Long story short. I put in a Lunati cam in Dec. and decided to play with the advance a little last weekend. Pulled the front cover and noticed a problem, I then pulled the cam out and the cam bearings are completly shot. I mean almost to the steel backing on the front bearing. The cam has about 1,500 miles on it and the bearings are the back grooved ones from TA. The bearings were in the motor for about 7 years and looked perfect when the Lunati cam was installed last December. Any ideas so as to avoid this problem again?. The cam had .520-.528 lift and was checked for coil bind and retainer clearance. All speced out OK. I figure the problem has to do with the cam or the cam change. Anyone had a similar problem? Any Ideas would be appreciated. Thanks Brent PS Does anyone make thick head gaskets for the 455. I need to lower the compression a little for the turbo since the motor is coming out anyway.
Brent, cam bearings are a real sore spot for us Buick guys. Are you running a high volume oil pump? It also may have something to do with these so called "Fast Ramp" cams "Popular" these days....:Brow: They really put a load on cam bearings from what I've heard. TA Performance has a large selection of headgasket thicknesses.
Brent, It's critical that you pay close attension to how the cam spins after installation. The cam should spin smooth and freely without any binding. Once you bind the cam, even just a little, it will start pealing the bearing away and be fried in less than 50 miles. If you have an inch pound torque wrench, it should only take between 4 - 8 INCH POUNDS to spin that cam.
Hey Mike, is that with the wrench on one of the cam bolts, or using a fixture at the center of the cam?
no Kent-Moore number I guess... :laugh: Good thinking. I wish I had done that before assembling mine, but it seems to be(knock on wood) doing fine.
