I'm seeing a couple of red flags:
1) Elgin cam and lifters = CHEAP
2) Amsoil with a bottle of zinc additive - if he is using the Amsoil Break In oil, adding zinc additive is a NO. If using Amsoil regular oil, use the Break In oil.
3) Cheap rockers - possible valvetrain bind, was everything checked?
4) 130 psi seat pressure - with that seat pressure, I'm willing to bet open pressure was 330+, another NO.

And guys wonder why flat tappet cams fail...

I can’t ever remember using break in oil but I do throw in a zinc additive for break in. Inner springs are out and this isn’t the time to learn how to time an engine. Get the dog gone thing fired up immediately. Fresh gas, charged battery, lines tight, water topped off, primed engine, and a small cap of fuel down the carb.

I had my first cam break in failure last year. Forever I'd used Shell Rotella and an additive. This one was a Crower cam and Johnson lifters.

Got another identical cam and lifters then used Lucas break in oil

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/LUC-10636-1

No issues after that.

That looks like there was a bit of bind in the valvetrain - cam got pushed back because of the bind. I would be checking the rockers and geometry something is way off and from the looks of it the mains might be a little tight as evidenced by the copper already showing on the one bearing.

[url=https://youtu.be/k_ExoIuTpks?si=nFzK1ephbVDVV3Yt][/url]

I broke my last hyd f.t. cam engine in with only the outer valve springs. It's a 541/529 /292. After break in I added the inner damper springs. Knock on wood. Been going good and has over 55,000 miles on it so far with no issues ever.

All 16 look bad, engine is tight to turn over, lots of glitter in the oil, etc. all point to a general error, not a specific cam related problem. My guess is that the engine has a basic machine work error or an assembly error. Piston clearance too tight, bearings too tight, or something along that lines. Engine filled up with cast iron dust and everything went down hill fast. It is also possible that it was just a soft cam, but if it was me I'd double check all clearances in the rotating assembly to be sure.

I've never seen all 16 lifters fail on break in. It is usually only one lifter that fails although I have seen two a few times. But never 16. I doubt he had 16 defective lifters but it could have been a soft camshaft. I've never seen a whole cam that was soft but it could happen.

I did see an engine where the owner installed extended tip spark plugs that were so long the straps interfered with the valves. That engine turned into junk very quickly. Multiple bent valves, bent pushrods, lifters wiped out, cam lobes wiped out, etc. Just because the guy installed the wrong plugs!

Were the lifters checked for rotation prior to fireup? Agree that it's a systemic problem, like the cam was ground flat like a roller, not with the proper bevel on the lobes, or something. S/F....Ken M

I’m wondering if these cams are made correct to line up with lifter bores? going to look at my original 413 short block to see where that lobe sits in relation to centerline of lifter.

What springs?

About 35 years ago my brother had a 402 that did that after a hydraulic cam swap. Not sure what the duration was but lumpy for sure and somewhere about .600 for lift.

He was told the GM High Performance springs would work... It ran for about 20 minutes and it finally would not run any more. Those lifters look good compared to his. Springs were checked post mortem and the closed pressure was good but the open pressure was in solid roller territory.

Kevin

looks like the camshaft was walking (taking a very hard walk) in the block,...why? what was the end play in the crank? lifters were rotating, i can't see any lobes flat. foot of the tappets could have been damaged from all the metal debris. what caused the cam to thrust to the rear of the block? this needs a better postmodern than flat tappet syndrome. i messed with that lobe profile some years back and i came away thinking it was very gentle. what was the over the nose spring pressure?,....not that i think spring pressure did this but using a small tappet with a 1.72 rocker those numbers need to be checked. i think maybe there was a major engine assembly issue. not enough things checked or cleaned.

I have been a mechanic since 1976 when I went to work at a Chevy dealer after getting out of votech school. Was changing a lot of 307 chevy cams, most high mileage failures. Having been threw tech school I was taught the proper break-in procedures, the other flat rate techs laughed at me for wasting time. At that time techs just throwed the cams in and run them out the door, and you know what no major issues. They just changed the oil, no worries about metal still in the engines, no special break-in oils, just slam them together and go. Maybe a bunch of factors coming together, but I just believe flat tappet cams are such a small market today the quality is just not there no matter what oils or procedures you use. Times have just changed, if you want a vintage muscle engine, just upgrade to roller lifters, nobody can see you done it, no worry about always adding special oils, not really affected by sitting long periods, the extra money is well worth the peace of mind.

It kills me to spend more money and then get it in the butt. That exactly what happened to an engine I built for my son. Small .620 roller cam, set of 828 comp cams roller lifters with 50 runs out of my old 408 engine. Great running engine for half a season in my sons duster running 6.54 on four occasions (10.30’s). Then a tie bar broke letting the roller turn. Totally ate up The entire engine.

i don't think it makes any difference whether it's flat or roller. you don't do your homework on parts and cleanliness you're setting yourself up for a problem. from i can see the cam didn't go flat; the engine was probably dirty from machining and not cleaned and there weren't enough checks done. before i bought any parts for this thing i'd mock the crank and cam back up to make sure there running parallel. that leaf chains cam sprocket may not be correct and the timing chain/sprockets should be checked to make they're running perpendicular to the crank. take the oil pump apart. look at every nook and cranny in the engine.

I bought a 69 RR 383 in 74 engine had been built up but kicked out pushrods, bearing piggy backed. 79 new crank, adjustable rockers manly 509 cam (what had when bought) raced engine 4 years in Duster, fast forward to 92 used cam in 440 for my 64, raced that for 10 years (don’t think I got lifters back in same spot) still in engine today on engine stand ready for the 73 Cuda. Cam had 3 different type spring from single to triples. Still look new. Oh, I paid $250 for RR and still have the 383 short block. What I’m getting at is mainly incompetence in building an engine. IMO

He used regular Amsoil, not the break-in oil. Now he tells me he used 2 bottles of zinc additive...that may be an issue?
The oil pump was primed before firing it.

The cam is most definitely going flat. You might not be able to see it in the pics good, but it has lost a significant amount of material off several lobes.
Not sure exactly what valvesprings they are, but they're singles w/ a damper. I think they are Howards. Haven't checked the open pressures yet.
I didn't build this engine and it was partially disassembled when I got it after all the issues.

Old flat tappet cams seem to be fine for the most part. It's the newer ones that have issues from what I've seen. Even then it's hit and miss.
I have a 509 MP purpleshaft that's 30 years old and has been in two different blocks. Still runs great.
I have friends that absolutely know what they're doing (not getting into resume's) and have wiped flat tappets on really mild stuff doing everything correctly.

Powell Machine on Youtube has several videos showing the lifter faces are not being machined correctly. Hardness on parts appears to be fine on the ones he has checked. Cam manufactures like to blame the oil, but that simply does not explain all of it as even people with mild cams have had issues that used to not occur in the past like they do today. Metalmax Mopar on Youtube also goes over this topic as well. Have to measure the crown numbers with a dial indicator on all the parts to weed out the bad ones.

It looks like the lobe taper was not ground on those lobes properly to me
I had three different hydraulic lifter cams ground with no taper at all from Comp Years ago right after they bought and started using their all new 5 axis cam grinder machines years ago
Stupid programmers and engineers

" Old flat tappet cams seem to be fine for the most part. It's the newer ones that have issues from what I've seen. Even then it's hit and miss.
I have a 509 MP purpleshaft that's 30 years old and has been in two different blocks. Still runs great.
I have friends that absolutely know what they're doing (not getting into resume's) and have wiped flat tappets on really mild stuff doing everything correctly.

Chip sorry to hear that, what a real PITA !

I've never lost a FT cam before and was extremely anal about the one I just broke in, just rebuilt a mild street 283 for the hot rod.

I had a new (but bought it over 13 yo so older stock) Summit (Crane) generic cam (214/224 and .465" lift) so nothing rad. I used brand new hyd FT Johnson lifters, BUT, every single lifter got refaced to ensure proper radius as I don't trust the manufacturers to do it properly anymore. I also used a proper hi zinc break in oil, I don't play chemist with oil additives and they may not jive with the break in oil's formulation so a always just use a good break in oil with decent zinc and phos. I hope the Amsoil your guy used was their proper mineral break in oil and not the synthetic stuff, synth is a big no no for break in, that could have caused a problem as well. I used old, tired single springs and the same moly lube that I've always used on lifter bases for cam/lifter break in. I also lightly hone the lifter bores to ensure the lifter is free to spin nicely.

I mark every pushrod beneath the rocker to verify that they are spinning when running and use a set of junk VCs with cutouts so I can see if the pushrods are turning during break in. If the pushrod is spinning it means the lifter is turning properly on its lobe. Fired it off last week and all went well, pushrods all turning nicely and changed the oil after cam break in with fresh break in oil and a new filter. I did'nt see anything in the oil filter so hopefully it all went well, guess we'll find out in the next week or two after more driving. Wish me luck.

I won't use a Comp flat tappet cam anymore read way too many horror stories ......imo, if you can find old NOS lifters and older hyd FT cams that suit, snap em up.

Let me tell you about my experience with flat tappet camshafts. I do a lot (average 10 a year) of ISMA 2 barrel engines, by rule, they are flat tappet camshafts. For the 10 years prior to the china flu, I never had a cam go flat. Now, if you get a cam lifter package, I would say you have about a 40% chance of not having a failure.
Here’s a small list of some of the things the engine builders/ owners tried to avoid a flat camshaft.
80 lb springs = failure
1.2 rocker arms = failure
Manual rotating engine to make sure lifters are turning freely, then run starter while watching them = failure
Preheating the oil = failure
Yes, we run them up to 2000-3000 within 10-15 seconds after starting.
Now, I am sure some of the internet experts that have not broke in multiple flat tappet cams in the last few years will tell me “you don’t know what you are doing”. LOL
What has seemed to work, is having their used lifters “rebuilt”. There is a place in Minnesota, which rebuilds them for under $4 each. I have done 3 engines with “rebuilt” lifters and new cores and no failures so far.
This whole situation makes me sick.

Joe