Cam question?????

[nomad]

Digging through my parts and have come up with a cam that is marked KC 276 FD. Its obviously a 276 degree performance camshaft. The stamping is on the drive end in an arc. The cam is a star drive. Can anyone identify the company from this data???

I had thought the cam had a lobe that was going flat but now as I think about it there was lifter that was cupping when I tore this engine down. The parkerizing is off most of the lobes but they are hard an shiny and don't appear to have anything wrong with them so I'm thinking of reusing it with a new set of good lifter's. Any advise????

Kurt.

 

[BlueMax]

Sounds like a Kent Cam 276 duration. Put cam in a lathe and dial indicator lobes for ware to determined condition.

 

[nomad]

Thanks, are the Kent cam's reliable and hardened correctly?? I know they have been pretty popular.

Kurt.

 

[Rut]

I've got a Kent cam in a 1275 I'm rebuilding and I really can't give good advice, but I understand it's a good cam. measure the lobes and see how different they are and either get new hardened lifters or have your good ones resurfaced by Delta cams...really good deal!
Rut

 

[nomad]

Thanks Rut....i assume that Delta regrind's the lifter's and re-harden's them. I'll have to get a friend to check the lobe's on my cam but it appears the parkerizing isn't even completely worn off them. The engine was low miles but toast because of a failed head gasket and my attempt to get home on it. Wife was with me and I knew she would never let it rest if we were stranded!!

Kurt.

 

[Rut]

They did my lifters on advice from Hap and the process does not cut all the way thru the original hardened surface. For lack of a better term the put a very slight crown on them so they will spin when the engine is running.
Rut

 

[Jim_Gruber]

Hey Rut how much did that run if you don't mind my asking.

 

[Rut]

IIRC it was $2 or $4 per lifter and since I had APT lifters as well as their cam I thought it was a really good deal. Give them a call, they are great to work with.
Rut

 

[nomad]

Perhaps I'm not understanding but does Delta and APT work together, Rut? I trust APT but not the lifters I have on hand!

Kurt.

 

[Gerard]

Perhaps I'm not understanding but does Delta and APT work together, Rut? I trust APT but not the lifters I have on hand!

Kurt.

I believe they lifters need to be re-hardened if they are surfaced. The guy that used to do mine always would, and he was a specialist in regrinding cams. For the last few years, I have only used APT's best lifters in anything I build.

 

[Rut]

Kurt,
I only had 90 miles in my MGB engine when a rod bolt let go and I was using an APT VP12 cam and their lifters. The cam was trash and the lifters needed to be resurfaced before installing on another VP12 cam on the new engine build. Hap suggested Delta for resurfacing the lifters and since mine were such low mile ones I was told that the process would not go past the hardened depth, so re hardening was not necessary. They were probably ok, but I didn't want to take a chance and followed Haps advice.
Rut

 

[Hap Waldrop]

I suggested this service to Rut for the reason he had brand new CF-04 lifters, Rockwell 60 C rating the best lifter you can buy for a A series engine, or MGB engine. The rule of thumb is you never run used lifters on new cam, and since Rut had to get a new cam, and his CF-04 lifter were almost new, it made since to resurface them and save him a few bucks, I done this myself to race engines in the past with great success. Now with that being said this is not a service recommended for worn out pitted up cheap soft lifters, this service while good to have is not a magic wand that can make crappy cheap soft lifters into good lifters. Most of the parts for these engine are cheap, the one exception is really good quality metal camshafts, and lifters ,and since this it is the item when substandard most likely to fail, this is where you want to spend your money to get the good stuff. Hope this helps.