I fought with this exact situation myself, but it wasn't the back lifters. I guess this means you can even get the cam part way out? I had the same feeling myself about it being the lifter retainer because when I had some one try to remove the cam I could feel two adjacent magnets move at the same time when the obstruction was hit. This is what led me to conclude the cam must be hitting the retainer and NOT the lifters. Funny thing is I was able to get my cam out about six inches (4 lobes exposed) before I encountered the obstruction. I thought that was wierd because I figured it should hit the obstruction right away, not after I got it part way out. I still havn't found out why it only came out part way and then stopped. JMX told me he didn't think the cam was hitting the retainer because it doesn't extend down far enough which seems to make sense, but I still couldn't figure out why I could feel that bump on TWO adjacent magnets at the same time when the obstruction was hit if it wasn't the retainer being hit. I tried a bunch of things too, none of which worked. I thought maybe the weight of the lifter on the ones I could feel the cam hitting was causing the magnet to extend far enough to hit the cam lobe. I put some Crazy Glue on those magnets to keep them from extending after I installed them. That didn't help. I tried compressing the magnets after I installed them on top of the lifers to be sure they were pulled fully clear of the cam lobes as the cam was withdrawn. That didn't help either. It was only when I used the JPR tool that the cam cam out and I mean it jumped out like it knew where it was going. No resistance, no snags. I still don't know what the problem was with the magnet method, but I'm now convinced it was a lifter and NOT the retainers after the JPR tool made it so easy once I installed it, but I can't prove that. I know that's the tool is expensive, but I justified it because I was doing the work myself so I saved a lot on the labor and I have the satisfaction of knowing the job was done right because I cleaned every nut, bolt, screw and mating surface myself and tightened them all down. That way I know all the fasteners are tight and none are cross-threaded. That knowledge alone was worth the cost of the JPR tool to me.

on the way out some of them were hard to get out and all I could think about was the magnet part popping out.....

Ok Dave....Whats the new sekrit cam??? At least give me a chance to catch up first. Good luck on your new combo. I hope to be out there soon myself.

Phil

I got lucky. Couldnt find the magnets, so I just risked it. The weird thing was the lifter would stay up with the old cam. Youd have to push them down with the pushrods. After the new cam went in the lifters would not stay up. Theyd follow the cam lobes. Weird.

Long story short, none of the lifters dropped into the oil pain.

on the way out some of them were hard to get out and all I could think about was the magnet part popping out.....

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I wonder if aftermarket cams are ground on a smaller base circle thereby making the lift in the retainer too small for the retainer to catch it? So maybe the retainer-catching-lifter trick will work for only stock-sized cams.