Solid cam damage diagnosis help

Is that a hole EDM'd in that lifter? We are going to have that done to ours. That is the way to go. It doesn't look like the lifters were spinning freely. Break in is getting the lifters to spin it has nothing to do with the surface. Coil bind as stated above would be something I would check . Break in lube is just what is means "Lube" until they spin free . Then they work like a sideways roller. Your lifters could have been froze in the bores and were not spinning at start up.