

And your geometry is off. So once you realize the shaft, because it will be low, the pushrods will be all the much shorter.

Again, Crane is WRONG. Of course, when you have issues, they won't warranty the junk. Ask me how I know, and how I know that crane is wrong. Answer: because I already did it wrong. And Crane didn't do a damn thing to pay for the same crap they're wrong about in 1990.

Proceed at you own risk.

Since it is a roller you should be OK, but I would lightly polish the scratch to make sure there are no sharp edges that could break off or start to wear the lifters roller.

I don't know much about the Crane rocker arms? How did you determine the pushrod length, and how much lifter pre-load are you using?

Also, why are there two nuts on the adjusters? Your just adding more weight to the valve train.

That is a hardened billet steel camshaft. If a carved up lobe like that was okay to run, then Lunati would supply them like that. Bite the bullet. Replace the camshaft. Don't do that again.

Cam is FUBAR.

It is the equivalent of a tire hitting a pothole every time it goes around. It will make the pothole bigger, wreck the wheel or both.

Depending on how bad the gouge is you can likely have it reground/repaired. Whether you will have a lift and duration you can live with after, who knows.

Kevin

There's no way I'd try running that cam as-is. A regrind is the only way I'd use it, but then you'll have one short lobe. I wouldn't want to deal with that...my advice is replace it now.

I agree there is no way I would run that cam as is. The pics look worse then described, [Barely can feel it with a finger nail].

But, I wouldn't have any problem dressing it up and running with it. Just get it smooth, make sure its smooth after your done. If not, don't run it. There appears to be plenty of good surface area after you smooth it out for the roller wheels to ride on.. If done like said, I would want to check it after break in to confirm, I'm good to go. You would/should have a better idea from there.

Now I know rollers don't really need any break ins. But I would run it as a break in and recheck it from there.

As I had noted in an earlier posting on this thread, I was wondering regarding the possibility that the likely previously hardened surface of this damaged lobe had been compromised beyond salvaging.

If so and it might be polished sufficiently to eliminate this damage, would this not leave this single lobe unprotected and subject to excessive future wear if not worse?

As the old adage goes, "a chain is only as strong as its weakest link".

I don't believe that I would ever not be concerned of potential catastrophic failure that might occur at just about any time.

I believe those who advise replacement are those to whom I would listen and act accordingly. I would rather sleep well for the modest cost involved.

Lunati`s Hyd Rollers are SADI cores not Billit .. austempered ductile Iron

Take a very fine file. File down the scratches. Polish the lobe. I'm not talking about running the polisher over it for 20 minutes. Just make sure the scratches aren't proud.

He's not running much spring pressure. He's not RPM'ing the crap out of it. Use it.

At the worst, if it's affecting the OP mentally, then send the cam to Oregon Cam in Vancouver Washington (there's a story in the name thing but I won't go into it here) and have Kenny make a copy of that lobe. He can weld that one lobe up, regrind it and you'll be good as gold.

Last cam I had repaired, with a weld (which you will need to do it right) it was about $100.00 but don't quote me on that. It was a while ago. If the OP is that worried, call Kenny at Oregon Cam and let him fix the LOBE. No need for a new cam and all that.


The OP's biggest issues are rocker arm geometry and push rod length. The geometry MUST be corrected, and THEN the push rods can be made to the correct length.


Please do NOT skimp on the issues you have posted here. It would be helpful to post more rocker pics if you can. I am 100% correct (well I believe I am) that your geometry will be off, and you will benefit greatly from correcting it. And use my numbers to set your PR length.

Then keep us posted on your decisions. Don't forget b3racingengines.com he can help you and he is willing to help you, no matter how long it takes.

Well silly me. I called Lunati a while back and asked them what kind of cores they used on their Mopar hydraulic roller camshafts. Billet steel I was told. I have purchased roller cams from Comp Cams that were cast cores, but they were for small block Chevrolet.

Asked them within the year, specifically the metallurgy, due to not wanting to run a bronze gear and billit , they confirmed that the SB Mopar was SADI.{ Was going with melonized Crane gear hence the question} .Comp cam uses only billit on hyd rollers Mopar cams where as SADI for GM . What does texture between the lobes look like rough or machined.. picture is making me wonder??