Should I replace my cam?

[Matt99man]

The chim is in garage to investigate a dodgy lifter at the moment. This has me thinking that even if there is no or minimal lobe wear should I change my cam? We are on 63k miles currently and I'm guessing its a matter of time for cam issues to show. What's everyone's thoughts?

[pjac67]

I have a Chim with 242k on the same cam (now having a full rebuild...) so you could have some mileage left.... could be a question of weighing up the cost if you have things apart etc

[Chuffmeister]

There is always an exception, but many on here seem to think that the cam is ready for replacement around 60-70k. Mine was done around 63k. At lot depends on its history and how it has been used/ maintained.

[Matt99man]

Chuffmeister said:

There is always an exception, but many on here seem to think that the cam is ready for replacement around 60-70k. Mine was done around 63k. At lot depends on its history and how it has been used/ maintained.

I suppose cost is a factor too, does anyone know how many many hours a pro will take changing a camshaft?

[blitzracing]

Ive covered it in some depth here- half way down the page:

http://www.g33.co.uk/tuning.htm

[Matt99man]

blitzracing said:

Ive covered it in some depth here- half way down the page:

http://www.g33.co.uk/tuning.htm

Thanks Mark

It looks like the stealth is top boy, I believe it needs pocketed pistons though. Is the mc1 a good compromise? Will I notice a big jump in performance from my standard cam to a mc1?

[ChimpOnGas]

Matt99man said:

Will I notice a big jump in performance from my standard cam to a mc1?

No, but you'll notice a big jump in performance from a worn standard cam to a fresh MC1.

My TVR HC Kent 435 cam came out at only 30,000 miles and was already showing some signs of wear, a Stealth from V8 Developments went in and although my original 435 wasn't horribly worn there was still a very noticeable difference in performance.

If your current cam is worn (which is almost certainly will be), you'll see a good improvement in performance from a fresh MC1, and they'll be the type of improvements you can actually feel.

If you genuinely have a dodgy lifter, the cam lobe that runs on it will also be totally feked, when replacing a cam you should also replace the lifters at the same time as the cam lobes & lifter faces need to bed in together from new.

Its the same the other way round, you should never just fit new lifters on an old cam even it it doesn't look that worn.

Do it the job properly and replace the whole lot - lifters, cam, timing chain & sprockets.

That way you know its all good for years ton come.

[Matt99man]

ChimpOnGas said:

No, but you'll notice a big jump in performance from a worn standard cam to a fresh MC1.

My TVR HC Kent 435 cam came out at only 30,000 miles and was already showing some signs of wear, a Stealth from V8 Developments went in and although my original 435 wasn't horribly worn there was still a very noticeable difference in performance.

If your current cam is worn (which is almost certainly will be), you'll see a good improvement in performance from a fresh MC1, and they'll be the type of improvements you can actually feel.

Do it

Thanks Dave

Is it worth going the whole hog and having a stealth?

[ChimpOnGas]

Matt99man said:

Thanks Dave

Is it worth going the whole hog and having a stealth?

Worked for me, but I do have an HC which came with the valve reliefs cut in the piston crowns for the Kent 435 TVR fitted t the factory.

I've heard conflicting things about fitting a Stealth without pocketed pistons, I advise you talk to Rob at V8 Developments about it when you go cam shopping.

Personally I love my Stealth

[Chuffmeister]

ChimpOnGas said:

Worked for me, but I do have an HC which came with the valve reliefs cut in the piston crowns for the Kent 435 TVR fitted t the factory.

I've heard conflicting things about fitting a Stealth without pocketed pistons, I advise you talk to Rob at V8 Developments about it when you go cam shopping.

Personally I love my Stealth

Would it depend on how much the heads have been skimmed and the thickness of the head gaskets as to the tolerances?

[Matt99man]

If I have a dodgy lifter they will all need replacing I understand. If there is no or hardly any cam wear can I keep the existing one??

[SILICONEKID345HP]

ChimpOnGas said:

Worked for me, but I do have an HC which came with the valve reliefs cut in the piston crowns for the Kent 435 TVR fitted t the factory.

I've heard conflicting things about fitting a Stealth without pocketed pistons, I advise you talk to Rob at V8 Developments about it when you go cam shopping.

Personally I love my Stealth

I reckon i could get away with something a bit more wilder than the Stealth .It does not feel like a high lift cam ,my old Piper 285 gave nothing until 2700 rpm.

Whats the next one up ?

[Pupp]

H404 if you want to keep hydraulic lifters

[carsy]

Or Page 19.

http://www.kentcams.com/documents/downloads/Kent%2...

[Goaty Bill 2]

Matt99man said:

If I have a dodgy lifter they will all need replacing I understand. If there is no or hardly any cam wear can I keep the existing one??

With your mileage, and the cost of tearing down to replace the lifters, I seriously doubt it would be worth the risk.
It is not unknown to have worked, especially on (much) older lower revving engines, but it is also generally accepted that changing cam and lifters together is the only safe and sensible option.
So much so, that I doubt anyone here has changed lifters without changing the camshaft or vice versa.

[jojackson4]

Goaty Bill 2 said:

Matt99man said:

If I have a dodgy lifter they will all need replacing I understand. If there is no or hardly any cam wear can I keep the existing one??

With your mileage, and the cost of tearing down to replace the lifters, I seriously doubt it would be worth the risk.
It is not unknown to have worked, especially on (much) older lower revving engines, but it is also generally accepted that changing cam and lifters together is the only safe and sensible option.
So much so, that I doubt anyone here has changed lifters without changing the camshaft or vice versa.

As above got told do not change just the lifters
If you do 1 do them both ( lifters and cam)

[ChimpOnGas]

Sardonicus said:

In conversation (idle banter in the motor factors) I warned a couple of traders back in the day (early 90's) when the Ford CVH was in its hayday not to just replace noisy lifters they found out sometime later when the cars came back lacking power because the cam lobes had dissolved (no valve lift) pay now or pay later holds true in this instance

I worked on a lot of 80's Ford CVH engines in the early 90's and I can say with total confidence that engine was the biggest pile of craaaap Ford ever made, and I include their old Essex V4 in that.

The CVH was noisy, unrefined, ate cams, blew it's head gasket, snapped it's cam belt, leaked oil down the valve stems yet still managed to have the most accelerated bore wear I've seen on any engine, ever.

If you got 60k miles out of one you were doing well, after which it would already be consuming so much oil you'd need your own OPEC trade account to keep up.

Ford CVH = utter rubbish...

Just saying

[Oldred_V8S]

This was a question I was pondering over Christmas when working on the V8S when I was replacing the valley gasket. It crossed my mind that with the car stripped so far, I could change the cam and followers. The car has done 45000 and I have heard that failures can start to occur at that mileage (I also understand some can go on for much longer than that).

What stopped me was the whisperings around getting hold of decent quality cam followers. I have heard of Land Rover ones failing prematurely. Now bearing in mind nothing in the TVR world is certain, with claims and counter-claims as to suitability of this oil over that oil or don't buy this, buy that etc, along with the fact you cannot change a cam without followers (and vice-versa) I decided to leave well alone. I could see an early failure of a cam follower leading into a cycle of regular cam and follower replacements. The car is running well and the cam and followers looked OK. I'm sure had I put it on a RR I would see that the cam had let some of the horses out of the paddock, but hey it's running well and has plenty of pull.

[Matt99man]

So ive just has the news that there is lobe wear so its new cam time! I have been looking at the MC1, I know cam choice has been done to death but are there any recomemdations?

[OleVix]

If its a standard 400 (3.9) then buy the MC1
If its a 400 HC, 450 or 500, then buy the stealth
If you are unsure, take out a plug and check with a borescope, pistons must have valve reliefs cut into them for the stealth cam