Comp Cams...trouble in paradise?

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Captainkirk

Captainkirk

Old School Mopar Warrior
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My engine machine shop guy (who is building a 400 Pontiac motor for my youngest son right now) told him he refuses to install ANY Comp Cams on any engine due to over a dozen failures in the past year. He blames it on the low lobe angle cut on the hydraulics (machined to cause the lifters to rotate). He claims the angle is way lower than any other hydraulic grind on the market and is inducing lifter spalling and subsequent cam lobe failure. He also claims Comp Cams is not honoring the warranties on these and so is refusing to supply Comp Cams of any grind..hydraulic or otherwise...due to these issues.
Has anyone heard anything about this., or just another biased opinion or urban legend? I was strongly looking at a Comp Cams grind for my 340, but now....????:wack:
I know Summit moves a TON of these things. If there was a problem, wouldn't we have heard of it?
 
I don't think it's the camshafts.

On another note, when your son's Junkiac gets outrun by a mild 318, tell him I told him so.
 
I'm far from being an expert but most of the guys I know around here have been running Comp Cams for years without any such issues. If I recall correctly, Comp Cams was a spinoff from Cam Dynamics and we never had issues with them either.
 
Here is Comp Cam's story of it...

[ame]http://www.compcams.com/Technical/Instructions/Files/255.pdf[/ame]
 
I have no hard-core info but I'm helping a young friend (40) with the 351W in his 69 Torino. The counter guy helped him pick a cam for his motor and he ended up with a Thumpr to go with the Trickflow heads, etc. The fine print on the Comp literature says the warranty is VOID if you do NOT use Comp break-in oil...period. Haven't fired the motor yet so we'll see.

I'll ask my engine guy if he knows anything specific about Comp but when I saw him over the weekend, we happened to talk about cam life and he says he has not had a single cam failure when using Brad Penn oil.
 
Not the first time i heard this about Comp cams know someone who went through 3 cams in a build he was doing before finding one that lasted more then a few weeks..still going strong i believe..never a fan of their cams..
 
My dad actualy had a bunch of problems with comp lifters when he rebuilt the 454 for out chevy dually, They kept making excessive noise on the first set, and the second set failed too, I can't remember why, I just remember him being very pissed off ordering a third set of lifters. I guess comp just has problems. :???:
 
Bottom line, modern engines got better, so motor oil didn't have to.

Use an oil that has at least 1200PPM of Zinc in it.
Follow the cam makers recommended break-in proceadure, yes that means you may have to remove the inner valve springs on some cams.

Do this & there shouldn't be any problems.
I have never lost a camshaft by following this guide.
 
Captainkirk said:
It's gonna get outrun by a 340, I can tell you that for sure!:D
Click to expand...

They got outrun by everything back in the day. They have no street cred whatsoever. I love some of their cars but they were slow. Under square motors will do it every time.
 
All this is old news, really. Lunati went through something similar about 20 years ago when zinc was first being phased out. They actually replaced a lot of cam and lifter sets under warranty, before it was nailed down what the cause was. I remember well all the local shops around here getting a lot of complaints.
 
Back in the 70s, my wifes cousin had a Judge, and I had a Swinger 340. Guess who made it to the end of the block first. 340 for the win! I went for a ride in that Orangemobile.It mighta been slower, but it felt a ton faster. Torque will do that.
Stock teeners were rated the same torque as stock 340s, but 800rpm lower. Of course I wonder if anybody ever proved that. Old teeners pulled pretty hard, at first, but they give up pretty quick too.I had one in a lightweight Demon. A bit of gear, and it was fun. Cant say if it woulda outrun a Goat though.
 
I watched a guy at my shop burn through three eddy cams in a row. Moral of the story, don't follow instructions, any cam can fail.
 
I had a comp cam custom grind crap out right before they started recommending the special oils .I was just using regular off the shelf oil I bought same cam but went with the howards lifter with the oil hole through it and run royal purple so far been good
 
There are honest problems with some cams. But it's not that common, and the builder will only catch the most obvious ones (like being bent or physical damage, or variations in lift or placement if he really looks hard). Fact is, if they are losing a lot of cams, he's doing something wrong. Or a series of somethings... As a bulder there are a few steps that have to be taken now that were not so critical "back in the day". I have yet to lose any brands cam that I didn't screw up myself. The one I have lost was a hydraulic flat tappet that I ran roller lifters on when I was 17. It wasn't the lack of zink...lol.
 
Here is my two cents worth. I have never had a problem with a comp cam. Comp Cams are great, and the company is solid. When there are failures, it is due to something other than poor quality camshafts. It is always best to use a break in oil.
 
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