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Tips
Tips

I think I wiped out my GP2 cam........

Actually, GM stopped supplying the stuff. Then there was a big demand, so they started carrying it again. I don't know what the current status is. However, there is another supplier of a similar product. Moss is now carrying that stuff. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cheers.gif
 
I can take the tappets out without removing the head by holding them up individually with those little magnetic wands for retrieving lost iron screws and the like. Just get a dozen of these and suck them up high to slide the cam out. They should just fall down after the cam is gone. Just reverse the procedure and hold the new ones up with the magnetic wands. I really hate to remove the head, carbs, intake and exhaust manifolds. Am I off in my thinking.


Course, really would like to know what that intake valve looks like. Can inspect that valve spring from the top for cracks, even use a spring tester, maybe.

Not a good day.
 
Oh, and those images I show with my dental intra-oral camera with a macro lens. Did that at lunch and sent them to the photo express where they converted the film negatives to digital on a cd.

Guess I need to clean it now.......
 
Is that what
TR6BILL said:
Oh, and those images I show with my dental intra-oral camera with a macro lens. Did that at lunch and sent them to the photo express where they converted the film negatives to digital on a cd.

Guess I need to clean it now.......

Oh, that explains the extra charge on my insurance /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/jester.gif
 
I'm just glad that the next ones you pull or fill won't be mine.

Maybe Richard Good's, but not mine.....
 
Bill.....
It should work to use the magnets to hold the tappets up during the camshaft changeout but you'll have to enlist some help to do it; so after the camshaft is out you can catch the falling tappet as the magnet is removed by the helper; might be a bit tricky getting new tappets into position from underneath; you might have to use another extending magnetic pickup to place them in the right spot.
Should work though.
 
Any chance redlining (5500 rpm) the car for about 30 seconds in 2nd gear may have caused/contributed to this galling?

Any chance the intake valve is affected by this galling?

Any chance my gall bladder will be affected?

I kinda wish I hadn't stopped drinking 20+ years ago.
 
TR6BILL said:
Any chance redlining (5500 rpm) the car for about 30 seconds in 2nd gear may have caused/contributed to this galling?

I think the cams new reline is higher than 5500
 
TR6BILL said:
Any chance redlining (5500 rpm) the car for about 30 seconds in 2nd gear may have caused/contributed to this galling?

Any chance the intake valve is affected by this galling?

Any chance my gall bladder will be affected?

I kinda wish I hadn't stopped drinking 20+ years ago.

- No

- No

I almost think this is a component failure as it is contained to one (1) lobe.

If it were oil related or a driving issue, you would probally see wear on other lobes.

It might be the cam, lifter and/or something on the top end of the valve train. Are you using stock valve springs?

There is an EXCELLENT thread on https://www.speedtalk.com about Triumph tappets. You have to be a member of the site to view the thread as it is in the "Advanced Engine Tech" . Once a member, search "TR4" and the thread is titled "Tappets - Domed or Flat?"
 
If running it at 5,500 would affect the engine, mine would have blown a long time ago.

I don't think that the intake was affected. You caught it before the lobe disappeared and the pushrod dropped and all of that bad stuff that could have happened didn't.

I know this wasn't the cause, but back in the 80's and early 90's when I running the Cadillac shop, we had the infamous HT4100, which ironically is now the best engine that they ever made in it's Northstar version.

But I digress. The intake manifold never sealed properly on those cars and coolant (anti-freeze) would begin to leak into the oil and with anywhere from 1,500 to 3,000 miles, one or two lobes would be gone on the cam.

Why the cam and not the mains? The leak from the coolant passages between the head and intake gasket went right down into the valley where the camshaft sits in the middle of a V-8 engine. It would dilute the oil and probably got directly on the cam and led to their early demise.

From 83 through 90, I had two guys who would just R&R engines while three others rebuilt them. We had a 24 hour turn around on an engine swap. We found a machine shop that would install cam bearings, thereby saving the aluminum blocks and saving GM big $$$$.
 
Actually, there is a slight chance that revving it *could* have done it. If you have a weak valve spring on that cylinder, and had "valve bounce" happen, that can take out a lobe and lifter pretty quickly. If you are taking the head off anyway, it might be worth having the springs checked. Any decent machine shop should have the equipment to do so. Otherwise, I would suspect the lifter itself. If it was not hardened properly, and failed, it will ruin the cam in short order. Forensic auto repair sucks. I get to do this a lot, but if you don't, you can fix a symptom, and not the problem.
 
jessebogan said:
Actually, there is a slight chance that revving it *could* have done it. If you have a weak valve spring on that cylinder, and had "valve bounce" happen, that can take out a lobe and lifter pretty quickly. If you are taking the head off anyway, it might be worth having the springs checked.

+1

Most engine machine shops can easily check the valve spring seat pressure.

It could go the other way. If you bought a head with unspecified "stronger" aftermarket springs, there is a chance whomever built the head used springs that were too strong.

But like it has been said, send your oil out to be analyzed and have a very good machinist / metallurgist look at the cam.
 
Good points Jesse. I thought that Bill had replaced all of the springs with new GP units and had a machine shop valve job done, so I "assumed" that they would have tested the springs.

And I know, "assuming", can lead to a lot of forensic auto repair.......

Come to think of it, we still haven't pinned down the clatter for certain.
 
Bill, had a 78 Spitfire 1500 with stock cam and lifters fail on one lobe, but there wasn't any pitting on the lobe but instead was confined to the lifter itself and just wore the lobe down. I would be interested to see the bottom of that lifter but it looks to me like a cam defect and or an oiling problem. Good luck with it , Hope you can make the BMCNO Show. Charlie
 
Greg at British Parts Northwest had interesting
comments regarding cams. Before selling car parts
for a living, he built engines (Triumphs, I think)
for years. Decided it would be a lot easier to
make his money selling parts instead of turning a
wrench. That's how he started his parts sales business.
 
TR6BILL said:
Any chance redlining (5500 rpm) the car for about 30 seconds in 2nd gear may have caused/contributed to this galling?

Any chance the intake valve is affected by this galling?

Any chance my gall bladder will be affected?

I kinda wish I hadn't stopped drinking 20+ years ago.

Bill: You got me laughing out loud with this one.
That's funny.
 
TR6BILL said:
I'd rather be pulling teeth.....

Bill: Got to get to the root of the problem.
Okay, not that funny.

Laughing gas?? Now that would be funny.

Reminds me of a Pink Panther film.....
 
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