340 Rebuild dead cam lobe help!

[RzeroB]

I don't know, but where are the Lunati components made today?? Are they outsourced to a third party manufacturer?? It's disheartening, but when I go to the auto parts store almost everything now says "made in China" on the box Sorry, but the steel they use over there just doesn't hold up for whatever reason

[Jim AAR]

If its steel and made in China it's more than likely smelted using a soft cheap heavily polluting coal because its way cheaper than using the Hard Coking Coal that the smelters in North America and some of Europe use.

The hard coal burns way hotter and removes more impurities, everyone's looking for cost savings and the industry suffers.

[DeathProofCuda]

@tparker It probably goes without saying, but make sure you do everything possible to ensure that your motor fires up on the first crank and can continue running for the duration of your break-in.  When I first fired my motor several years back it started immediately but then I had to shut it right down due to a carb leak.  I haven't had an issue with the cam, but it sure did stress me out at the time.  In my case I guess it would have been better to have an electric fuel pump so that I could have pressurized the fuel system and checked for leaks prior to turning it over.

[Chryco Psycho]

Roller cams have their own issues & do not like to idle a lot as there is very little oil to the roller except splash from the crank , also hyd rollers can collapse just like flat tappet  , you will need a bronze oil pump drive , the best blocks are the 87-92 360 roller blocks that were designed for rollers from the factory & have special casting allowing for rollers ,

[Fastmark]

I use break in oil and run the motor at 2500 rpm like the cam manufacturers recommend for 20 minutes. You have to use only the outer springs on a cam break in with high spring pressures. The problem now is all the lifters we have made now are sourced from Overseas or the steel comes from there.  We sold our souls to the devil,  folks,  so now we pay the price. I've starting to use tool steel lifters because they don't give problems. Yes they are expensive, but cheap compared to a cam failure. If you have to use cheap lifter, measure the crown across the face of the lifters. It should be higher in the middle by about .001-.0015. That is what helps it turn in the bore. Hughes engine tell you to rotate the engine by hand with the manifold off and watch each lifter to see if it turns in the bore. I have an engine machinists that buys two sets of lifters for each builds and sends back anything that does not have enough crown. Most lifters are made by one or two manufacturers.

[dodj]

  I'm starting my motor up very shortly. 

Not sure if I'm lucky or not, but I had a purple shaft and a bunch of lifters since about 1990. I went with a hughes cam, but used the mopar lifters. Hopefully they will work.

Hoping for a good outcome.

[tparker]

I bought my 340 from a local machine shop in about '89, maybe '90. I was 19-20 years old and really didn't know what I was doing. I transfered my 318 parts onto it with the exception of an edlebrock and late '70s thermoquad of off a pick up or van. I fired it up with no breakin procedure and probably used regular motor oil, who knows what weight. I forgot to put in water nd over heated it as well. It seemed  to have broken in just fine. I ran it for about a year before I joined the army, where it's sat for..... well, i am about to fire it up again soon after having it rebuilt and stroked to 416. Back then I didn't care, now I am nervous as heck. She's gonna do what she's gonna do

[ledphoot]

what cam did you put in your 416? What heads? Just curious.

[tparker]

@ledphoot I went with hughes engine cam. I wanted something chrysler specific. I'm always second guessing and thinking maybe I should have went with Lunati. LOL. I'm sure it will be just fine. The heads are stock...... for now. I'm not looking for max performance, but it would be nice to get it to flow a bit more.

https://www.hughesengines.com/Index/products.php?browse=category&level0=QS0gU21hbGwgQmxvY2sgIkxBIg==&level1=Q2Ftc2hhZnQ=&searchmode=partnumber&page=1&partid=30242

[ledphoot]

I am sure you'll be pleased with that motor. I am running the comp xe284h, with some cleaned up edelbrock heads. The motor is extremely responsive and has loads of torque. I love hearing about smallblock stroker builds. I'll keep an eye out for more posts on yours.