When I bought my 84, it had lots of issues. including a slight ticking in the valve train. So in my infinite wisdom, I decided to adjust the lifters. Did the deed and bolted the cheap-o chrome covers that were on the car when I bought back to the motor. Drove around town for 2 days and everything was fine. Got on the expressway to go to work and even though the oil pressure stayed up, I heard a knock. I immediately pulled over. I found oil coming out of the drives side cover by the alternator. Walked to the nearest store for oil. Removed the cover, found the side was bent.. A gradual bend that I didnt catch.. So fixed it, put the cover back on, filled the oil and drove. Im not so lucky. #1 cylinder exhaust cam lobe got wiped out. Car was misfiring and such.

I pulled the cover and removed the rockers and pushrods from #1 and buttoned it back up. It runs.. Sounds like poopy.. but it runs.

Fun part is I just put new 17" tires on it... so now I have nearly no budget for the engine work.... FRICK!

 

Hi
Is a common issue re the camshaft lobe wear, it is easy enough to replace the camshaft with engine in car. just need to remove the radiator and a/c condenser etc, then drop the front of the sump 1/4 inch and remove the harmonic ballancer and timing case cover and inlet manifold to access the lifters.
You can replace the timing chain at the same time as the cam and lifters if the engine is still good.

When i pulled my 170,000 mile 350 to fit the 383 it had worn camshaft lobes, but everything else was in great shape. Many have pulled good engines for performance upgrades, someone may have a good 350 sitting in their garage gathering dust and would love to give it away.

 

If you need to keep everything on a budget you can go to competitionproducts.com and get an Elgin E315153 camshaft-202-207 at .050 .413 lift 114 lsa(same as your 84 cam) for $73, #652394 lifters for $47, and a Cloyes timing set #C3001K for $16. If you can spend a little more for a little more power and be computer friendly use a Comp cam 252H, 206-206, .425 lift 110lsa. Will have a dead stock idle but more low and mid range. Or...............if you are really on a budget and want to go with a used cam you can have the stock cam and lifters out of my 84 C4 that have 68K on them and the lifters are matched to the correct lobe.....for $10 plus shipping. The engine had used Mobil 1 oil since new and there is very little wear on the lobes and you can barely see the wear marks on the bottom of the lifters. Probably better to buy all new stuff by it is up to you. You can pm me or send me an email if you are interested. docwilcar@yahoo.com

 

Unfortunately, when a cam lobe gets wiped out, there is usually metal everywhere in the motor. A quick fix would be to replace the cam. A longterm fix would be to redo the motor.

 

Look at this. Great price.


http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c4-p...ong-block.html

 

Wilcar- Thank You for the VERY generous offer but you are right, if I do decide to just change the cam, I think it would be best to buy a new one. Thanks Again!

Thanks everyone for the advice- 383vett's comment is actually one of the things I was worried about. I can change the cam out.. it may run for a while and then fail even worse. Then again, I had planned to replace the engine eventually anyway... Maybe I replace the cam and start saving for the whole shebang..

I have some time to save for parts- I have a truck I can drive for now. I need to decide if I want to just do the cam, or go for a whole motor.

One thing I was considering was picking up a used vortec engine from the local pick n pull. If I can get my hands on one, its $300.00. Would need a carb intake and new gaskets. basically could get it in the car for around $600.

If i decide to do the cam, my car is already carbed with edlebrock intake and carb, What would be a good performance cam? Ive changed a cam before, but never chosen one. I kind of understand what the numbers mean, but dont really understand when someone tells me the numbers, how it would work in the engine. Important to me would be smooth idle and more power then stock. I see the one mentioned by Wilcar is "Computer friendly" is it still a good choice for a carbed car?

 

Hey bro. I have nothing to offer you in the help department other than to wish you good luck and I hope you get on the road soon. I did read that you are running a carb on your 84. Im in the middle of an engine swap in my 84. Did you have clearance issues with your hood or did you have to modify it??? sorry to hijack your thread.

 

No Problem- The car was already converted when I got it. I had alot to fix but the major components were already installed. The hood clearance is pretty tight but not hitting. Im not a big fan of the aircleaner, but it fits.
Edlebrock carb and intake, bowtie overdrives cable kit, HEI distributor and the trans already had the overdrive pressure switch installed to control lockup automatically. In this picture, you can also see the crappy valve covers that caused my whole problem

Oh yeah, and ive been working on the wiring and removing all the red loom too

 

You could still use the Comp 252HE cam but you could go up another step and use an Isky 262 super cam 208-208 .440 lift on a 108 LSA. This cam will give you a lot of low and mid range and would work well with your low c.r.(if your engine and heads are stock) and have a smooth idle. If you want a little lope you could use an Isky 264 Mega Cam 214-214 .450 lift on a 108 LSA. I used the 264 Mega in my 76 L82 and it was a great cam, had much better low and mid range than the L82 cam. You can use your stock valve train with any of these cams. If you want a solid lifter cam I am running an Isky(I have been using Isky cams for many years) Z-20 solid cam 228-228, .450 lift and I had Isky grind it on a 108 LSA for more low and mid range. Nice throaty idle but not much lope until around 600 rpm. I have the stock 84 block with Summit 152123 large valve cast iron heads(made by Dart) heads(around 9.0 c.r.), ZZ4 intake, 600 Edel.carb and a Accel HEI distributor. I am pulling 16" of vacuum at 900 rpm and 14" at 700 rpm.

 

Thanks for your help. What about this one:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/LUNATI-305-3...cbc9e7&vxp=mtr

Specs look "similar" to the ISky 264 mega cam you mentioned. For $260 comes with the lifters, timing chain, valve springs and seals.. Seems like a bargain.

 

I have no experience with that spec cam but you can get the same grind, from competitionproducts.com under part number E922M with lifters for $113 and a Z-28 type spring kit, part number VSA3 for $60. I like their E1065PM cam and lifter kit for $113, 216-216 .454 lift 110 LSA. This is basically the old Crane Energizer grind and is similar to the old Comp Cams 268HE.. Comp. Products is a subsidary of Howard's Cams in Wisc. and they have quality stuff. Lunati sells top stuff too although a little more expensive. These cams are old school cams and are easy on your valve train. You may not even need the valve spring kit if you want to keep your budget low.

 

I've used the lunati voodoo series part # 60101 or 60102. The smaller would probably suit you well. It is a great low end and mid range cam, has a close to stock idle.

 

http://www.lunatipower.com/Product.aspx?id=1982 I realize your on a budget, but paying a little more will get you a lot in this case, the part number for the cam and lifter kit is 60101lk

 

Thanks alot for the hood clearance info!!!! All the best with yours!!!

 

I was actually leaning towards the E1065pk from Competitionproducts.com that Wilcar mentioned. Cam, lifters, valves springs and seals plus the assembly lube for $153.00... The Lunati is $192 for cam and lifters.

I looked at the lunati specs too. Again I cant associate the numbers to actual performance so well, but the numbers look really close

E1065pk- Lift= .454/.454, duration 272/272, duration @.050" 216/216, lc 110

Lunati 60102- Lift= .468/.489, duration 262/268, duration @.050" 219/227, lc 112

I do realize these wont be smooth idle. I see more lift with the Lunati, and also see that the intake/exhaust numbers are staggered. Will these differences make more noticable power?

I was lucky enough to save a few dollars- I found a brand new melling timing chain set in my workshop model 3-499s that will work in the car. I actually picked it up about a year ago at the charlotte autofair- Someone tossed a bunch of stuff they didnt sell and I picked through the pile and found that jewel.

 

Are you driving the car like that?

 

If you are looking for more low and mid range with stock type low compression heads I would go with the Elgin 216 cam. It will build better cylinder pressure for better low speed torque. If you had better heads and compression then the Lunati would give you more mid and upper range power in my opinion.

 

By Elgin 216 cam I assume you mean the E1065 which has the 216 duration at .050"?

Thanks everyone for the advice!!! Im learning slowly.

@MK 82- no not really driving the car like this. I buttoned it back up with the #1 cylinder disabled (removed both rocker arms) and it does runs still incase I have to move it or had some emergency and needed it. It runs, just a bit rough. but its basically parked until I get all this cam stuff together. I need to replace the heater core anyhow and have a bunch of other small stuff to do so i'll do the small stuff until I get the cam parts.

 

While it is true that they are similar on paper the difference in performance would be tremendous. The reason being the lobe design on the cam. The voodoo series Is very aggressive on opening rates with soft closing. This has the potential to turn into more torque down low equally more hp. Compared to the cam your looking at, your gonna be at least 20hp down and that's a honest conservative estimate.
http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=93945

 

Hi Guys- Thanks again for the info. Im going to Mull over the choices and decide soon. Right now I am waiting to get some time to get under the car and pull the oil pan and check the bearings. After all- the beginning of this issue was running out of oil.

I want to pull the pan, check the oil for metal, look at the pump screen and pull the bearings to check their condition.. If they look good, I will replace the bearings anyway and then move onto replacing the cam before putting the oil pan back on. While I am there I want to look up into the cylinders from underneath and see how the walls look. The car didnt run bad before the issue so I think the cylinders will be okay. If so, basically when I am done I will have a "Nearly" rebuilt motor.

I just dont want to drop $500 on the upper end stuff and have the bottom fall out. If the bottom end looks bad, then its time to think of engine upgrade instead of just fixing.

Ill keep you posted.

Oh and also- I picked up a stock set of Magnesium valve covers onb ebay to fix the valve cover issue all together....