New Cam wiped lobe...not happy :/

[LeonV]

Ok, Maybe that was a dumb question. I'm still a newb in the engine building world. I'm going to assume its internally oiled and grindable. thought maybe having the holes on the lobes would cause issues with grinding.

Anyway, I would like some advice or opinions, I've been planning on doing an NA rebuild to get close to 200 whp. I don't have much of a budget so I am trying to piece it together slowly and still drive it.

Right now there is an e88 head with a 300f schneider cam available....its competition grade and I'm really tempted to buy it instead of getting a core and sending it for a regrind.

Good idea? Bad idea?

Bad idea.

"Low budget" and "200hp" don't mix well with the L-series. Don't expect that you can slap together a few "competition grade" parts and call it good. In fact, it very well may perform worse than stock.

An "F" cam comes from a P79 head (280ZX), thus it is internally oiled.

Source: http://atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/cam/index.htm

The e-88 is a good head and has great potential. The 300f is a big cam and you will have to consider other problems like valve to head clearance.

I think all original Nissan cams are oiled via the spraybar, so if it's a Schneider cam, then it is internally oiled and probably made off of a virgin core

Incorrect. Nissan cams are externally oiled up to '77, when they switched to internal oiling.

[madkaw]

Thankyou for correcting me Leon.

[Co0kieduster]

I say limited budget because, until summer when I start working my second job, as I'm a teacher, I can only buy bits and pieces. I just want to plan ahead. I've already got a list of things I want. I will be doing all of the assembly myself with help from an experenced mechanic friend who is only vaguely familiar with the Z's

It will probably take me a few years to get where I want, maybe more, but this is my project that I spend all my free time on and enjoy very much.

I might be diving around in an unfinished underpowered, awesome looking z for awhile but eventually i'll get there.

I'm just trying to decide if its more cost effective to buy the $20 core camshaft get it reground($100), get springs($100), lash pads($100) and retainers($75)plus shipping....all assuming my head is ok.

or spend $450 on a head with a schneider that comes with everything and a refreshed e88 head. leaning towards the latter being a better deal

The final price is soo close I don't know how to decide!

[Bonzi Lon]

If you do get an internally oiled cam, you will need to get block off plates for the cam towers where the spray bar attached. (IIRC), There should be a threaded plug in the back of said cam. Some have used the spray bar with the internally oiled cam, I can't remember the reason, insurance, peace of mind or OCD.

Bonzi Lon

[steve91tt]

Do you know why the spay bar plugged off? I understand why they crack with age but I don't see why they would plug off. I'd hate to see you put a new internally oiled cam in there and find that what ever is plugging your cam oiler causes you to loose a bearing. Have you had the engine apart? When I pulled my L24 apart I found a surprise...

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?40193-The-PO-gave-me-wood&highlight=owner+wood

Not to say that I expect you to have wood in you motor but if you are plugging oil passages you might give some thought to dropping the pan to try to find the cause.

Just my $0.02

[Co0kieduster]

I've had the oil pan off and the front cover. All was cleaned when I reasembled. Tempted to take the head off just for piece of mind.

Is it possible that the grease I put in the oil pump to get it to prime was thick enough clog the oiler bar?

I just don't know if I can trust the oiler bar now....well, either way, I'll probably be pulling the cover off everytime I drive for months till i'm absolutely certain it's getting oiled.

[Zed Head]

In #6 you said the bar was still plugged. Can you dig out what ever is in there? Might be informative.

The holes on an internally oiled cam shaft are just as likely to get plugged, I believe. Pretty sure I read an account on another forum about a plugged internally oiled cam shaft causing some destruction.

[Co0kieduster]

I already cleaned it. Had to poke a needle in the hole, just looked like gunk, black and grainy, sprayed the bar out with some carb cleaner. now all the holes seem fine. Hard to say where the gunk came from. I'm thinking dirt? And a big enough grain of it to stick in the hole. Wonder if it was still in the oiler bar after my initial cleaning and was broken up over time by the fresh supply of oil pressure. I ran two full cans of carb cleaner through it when I initially cleaned it, but there's no real way to get to stuff thats really stuck when you can't scrape it. I'm guessing whoever sold it to me had it sitting around for a loooong time, maybe his kid played with it in the sand box. gotta love ebay :/

would cleaning the engine out with seafoam or a similar product be helpful?

[steve91tt]

I'm not sure I would want to add seafoam to the oil system. If the material that plugged your spray bar is sand or similar then the oil additive might knock more of it loose. In theory, the oil filter should catch all of the solids from the pan so if there is anything that will get caught in the head cam oilers it has to come from the oil passages in the block or head. I'll bet you had residual junk in the spray bar that you did not catch with your carb cleaner.

[Co0kieduster]

Well, I've found an internally oiled core, Now I just need to decide on a good grind and get her up and running.

[Zed Head]

Check the restriction in the block for blockage. Maybe you have low flow/pressure to the head.

[Lazeum]

You're not going to like my story

I had basically the same failure mode on my head (port & polished with Rebello cam).

You should check first if all the rockers are shot with black burnt oil to control if the issue is isolated to cam lobe #1 or not.

On my engine, I found burrs in the pan from the cam. So I checked oil pump and it was shot (the root cause on my engine). You should disassemble yours and check it also.

If the issue happened once then you've changed the cam and it happened again then the answer is quite simple: you haven't found the root cause yet. Changing cam again is having a very rate of failure again.

To finish my story, I've torn the whole engine apart, crank was damaged and all bearings had to be changed, since metal chips went everywhere. I also had to clean the block, meaning I had to remove the oil plugs on the block and give a real good clean up. If you want to fix the issue, you should do it right, now.

This is what I've done and for 1,5 year the car is in the garage; I grab the "while I'm in it" syndrome, I've restored the whole suspension and steering waiting for funds for the engine.

Good luck

Edited December 8, 2011 by Lazeum