Cam break in success

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OttawaCharger

OttawaCharger

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This spring I put in a new Comp Cams camshaft, lifters and double springs. Everything went according to plan save for me burning way more oil than I should. I got up to a quart every hundred miles. I was pretty confident that it was an intake gasket leaking so this past weekend I tore into it. I'm pretty happy with the way the cam looks at the roughly 2k mile point. Since everyone likes pictures, I'm sharing. I've included the money shot on the bad gasket too as well as some oil sitting on the backside of the valve (looks green but it is just a light trick). No more cork china wall gaskets for me!

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Test fit your intake with the intake gaskets installed with no sealer and check to see how much gap you have at the china wall by sliding in the corks, if they don't slide in then don't use them, if they do, use them with sealer. Big thick beads can have voids that oil leaks out of and can blow out. Did you seal around the water ports? If not you need too. Also, if you have an aftermarket intake be sure the roll pins in the china clear or are removed.
 
Edelbrock LD340 with no pins. the funny thing is that this manifold sealed ok with cork before the cam upgrade. I guess this gasket set was a bit thicker than the last. This time it has sealant around the water ports and the intake ports and at the china walls.
 
A successful Comp Cam break-in, how about that! I guess this proves that not all Comp Cam hydraulic flat tappet cams fail. On another note, I'm not seeing how the china wall gasket contributed to the oil being sucked into an intake runner? I always place a fine bead of black or red RTV along the bottom of the intake runners and water ports on the heads. Never had an issue with oil getting sucked into the ports. If the china wall gasket was too tall, wouldn't it have messed with the bolt hole alignment on the intake manifold?
 
middleagecrisis said:
A successful Comp Cam break-in, how about that! I guess this proves that not all Comp Cam hydraulic flat tappet cams fail. On another note, I'm not seeing how the china wall gasket contributed to the oil being sucked into an intake runner? I always place a fine bead of black or red RTV along the bottom of the intake runners and water ports on the heads. Never had an issue with oil getting sucked into the ports. If the china wall gasket was too tall, wouldn't it have messed with the bolt hole alignment on the intake manifold?
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After all the horror stories, I am feeling quite lucky with the successful break in!
The bolts were torqued down but I'm guessing that they weren't pushing up against the gasket enough to seal things properly. At first I thought that I had a PCV issue with the main symptom being heavy smoke during deceleration.
Thinking back, I do recall that the bolts were a bit 'fussy' going in. At the time I didn't question it. Figured it was just one of those things. Life lesson for me there :)
 
I put a thin film of rtv around the water passages and the ports. I actually made boards bolted to the intake to apply the gasket. Let it set, that way they don’t shift around when the intake is set on the motor. Only ever had 1 leak. It was way too cold for the rtv.
 
Congrats on the cam break in! I've had experience with oil being sucked in from the valley. Ever since then I use Permatex Motoseal (fuel resistant), on the whole intake gasket. Both sides, very light coating. It makes life a bit miserable removing the intake, but gives me piece of mind.

I've seen 2 brand new Super Victors fit the heads a little different.
 
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