I'm going to be breaking in a new solid flat tappet cam and rather than take a chance on the Comp cams off shore stuff I was thinking of getting my Johnson (US made) tappets reground. Anybody have experience with doing this or how well it worked out.
Randy, I have had solid flat tappet lifters resurfaced at Oregon Cams in Vancouver Washington not that long ago, worked out fine. Years ago, I had Y Block lifters resurfaced at Shadbolt Cams in Vancouver, that worked out well too. Not sure if Shadbolt is still around, but if so, not too far for you to go.
I finally got through to Shadbolt cams today and yes, they still perform that service. Guy on the phone said he wont be in until Monday? It's only Wednesday isn't it?
Oh well, I think there the only show in town, so I'll wait till next week.
Thanks for that!
Do they , like, put a slight crown shape on the tappet head ? How thick is the og hardened layer or are these solid hardened ?
I am in the same boat, I have dozens of 'good' used og Y lifters, but I hesitate on just using them as is with a new cam, but don't trust new aftermarket sets either.
From what I've seen on videos Sunnen used to have a machine that would grind a .002-.00015 crown back in the tappet. Not sure about the hardened part or process they do to the tappet or if it's necessary if the tappet is built out of the same material. Today it's kind of a lost art with most everything gone to roller or with the toss it in the scrap metal bin and buy the cheap off-shore crap. I'm going to this place on Monday to ask more questions.
Randy, its been quite a few years I have been to Shadbolt cams, but back when I worked at Bond Mechanical, a high volume engine builder in Vancouver, almost all of our cams came from Shadbolt. At that time, a fellow named Barry ran the place, if he is still there, he must be well beyond normal retirement age, so maybe he only works 2 or 3 days a week, especially since I imagine that the demand is much less now than it was 40 years ago.
From what I could gather from a person who used to own the business 60 years ago Barry Rutherford retired a few years back and his partner Roy pass away a awhile ago to. Not sure whos running the show now. I guess I'll find out on Monday.
Your tappets you had ground from Oregon Cams, was that for your Fairmont or another project?
The Oregon Cam resurfaced lifters were for the 428 FE in my Fairmont.
Cam break-in went good (I think). Ran the engine for 20 minutes, shut it off to cool down and then another 20. Ran it today at idle to 5000 rpm for another 30 minutes and it seemed fine.
Checked the lash and they were all where they should be to. Next is install the new valve springs and drive it. The worst part is putting gas in this thing at 2.36 a litre for 94 premium, ouch!