Hi guys I have recently brought a aftermarket Cam for my 1200 and I noticed that it has a tiny chip in it.
Before I goto the trouble of installing it to a engine I just wanted to get a second opionion from you guys to see if it would be ok to use?



Thanks

It'll be OK if you cannot feel anything sharp.

Be sure to use new or refaced lifters and plenty of cam goop.

I think your fine. You probably know but make sure to pull your motor and flip it otherwise your lifters will be located in your oil pan. lol.

lol yep I have done some research on installing the camshaft. Its going into a engine thats getting a rebuild.
Thanks

There's an element of risk here that you should be aware of. The lobes are normally ground a small angle and the lifter tends to rub toward one side of the lobe. If you look at the lobe and the one next to it closely you will see the where the lifter has been tracking - which is on the chipped side. It might be OK but long term it may not be either. As DD says if it has a real sharp edge it may be a paperweight. Goodluck.

I was about to type pretty much what ddiesel has but he beat me to it!

The lifter rides on the side of the lobe(which is why the lifter spins).

The chip is in the worse possible (well close to it) location. The other issue is that the highest stress on the lifter/lobe is as you get toward max lift, and that's near where the chip is.

Personally, considering you can get a new cam for a few hundred, I wouldn't risk it. You also have to ask why/how it chipped, is the rest of the lobe ready to disintegrate? (probably not but you never know)

If you could find out who ground the cam, they might be willing to rebuild and re-grind that one lobe for a fair bit less than a replacement cam, couldn't hurt to try and find out?

Thanks for your input guys, It would be a expensive paper weight I paid $160 for it. I think I might take it to the local engineer to see if he can clean it up a bit.

$160 for a 1200 cam holy moly! I would hope its a very extensively worked cam! For that money one would hope its in very good condition!!!
Your local mechanic, when i say mechanic the "decent" actual engine builder in your area should be able to advise you on the cam....

This cam was sold to me buy a reputable member and engine builder on here some time ago and was sold on to AndyM1 recently. It was unpacked put in my wardrobe safely and then repacked and sent to current owner well packed i will add. Think everyone is getting a bit carried away and just putting there paranoid crap in this guys head. As DD said use it if theres no sharp bit i have pulled down engines that ran fine and rebuilt them for the owners cause they wanted to just fix all the oil leaks and they had internals in way worse condition before machining and replacing bearings etc.. This is why I get fed up with this site to many lunatics spinning all there theory on to others. If you have a problem with it Andy talk to me and we can sort it out like Adults. Cheers Andrew

Ouch lol