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Ah well, looks like I am changing my cam, C-30 truck, SBC.

Richard150MPH

Richard150MPH

Veteran Member
"PSA", take care of your hearing guys, if you lose it taking care of your ride gets significantly harder.
Seems I have probably ruined the cam in my recently built 355".
Either did not get the static lash right or adjusters backed off.
In any case I was unable to hear the clatter, someone else had to point it out to me.
Checked and found two very loose, readjusted and the engine did smooth out some but still seems a bit weak and the mileage is still terrible at 9 MPG.
With the NV4500 overdrive I should be getting at least 12-15.
So dropped almost $300 at Summit racing today.
Got a very Truck cam, backing down somewhat from what I had before.
Only a little more lift and duration than the stock "GoodWrench" cam.
Parts should be here tomorrow.
Busy weekend ahead.

Once I have the intake off I will be able to know for certain if it really is the cam.
Not going to blame Crower for this, I'm the deaf one.
 
That blows...I'm a ft guy and have only lost 1 cam and it was a clevite with cheap stuff attached and I beat the hell out of it so never blamed anyone but myself. Curious in what you find.
 
Always replace the locking nuts on your valvetrain. And maybe you should try that first ? They are cheap.
This is a solid lifter cam ? In a truck ?
If the locking nuts are backing off, you will lose your adjustment and the valves will clatter.
 
Hydraulic flat-tappet.
If the truck did not put the engine so far away and hard to reach I would almost prefer solids.
 
#8 Intake and #6 exhaust are clearly concave from wear.
#8 is the worst.
If the lifter is toast so is the cam.
More disassembly to do.
 
Well, getting there, slowly.
I have one more long trip to make for a car trade, then I am going to just sell this truck and put the funds into my flip-front El Camino.
I do not need three trucks and at 67 this one is just too hard to work on anymore.

I redesigned the El Camino to be MUCH simpler to work on.
Even if the El Camino does not get any better mileage at least it will be fun to drive, flat bed trucks are not.
 
I like your flip front end idea....but if you have a bad back, a good fender or header panel is sometimes great to lean your belly on.
 
Cam is not badly chewed up, just the nose and lifters worn on a few lobes.
I simply do not have the time or funds to pull the engine completely apart, yet again.
Tired of dumping TIME and money into this truck, I am trying to break the "Oh hey, thats too good a deal to pass up" cars buying habit too.
If I sell the truck that may help me to cut down the number of projects as they will no longer be easy to go get.
Time to finish a couple of my dream cars, those are not this truck.
I think I have also decided that if I really need a truck for a day or two it is cheaper to rent than own all year long.

This 81 C30 is sort of tricked out, NV4500 OD trans, 3K miles on the engine, FiTech injection that should work now that the cam and header leaks will be fixed.
At this point, if the engine dies too soon, I will dump the remains on someone younger, I'm done.
"Square Bodies" are now being referred to as classics so someone should want it.

Doubt I will recover my full investment but I am tired of this as a DD.

I want my El Camino on the road ASAP.
Until then my most likely DD will be an MG Midget at about 30 MPG, or a Dirt Buggy/VW rail at maybe 20 MPG.

$5.00 Gal. gas, Go Brandon!

Oh, and with a flip/removable front clip I can sit on a wheel to adjust the solid lifters for my El Camino 327.
 
I had 1 lifter go out on a hft, it went fast, within 10 miles. 355 sbc, and it had maybe 10k miles, a crate motor. I tossed in a comp cam hft, new lifters, changed the oil, and added a magnetic drain plug. Probably put another 20k miles on it before I sold the car, ran fine.
 
Getting close to having this done.
HAS to be finished by Thursday evening.

While apart I have taken the opportunity for a couple of simple, minor, upgrades.
I marked the crank damper every 90º in case I ever have to adjust the rockers again.
I also marked the crank pulley for TDC as it can be difficult to see just the thin line at the damper despite marking it with white paint.
Petty stuff I know, but I hope it will make life a little easier.
 
OK, the truck is back on the road, but still on a carb.
Made double-D sure I put this cam in exactly as specified, degreed, lash set with the intake off, run in for twenty-five minutes at 2000-2500 RPM, and oil change immediately after run-in.
Also put on new industrial grade header exhaust gaskets that do not leak.
Truck sounds great and runs strong.
I will give it a few days before putting the FiTech back on.
If I run into another cam problem during this test period I will cut my losses and put the factory cam back in since it is already run-in and I kept the lifters in order of prior use.
Going to be super-disgusted if this cam also fails.
 
Sorry to hear that the motor has given you so
many headaches. Doing everything “right” and losing cam lobes or lifters would drive me nuts.

I have some affinity for the old Chevy trucks. My Dads got a pretty nice ochre and white 1972 C10 long bed. I have always favored the long beds. 350/Th400, AC and still has the original AM radio. I daily drove it for a while while I was in school and my other car was giving me problems.
It’s been sitting not used for years and he has given it to me. I tried to get is shipped from Michigan (it’s a Texas truck, never driven in the winter in Michigan) to California but delayed due to shipping cost. I’m afraid to get a quote for shipping now with the cost of fuel.
 
What brand cam & lifters did you buy for replacement? I put a white box Summit (Crane) cam & lifter kit in a 454 RV engine 10 years ago that I didn't have any problems with but todays flat tappet cam & lifters I'd be a little worried about, my friend recently bought a fresh rebuilt 302 Chevy engine with Pro Stock (Elgin?) solid FT cam & lifters that was broke in on an engine run stand that sounds great to 7,500 rpm's, it had the run in stand dancing (y)
 
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