reusing a cam

[snotrocket71]

hey, so i was thinking of reusing a camshaft, its a crane hmv 272-2, i figure it may be decent with the vortec heads on my 400 (the cam was in the motor, i tore it down and some of the lifters were SLIGHTLY mushroomed but the cam lobes looked ok, as did the distributor gear. my concern is the fact that on all of the lobes there is brown streaking that goes up aproximately 3/4 the way up each lobe. is this a serious issue? normal safe wear? or am i just being nutty? where the cam rests on the bearings looks like new. i plan on new lifters regardless of how i go (i already have lunati lifters) if neccessary i can take some pictures if my description aint cutting it. thank you all very much -Josh

 

[76zimmer]

slightly mushroomed? like you had trouble getting them out of their bores?
Not sure about the brown streak you talk of, if its a galling of the lobe surface, trash it...its not long for wear.
If the lobe surface is shiny, find the lobe measurements from Crane and measure them now, if its worn more than a couple thou, I would replace.

 

[79rustyk10]

Flat tappet cams are cheap enough. Dont risk it, go new.

Or better yet, go roller. More $$$$ but better in every way.

 

[4X4HIGH]

hey, so i was thinking of reusing a camshaft, its a crane hmv 272-2, i figure it may be decent with the vortec heads on my 400 (the cam was in the motor, i tore it down and some of the lifters were SLIGHTLY mushroomed but the cam lobes looked ok, as did the distributor gear. my concern is the fact that on all of the lobes there is brown streaking that goes up aproximately 3/4 the way up each lobe. is this a serious issue? normal safe wear? or am i just being nutty? where the cam rests on the bearings looks like new. i plan on new lifters regardless of how i go (i already have lunati lifters) if neccessary i can take some pictures if my description aint cutting it. thank you all very much -Josh

If the lifters are mushroomed the lobes they were riding on are also toast whether or not you can visually tell yourself.

 

[susanexpress1]

hello

thank you for your useful information.

 

[snotrocket71]

thanks guys i really appreciate the help, i figured i could try and be a cheap bastid but oh well... new cam it is