well it happend! a while ago i noticed a small rocker tapping in the valve train so i thought it was the lifters since the motor sat for long periods of time. i replaced them and what do you know they started to tap again. so i got pissed and pulled the motor out to see if what the f--k is going on. i want to check the oil galleys/bearings to see if i got oil and if they were pluged. i'm having the block rechecked to make sure its clean. it turns out 3 lobs on the cam are gone. i haven't driven it more than 3 miles since the rebuild! i did not know about the federal mandated zinc removal in motor oil. upon checking i found that a roller cam is better for todays oil. is that true? i have 9.5 compression tripple springs and set the valves up for unleaded. besides the cam and lifters are there any other things/changes i need for a proper set up? im going street only no racing because of the #matching engine. any answers will be greatly appreciated.

It happens to the best of us even if you do everything right.

Since you didn't know about the zink I would assume there may be other steps you missed. My brother wiped a lobe even with the zink additive.

I have gone roller with my motor and my brother has done the same with three of his pontiacs. Seems to have more benifits then cons with the rollers setups. The one big downside is mostly the cost and having to run either a bronze or composite distributor gear.

With any new cam I always make sure to prime the oil pump and verify I have oil out each of the rocker arms.

With flat tappet cams, its recomended to remove the inner springs during break in process.

I'm sure others will chime in. There is a whole lot of info on this subject on the PerformaceYears forum.

I appreciate the response. 30yrs of ponchos and this is the first problem i had. carbs are always a pain too me. i did all that but the spring removal. it might have bleed down at the time i started it since it sat soo long. well the zinc oil stuff im cool with but having to rebuild the engine hurts. im confident on using the roller set up. it should be interesting. at 11.00 a quart for oil with zinc is a pain to swallow so i was hoping that the roller will solve that problem. anybody?

I went roller as well. There are lots of guys putting flat tappets in with no problems if correct break in is done, but to me the cost of the roller was less than the pain to take it out and change a new cam gone bad.

You don't need to spend $11.00 a quart for zinc. Just add 4.oz of ZDDPplus.

http://www.amazon.com/ZDDPPlus-ZDDP-Engi...eywords=zddplus

I'm no expert, but I can't imagine you ruined a cam in 3 miles.

http://www.drivenracingoil.com/dro/ read one of their brochures, found it informative. could be expensive to use though

A friend with a 550HP Olds 455 put a flat tappet in and had the engine out in a week with a flattened lobe. He replaced it with a flat cam from a different grinder and took more care with the break in and it has performed well since. Three plus years.

That's what I use for my original-untouched engine too.

I use Royal Purple in 10/40 or 15/40. Maufacturer says 1300PPM zinc. About $9per quart and available at OReilly's. I like being able to drive down and buy it off the shelf instead of having to plan months ahead to order some ZDDP. Some use Brad Penn racing oil. Probably find it at your local speed shop.

What else you need for a roller depends on Hyd or Solid. They all require a dist gear change unless you buy one of the new ones that are made to use with your std gear. New pushrods(different size). Possibly a different valley pan or adjustment with a BFH to yours for clearance of lifters. Depending on lift of the new cam you may be looking at new springs. You'll be better off if you go with something of a comparable lift as you already have otherwise there's longer valves or machine work of the spring pockets/valve job involved.
Pretty simple, eh?

argh!!!!!! it looks like the quarts of oil is my choice since i hate adding things in and it looks like that i will have to do some more looking around on the cam choice with the parts to make it work. I apreciate the responses, wish i had paid more attention on the oil. it could have saved me some greif. now its a re -rebuild NEVER ENDS!

I have always been told to use Rotella T. It is for diesels and still has all the additives. I have been using it since my rebuild about 800 miles ago and I have no isuues.

Better check that. I heard awhile back that they were forcing Rotella to cut back on the zinc in the diesel oil as well. Not sure what they have to drop the content to. Might still be ok but I'd check with the manufacturer. I think 1200PPM is the bottom threshhold for FT cam and lifters.

Yea, new diesels are coming with catalitic converters too now. I stopped using Rotella as well. Just add the ZDDPplus to good regular oil.
There are a couple of "off-road" use oils that still have high levels of zinc in them, like the Brad Penn and a few others I can't remember right now. It's been discussed here several times, try searching for it going back a year or two.

Seems from what I've heard and read It's just in the initial break in period and first few hundred miles that cause the camshaft melt-downs. Once the parts are scuffed-in the problems diminish. A good assembly lube is a must on the lobes. My 86 Ford runs OK on regular oil but it's long been broken in. If your re-built sat for a long time before you ran it you may not have had proper oiling on start up, that's where damage can happen.

Could be the camshaft itself as well all camshafts are not equal.

Of course using zinc for the duration can't hurt.

Try Joe Gibbs break-in oil. Then Joe Gibbs Hot Rod oil or a similar product. It's about 9 bucks a quart but how often are you going to change the oil and how many times do you want to take out that engine?

thank you for the responses. well i went down to have the thing cleaned and checked again. yes thats a good point on the sitting for a while that combined with the oil. that could have contributed to the demise of the cam and bearing wear. well thats the end of that.. i decited to do a roller setup. its costly but i just cant take the thought of destroying another cam since it sits for some periods of time during the winter. and periodic start ups are a must. thanks for the gibbs info, I actually was givin a brochure on oil by a company called DRIVEN by joe gibbs. THE SITE IS www.DRIVENRACINGOIL.COM I hope this helps others not to do what happend to me.

AC-Delco is selling EOS now.
Part #88862587
Retail 26.14

After see'n a buddies Superstock car lose oil presure twice at the top end at 8000 plus rpm w/o damage to bearings, i switched to what he uses.
Pro Racing Blend Racing Concentrate.