Well I started getting some oil pressure fluctuations & so I dropped the oil pan, looking up I could see my cam was going flat,so much for my EDM tool steel lifters, all 16 lobes are going away, 4300 miles, main bearings dont look to good, REBUILD time, GRRRRRRRRRR never again will I use a FT cam, time for roller.

What were your spring pressures? If ya go too crazy its best to run a billet core with ft lobes.

What do the lifters look like? Any noticeably flat lobes vs others?

155 seat 380 open , lifters still have convex face.

Have you measured the lobes to see how much was lost?

Im asking because what I can see in the pics shows alot of wear but normally its so gradual the filter catches it, even looking way back to stockers that would eat a lobe round and cave in the lifter still had fai bearings.

Not that it matters now, can you post your bearing pics?

I feel your pain
No easy answers on any flat tappet cam, no matter which brand or heat treating(nitriding) used

Sorry to see this and why I went roller and never looked back.......the guys that tell ya it's a hassle to keep em lashed or whatever are probably the same ones who say EFI is easier and less work than a carb........DO IT and you will love it but I'd go solid..........

What oil were you using. So far so good with my solid lift cam, edm lifters, brad penn, and a zinc additive. Coming apart after 3 years for freshening and possibly a roller cam

I have not measured the lobes, the cam bearings look mushed out, the main bearing is VERY smooth but polished looking.

That rod on the left looks bent or is it just the pic........

its the pic.

10/30 VR1

it was a solid, going back solid roller

You might still have another issue. Worn cam lobes won't cause oil pressure issues.

I blew up your cam pictures and man does that have some funky wear marks on it. Almost like it was thrusting back and forth badly

I don't want to start a slam the oil vendor, but all I can say is I lost 2 flat tappet cams using VR1. I swapped to Driven (Joe Gibbs) oil. So far so good on the street car. Dwayne talked me into a solid roller for the new GTX I am building.

If it was me I would put the cam back in to see were it sits in relation to the lifter bores. And probably go a step
Further and put the chain on and have someone turn the engine over with a ratchet to see what is going on. But that’s me and I like to get to the bottom of things

thats why I am going back through it, the oil pump drive bushing was worn real bad also.

What brand cam? How aggressive are the lobes? Was the cam nitrided, as well as used with tool steel EDM lifters?

Thats why I asked for bearing pics, what brand/type bearings? Al based bearings and alot of street type bearing seem to self polish a bit. Any additive in the oil?

I always look for wear consistency off the nose since the lobes were ground from the same blank and it looks like its got it.

Sorry for all the questions, knock on wood but ive always ran solids because they work for me and it would cost alot to switch several motors over to roller and like others, just trying to learn a bit more.

I too had to blow it up to get a better look.

From what I have seen over the years....... The Schubeck/tool steel type lifters are not the hot ticket for "street" cars.
I know of numerous people who have been through this.

After you get the cam out, if you can, get some close up pics of the nose of the lobes, so I can see if they look like others I've had in the shop.

When it's a real street car(more driving, less racing), and won't be running a roller cam...... My preference is not to use real aggressive lobes, get the cam nitrided, and use normal edm lifters.
And of course high zinc oil....... And I'm not in the "light oil" camp.

I prefer the Driven or Brad Penn myself.

Edit: I didn't see the cam pic in the first post initially.
The wear and pitting on the nose like you have is what I usually see when using this style of lifter on iron cam cores when "normal" cam profiles are used.
"Cheater", or dwell at full lift type lobes seem to hold up much better when this style of lifter is used, even with much higher spring loads.
Nitriding doesn't help at all.

I've never gotten a good answer on what's happening, but I have a theory.

It's not "defective" parts, and I don't think different oil would solve it.