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2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
2019 C3 of Year Winner (performance mods)
2016 C3 of Year Finalist
Using the wrong oil can wipe out a cam after it's been broken in, once you get past the hardened surface ot will eat itself fast.
Put a straight edge across the bottom of every lifter if it isn't flat, it's time for a rebuild, a new cam and lifters as a minimum
Last edited by Rescue Rogers; Apr 8, 2021 at 06:39 PM.
crazy i still dont understand how it was even running which such small lift. how much off this wore off. oil is clean but im worried where it is. hopefully the bearings are ok really dont want to pull the engine. i am going to try a new cam and lifters. any cam suggestions? there are double springs on it but i have no clue what weight they are.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
2019 C3 of Year Winner (performance mods)
2016 C3 of Year Finalist
Ou can get a cheap spring pressure checker from proforma or a similar one. You use it to squeeze the springs at the installed height for seat pressure the squeeze to the max lift for that pressure. There is a way to measure spring rate as well by taking measurements at distances and using a formula, you can look that up. The cam will depend on the heads.
Sorry to say but I agree with Jebby. The case hardening is gone and now your lifters are just riding on soft metal (not hardened). Wear is greatly increased when this (wearing off of the case hardened surface) happens. Case hardening as the name implies is just that-a hardening of the outer layer(case) of metal of the object (in this example, the camshaft) Case hardening is use to reduce wear between two or more metal objects (the camshaft and the lifter). A camshaft replacement is required, maybe switch to a roller cam this time, to avoid this problem again.
well i dropped the oil pan and its all a grey sludge however there isnt any larger metal pieces. its thick though and when i put a magnet through it very tiny metallic. i found my cam. now can i get away with just a new cam or does it need a full rebuild
There will be varying opinions here, so be prepared. Personally I was involved in a race car in the past where a cam was wiped - we flushed everything as best possible, replaced the cam and ran the motor with several frequent oil changes soon after - it was fine for the couple seasons we ran it. If the pan is off I’d look at a couple of rod bearings and see how they look. If they are in question, probably worth pulling the motor and taking everything apart for a proper cleaning and reassembly. It doesn’t mean you have to bore/hone etc. depends on how old the build is, and how contaminated things look. You do need to be concerned about that metal paste as it will be in the filter, oil pump, oil passages in the block etc. For longevity sake and if you can afford it, I’d be inclined to pull it out and disassemble. For what we were doing, there were no street miles at all and the motor got constant attention, so total running time was a fraction of what our street cars see.
Last edited by JoeMinnesota; Apr 9, 2021 at 05:21 PM.
Even several oil and filter changes may not dislodge some metal particles embedded in the engine. It seemed that a short length of thin steel wire passed end-on through the oil pick-up mesh in my engine and passed through the oil pump spur gears at 6000 rpm 'shocking' the oil pump drive shaft enough for it to fracture (loosing all oil pressure).........luckily I only needed to replace the oil pump!
looks like im just going to pull the engine to clean it all out and hope there's not much damage. hopefully just put new bearings in and be on my way. anyone have good machine shops in ny
if it ran well enough and had enough power you can justify not spending money on the top end. this car is gonna get what 1000 miles a year? have a shop put new cam bearings in it. AND DO ROLLER CAM!!! they should call em flat lobe cams instead of flat tappet.
however there isnt any larger metal pieces. its thick though and when i put a magnet through it very tiny metallic. i found my cam. now can i get away with just a new cam or does it need a full rebuild 
