Is this cam ok to use?

[marcman804]

Recently my engine crapped out on me and it was due to faulty valve installation job by one of the mechanics in my area. Before this happened I had just installed the comp cam 101200's and when i removed the valve cover to see what happened I noticed that one of the exhaust cam had a scratch on one of the lobes. Well I just bought another engine and Im almost ready to drop it in but I was wondering if the cam would be reusable or would have to buy a new one. Thanks for checking this out for me.

 

[4g63monstr]

drag a fingernail across the scratch, if it catches or its a gouge at all it will have to be replaced. Sorry about your bad luck. also, since there is a gouge that large make sure you check your cam journals for damage.

 

[marcman804]

Ok thanks for checking it out. Looks like Im going to have to buy some new cams. smh

 

[cyclonekid77]

I just had the same thing happen to my cams. They weren't quite that bad but almost all of my lobes had small gouges. I took them to a local and very experienced engine builder and this is what we did.

Diamond file the gouge to get rid of any high spots

Check for high spots on the lobe by using a roller rocker. You will be able to see if it is rolling flat or not.

Once I filed all the gouges and got rid of the high spots I repolished the cams up real nice.

The gouge will still be there, but it wont matter because its just a low spot in the cam. the roller will still touch 90% of the lobe in that spot. I wouldn't try and use the cams forever after repairing them like this but it does work. I just went 11.41@127 on mine so I would say they are working just fine .