Comp XE262H camshaft lobe condition?

[67FormulaS_273HiPo_4spd]

Hi all, I have a 67 Barracuda with a 273 Commando mill. Before I got the car someone else replaced the original camshaft with a larger duration HFT. This didn't work too well for me, so I replaced it with a Comp XE262H HFT stick around two years ago. I noticed recently that there was a slight 'ticking' noise coming from the top end. I removed the intake and rocker gear to find cylinder 5 exhaust lifter had a slight wear mark, straight along the face of the lifter (actually looks worse than it is in the attached picture). Looks like the lifter wasn't spinning in the lifter bore. From what I can see all the other lifters have a nice circular, consistent, wear pattern - they all look good except No.5 exhaust.

The cam lobe for No.5 exhaust looks good to me also (pic attached for reference).
I've bought a single Comp lifter to replace the worn one and was thinking to use this hydraulic stick in a 318 build.

What do you guys think?

 

[TT5.9mag]

Measure the lobe, compare to the rest. That’s the only way to know. Looks like the lifter took the majority of the damage but eyes are not measuring tools.

 

[Garrett Ellison]

Like above, and be sure the taper across the lobe face is similar to the others. And confirm the lobe will still spin the new lifter in the bore with no pushrod installed. Put a dot on the top of it to confirm.

 

[cookietruck]

For $130, i would send it to be reground. Not much investment to know it’s right.

 

[RustyRatRod]

That lifter is trash. The lobe on the bottom in the picture above is also trash. The lifter stopped spinning.

 

[Lefty71]

The lifter bore needs broached. Double check that the lifters are all spinning before finishing up with the new cam and lifters.

 

[Bewy]

Yep lifter failed & so will the lobe that it rode on.

To make sure it doesn't happen again:
- find some factory lifters & have them re-faced by Clive Cams, they are in country Vic, [03] 9758 5977. I have had many, many sets of lifters refaced by them, all had a superb finish.
- they may be able to regrind your cam; if not, Isky 262 Supercam is close to what you have. Not cheap, but good quality.

 

[67FormulaS_273HiPo_4spd]

Thanks all for your good feedback, I'll definately check No.5 exhaust lobe with a vernier to compare to the other lobes. Bewy, I do have a set of old, used hydraulic lifters to I will send to Clive Cams to resurface. I might just give them a call and see if they can check / repair the associated cam lobe. Good advice, thanks.

 

[Bewy]

They do re-grind cams. It will depend on whether they have a master close to your cam.

 

[273]

Just curious how did that 273 work (performance wise) with that cam ?

 

[PRH]

Looks familiar.
I’ve seen this a few times where the lifter wasn’t rotating, and somehow it didn’t result in a wasted cam lobe. Yours would be the third time I’ve seen that.
The first time was like 25 years ago in a sbc with an Ede cam, second was like 7 years ago in a 360 with some “white box special” cam.
That one I checked the lobe taper on all 16 lobes. All were less than .001”, and the lobe that was running the lifter in the pic was less than .0005”.

I replaced that “WBS” cam with a nice solid that had .0015”-.0020” lobe taper, which showed good lifter rotation on all 16 lobes.
Been going good since then.

 

[PRH]

“If it were me”……..
I’d stick the new lifter in there, oil only on the sides and face, put the pushrod and rocker back on, turn the engine over and check for lifter rotation.
If it doesn’t rotate……. The path forward is clear.
If the lifter has decent, positive rotation…….. then the decision might be harder.

Also, look at the wear pattern on the flanks and base circle of the offending lobe.
If the wear pattern is basically “centered” on the lobe, that’s not a good sign, and would be an indicator of possibly insufficient taper.

 

[67FormulaS_273HiPo_4spd]

“If it were me”……..
I’d stick the new lifter in there, oil only on the sides and face, put the pushrod and rocker back on, turn the engine over and check for lifter rotation.
If it doesn’t rotate……. The path forward is clear.
If the lifter has decent, positive rotation…….. then the decision might be harder.

Also, look at the wear pattern on the flanks and base circle of the offending lobe.
If the wear pattern is basically “centered” on the lobe, that’s not a good sign, and would be an indicator of possibly insufficient taper.

PRH, that's really interesting that you have experienced something very similar to my situation. I'll take a photo of the offending cam lobe tonight and post for your reference, but I seem to remember it had a wear pattern across the whole width of the lobe peak, not sure on the flanks or base circle.

 

[PRH]

The wear pattern being basically full width over the nose is normal.
But should def not be centered on the flanks or base circle.

 

[67FormulaS_273HiPo_4spd]

Just curious how did that 273 work (performance wise) with that cam ?

273, I bought the 67 out of Canada in 2020 and had it shipped to Melbourne, Australia. It was in fantastic condition, the 273 was rebuilt some time back and ran well, except that someone installed a big duration hydraulic stick that sounded great, but was really soft on power off idle and mid-range. I installed the Comp XE262H cam and noticed more vacuum at idle (steady 14 inches) and more power everywhere. The little 273 is supposed to be a Commando mill, but when rebuilt in was done with 2BBL pistons which yields an estimated 8:1 static comp. If the 273 had more compression (9-9.5:1) it would really make a difference with the XE262 stick. As it is now, I had a no-name hydraulic cam with matching lifters in my stash from a rebuilt, low mileage 318, that's supposed to be 'one-step up' from stock. I installed this stick when I found the worn lifter on the XE262. The no-name cam works great in the 273, idle vacuum is up to a steady 18 inches and the 273 runs the best it ever has. It's a 4-speed car too, so it's a lot of fun driving around even though it makes little power.

 

[67FormulaS_273HiPo_4spd]

The wear pattern being basically full width over the nose is normal.
But should def not be centered on the flanks or base circle.

Thanks PRH, I'll check tonight.

 

[67FormulaS_273HiPo_4spd]

As a side note, I took off the Edelbrock 600 carb I've been running last night and installed a nice Holley 600 DP I had. Runs great, idles better and seems to make a little more power everywhere, judging by the 'feel by the seat of ***' meter. I also have the original Carter AFB 4924s & cast iron 4BBL single-plane intake in storage.

 

[Dart Frog]

Sounds like you're getting it dialed in nicely, and it looks great too