Hi i have a 1998 ss camaro and i have been thinking about putting in a new cam (ms4 with ls6 ported and polished heads) but that would cost me around 3 grand. but my buddy at work has said he would sell me his old cam, pushrod, and springs for threehundred and i was just wondering if it would be a bad idea to put a used cam in my car

 

I've seen a lot of people do it and have no issues at all, I haven't done it myself...but if the price is right, and it's a cam that you like...make sure it's clean and has no damage (just normal surface finish that roller lifters put on cams) and you're probably all set...if you really want, you could take it to a local shop and ask them to make sure it's ok before you put it in...

 

Just clean the cam real good with some brake cleaner and put new oil on it when you install it, and you should be fine. As long as the car that it came out of had no problems you should be straight. I just bought a used cam and that's all I'm gonna do.

 

ok thanks, do you think i should change out the cam bearings? i only have 44,000 on the car

 

The only thing that i would really be concerned about would be the pushrods and valvesprings more than i would the cam i say if it all looks in good shape go for it and i also recomend what mike454ss said take it to a shop and have them inspect it.......good luck

 

i bought a used thunder racing cam, and a used set of patriot 918's off a friend of mine and theyve been in my Z for 3 months now with no problems....definitley a less expensive way to go....

 

I would only buy used items from a trusted friend. Anything else is a crapshoot. You may get the best part in the world, or you may get fucked. How much is your time and money worth?

 

Take it somewhere and have it looked at. I would say the pushrods would be ok but I would probably just go ahead and get some new springs depending on how many miles they have on them.

 

Moved from advanced tech section.

 

Do you know the specs of the cam?
Do you know how many miles are on the springs?
Does the cam have any pitting or rust on any of the lobes?

If you can answer these questions you'll probably be OK.

 

If I were in your shoes, I wouldn't touch the cam bearings...try to find someone you know who's worked inside of engines more than you have and ask them to help you check them out when the cam comes out...but every cam I've ever swapped in an LT1 or LS1, I've always had more like 120K miles on the engine, and the cam bearings were all fine, so I always left them alone...be careful not to bang them up sliding the old cam out and the new cam in, and be careful that you go through the first one(front of the block) straight as an arrow (so you don't bind the cam up in it as that will cause damage) with the old one on the way out and with the new one on the way in, and make sure everything is IMPECCABLY clean and covered in fresh oil (same oil you plan to run the engine on) and you should be just fine.

ALWAYS clean around all the gasket surfaces and sealing edges before removing parts...lots of people do heads/cam swaps and lose the engine right away...most of the time it's because some dirt got in there somehow or another.

 

bought 2 sets of cam and springs on here in the forsale section and they both have performed flawlessly for me and my buddy........my cam and springs have been in for about 9 months now.