For those keeping up with my lobe wiping fun and games, all is well!!!

Got Ol Paint revived today with the 280/288. Did a 20 min breakin then tweeked the idle and timing. After another hour on interstate for a shakedown run I did a good inspection for leaks and put the hood back on :D .

I may take another hour or so road trip to verify things are good to go. But I'm going to change oil and filter right away and cut the filter open.If there's any metal in it I'll know there's still a problem or I didn't get things clean.

The new cam sounds the same(only different)than the 276/286 I was running. :confused: It has about the same lope but it has a little different exhaust note.

Anyway, thanks for your help guys!!!

I'll keep you posted.

whats your spring pressure on the seat this time? did you test it at the actual height?

Good Luck graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Bill

Originally posted by Motor Martyr:
whats your spring pressure on the seat this time? did you test it at the actual height? They're Crane and have 90lbs at 1.875". I couldn't get hold of a spring tester but the installed height on each and every one is well within tolerance. I did do a scientific comparison of these springs to the 145lb springs I took out with my large brass hammer. :cool: I could tap the old springs with the hammer and they barely moved, the new Crane's moved much more so I know for a fact they're weaker, and in this case that's a good thing.

90lbs on the seat???

Well, have fun and good luck.

James,glad everything worked out ok graemlins/thumbsup.gif :cool:

And you sure turned that around fast! The springs seem conservative enough.

Originally posted by 427L88:
The springs seem conservative enough. Yea, I may go up a bit on pressure later but this is a cruise in/car show ride and I'm not normally going to be turning enough rpms to worry about valve float.

BTW, since this is the third time I've been into it lately I've had plenty of practice!!! :rolleyes: I had some good help too! One of my pals(Brian Cooper, alias 57plymouth) came over and helped. Even with doing some serious rewiring and repainting under the hood the down time was minimal. :cool:

James,
I'm glad you've got Ol Paint back together and on the road again. graemlins/thumbsup.gif
Are you planning to attend the Peachstate Chevelle show in May?

James, good work on the project. I had the same exact thing happen 2 years ago, with a Lunati cam. The spring was coming right out of the bottom of one of the lifters, and another was not far behind. When I read your original post, I almost went to the garage to take a picture and post it, so you didnt feel so alone!! So good luck, glad to hear everything worked out well. Im going down to Goose Creek, SC in April to visit relatives. Are you anywhere near there? Maybe I can see Ol Paint in person!! :D Take care, John

Originally posted by BillsCamino:
James,
I'm glad you've got Ol Paint back together and on the road again. graemlins/thumbsup.gif
Are you planning to attend the Peachstate Chevelle show in May? To be honest I forgot about the Peach State show but now that you mention it I think I'll try to make it this year! I'm going to skip CB04 so that would be a good alternative in addition to the DEI show series I've made plans to attend.

James,

I'm glad to hear that you got the engine back together and this time I hope it stays together!

Happy motoring.

Got my fingers crossed for ya. You've been through a lot with this problem.

What were the test results on the lifter??

You won't have any valve float problems with those springs..I run them in my car,and I've been to 6000 rpms+ before..no valve float..and I have over 7K miles on my motor too.

Originally posted by Big James 4XL:
To be honest I forgot about the Peach State show but now that you mention it I think I'll try to make it this year! :cool: Here's the link for info...
http://www.peachstatechevelles.com/regional.html
I hope you can make it.
Anne and I will see you there. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Originally posted by gspan1830:
Got my fingers crossed for ya. You've been through a lot with this problem.

What were the test results on the lifter?? Haven't sent any to Bill yet. I've been wrenching pretty steady so I didn't have time to mail them yet. I'll get them shipped out to him early this week though!

Originally posted by Big James 4XL:
I'll get them shipped out to him early this week though! graemlins/thumbsup.gif

. . . and just in time for the good weather graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Originally posted by Eric68:
. . . and just in time for the good weather graemlins/thumbsup.gif Yea buddy!!!

There's two Japanese magnolias next door in full bloom and they are signaling the beginning of spring with a wonderful aroma!!! Sometimes you have to 'stop and smell the roses"!!!

And yes, the second shakedown run was completed without any problems!!! graemlins/beers.gif

I'll drive it to work tomorrow and then change the oil and filter and go from there.

Originally posted by Johnny O:
So good luck, glad to hear everything worked out well. Im going down to Goose Creek, SC in April to visit relatives. Are you anywhere near there? Maybe I can see Ol Paint in person!! :D Take care, John OOPS!

Forgot to answer your post Johnny!!!

I'm about an hour and a half from Goose Creek in Columbia. There's a lot going on up here the second weekend in April and the Charlotte Autofair is the first weekend in April. If you're in the area then shoot me an email and we can get together.

graemlins/thumbsup.gif

James, 90 is a lot less than 145, but what does the cam actually call for? Only 90? That doesn't really sound right for a cam that big?

Tom

I think mine are 110..

Originally posted by Tom Mobley:
James, 90 is a lot less than 145, but what does the cam actually call for? Only 90? That doesn't really sound right for a cam that big?

Tom Harold has said 100 seat is fine as well as less than 300 open. But I'm here to tell ya, with the issues I've had, I'd bee running 50 if I could get away with it!!! I came to close to trashing a pretty good running engine and I'm not going to push the envelope even a tiny bit on spring pressure.

Here's a link to info on the set I have
http://www.sdpc2000.com/cart.asp?action=prod_detail&catid=2065&pid=81637

As long as I get good performance this set of springs will stay. I'm pretty confident the cam is going to live now. I've got several trouble free hours of interstate and city driving on it and all is well. The other failures happened almost immediately.

The more I drive it the better I like it!!! Off idle acceleration and mid range throttle response is very strong. I haven't spun it up yet be maybe this weekend I will.

James, since you didn't set up the springs with a pressure tester and they're lighter than what Harold recommended I'd go real easy on the spinning it up part. Did you mention to Harold that you didn't use a pressure checker but just set them up to a height that would give 90 on the seat if everything is right? Might want to talk that over with him.

Tom

Everyone,

AFAIK. James has a BB276/286H12 with .515/.515 valve lift. We have run that cam for 20 years using STOCK BBC valve springs. They are completely adequate for most use, although I have no experience with them over 5500.
But they do work to 5500......

UDHarold

Guess that covers it, then.

Thanks for stopping by, Harold. How's that new office?

James, did you by any chance look at the cyll walls after the cam lobe dissapeared? I am curious if you had any cyll wall scoring as a result.

Also, dont get depressed if you cut your filter open and find a FEW sparkley thingies. If you do, just run it for a cople of hours and change the oil and filter again. I had this happen and it took two oil changes to get all the little "diamonds" out of the oil. Cam and motor are good now, but I had some cyll scoring from the incident. Compression is down about 5lbs because of it. :(

Originally posted by UDHarold:
Everyone,

AFAIK. James has a BB276/286H12 with .515/.515 valve lift. We have run that cam for 20 years using STOCK BBC valve springs. They are completely adequate for most use, although I have no experience with them over 5500.
But they do work to 5500......

UDHarold Update Harold!!!

I'm running the 280/288 now!

But I'm tellin ya, unless you're gonna come down to Carolina and make me put stronger springs in at gunpoint the Cranes are stayin put!!! :D The car is running great and no indication of trouble at all!!!!

Oh, BTW way Dave, I understand what you're saying and I'll take that into account.

The cylinder walls looked perfect! I could still see the hone marks in each one!