Alpha Male

Well, the goat is being presently torn apart. Was coming up to a stop light when the car started idling funny. 2 seconds later, a terrible screech was heard. I turned the car off immediately, and rolled her into an adjacent parking lot. From then, she was only started to vid the noise to send off the guy that built the car, and to get the car onto the trailer. The 6th lifter back on the passenger side decided the middle of his shift was a good time to quit, and collapsed onto my cam. Chewed up the cam, scarred up the lifter bore, and while it was doing this, we assume it was vibrating things and throwing off the geometry or something, leading to the trunnion bearing failure, possibly allowing the rockers to get far enough out or their normal swing that it mushroomed some valves. Cam is definitely trashed, as well as the single lifter bore, so the cam is getting replaced. Havent exactly decided on what cam to throw back in there. May go with the same custom specced one, or might go with one off the shelf, as when we throw it back together, it might have ported heads. Short block is presently being pulled to machine and sleeve the one lifter bore. Hoping nothing dropped into the crankcase and threw out the main bearings too.

Fortunately, I'm lucky that one of my best friends is a mechanic, and I have access to his knowledge, expertise, and shop.
Also, the trailer we used is my family's, so thank God I didnt have to drive it home or anything. lol

The QUESTION is.... What was the root cause? Just a lifter going bad, as it was the stock lifters on a .614 lift cam? or could it have been worn out valve springs that took the load off the lifter and allowed it to float some? I'm piecing it back together, but I want to make sure I have all my basis covered, as this isnt a project I want to undertake again.

Pics and Vids may follow here in a bit.

Alpha Male

Not sure why this double posted, but this should be the actual post.

badazz81z28

iTrader: (6)

Heck, with pics, we can guess.

Who knows...maybe it didn't collapse and the lifter rotated in the tray or like you said, the spring allowed the lifter to bounce. The trunnion failing could have been the culprit. All you can do know if throw the best parts you can afford on it and hope for the best, but even the best parts can and do fail.

DietCoke

iTrader: (18)

I'd almost bet the trunion failed first, causing the lifter problem.

Alpha Male

Well, 3 trunnions failed, and the other 2 looked fine? Do you just think the first trunnion died far enough ago that it fucked the lifter?

87silverbullet

iTrader: (11)

Had the same thing happen on an LS1. The roller on the lifter seized up first on the cam. The needle bearings in the roller just weren't up to the task. The roller proceeded to work its way loose and the roller shaft started to come out. The roller dropped in the pan and the 2 pieces where the roller sits, gouged the **** out of the cam and then turned in the lifter tray. After I saw that, I vowed to never use a tray style lifter again. Link bar lifters are more plentiful now and they have come down on price that its a no-brainer now to go with them.

Alpha Male

I did enjoy finding out that one of the head bolts wasnt tight, and almost all of the bolts on pan below the intake manifold were loose.

Heads have never been off the car before... so I cant figure out why not all the bolts were all tightened down

Alpha Male

Does anyone know the turn around on a custom Pat G cam?
I can do the 48hr turn around on specs payment, but once I send it off to Comp, whats the turn around?

sreve

iTrader: (3)

Took about a week for Comp to get my Tick cam to me.
I'm in Mo. also.

Alpha Male

Nice. Are you in the STL area?


Has anyone dealt with Doug Herbert?? I now plan on just having the same cam cut, and rebuilding the heads i have. I was told Doug Herbert knows his stuff, and I could give him the cam specs from my last cam and he could cut it.

Alpha Male

Thought I would clarify as well. I suppose its not that the lifter collapsed. The lifter's roller had the bearing go out, and it dropped the whole lifter (bearing and support) onto the cam.

anthony.fatica

iTrader: (10)

From the time I placed my order with speed inc. to the day the cam arrived was less than a week for a custom grind from comp (about 2 weeks ago)...pat g has been speccing eps cams though, and I believe they are a little more back up from what I've heard, not positive on that though.

litle88

iTrader: (20)

Ed Curtis from Flowtech and Brian Tooley can spec you out some good bump sticks. Call them and see what are their time frames bud.

Alpha Male

Question: is it advisable to replace the timing chain, as well? I currently have a C5-R chain, and supposedly they are bulletproof. Can I reuse the same one? Or should it be replaced?

Going with Lunati High RPM link-bar lifters. The other link-bar types list as being maxed around 6500-6700 rpm, and for forward looking purposes, I plan on going with the higher dollar stuff. Also going to do ARP Rod Bolts, new crank bearings, new cam bearings. New cam was ordered from comp, got the same cam recut because I was pretty pleased with it before. New Scorpion Roller rockers, new melling hi-pressure oil pump, new PRC .675 springs. Full new gasket set, PRC Stg 2.5 heads, and a driveshaft loop so I can run at the track. Also picked up a scangauge and wideband, so I can watch the vitals and hopefully see an oil pressure drop next time, assuming I had an oiling issue before.