Cam roller or flat tappet

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I have a 66 new Yorker 440 motor. Just had motor rebuilt put a Mopar purple cam flat tappet in it heard it run at the engine builder. We put it in car started it heard a lifter tapping thought it would pump up never did. We took valve cover off and found out cam was wiped out in two spots. Been hearing that flat tappet are having a lot of problems right now. A couple people recommend to upgrade to roller lifters looking for suggestions. Scared if I put same cam shaft in it could screw up again. Thanks for any suggestions or experience with this issue.
 
Flat tappet is fine as long as you get it broke in correctly.

That being said roller is so much better but you usually need a much stiffer spring.
 
A hydraulic roller would be a good choice. Quite expensive for the whole set up to make it work though. Something for you to check out. You can run regular oil without zinc though.
 
The quality of the roller kits is sometimes suspect as is the quality of some after market flat tappets. Cross linked rollers (Comp Cams) have an annoying habit of breaking the cross links. This turns the roller sideways and wipes the cam instantly. Back to square one. A lot of the flat tappet cams are also made in China and have a lot of quality control issues. I would find a US manufactured flat tappet and go with that. You do need to run the high zinc oil with any flat tappet. Modern oils do not have much zinc in them unless you go with a diesel service rated oil (15-40 all fleet). If the engine had low zinc oil in it during the break in, that is probably what wiped the cam.

Dave
 
Kind of sounds iike the builder did not correctly put "cam lobe lube" on the cam at the time of installation. Or they did, but being a liquid rather than a moly paste, it might have dripped off over night, or similar. But you DID hear and see it run after they got done? In ANY event, contact the builder for their thoughts on things.

Key things: -- the lifters come from the same company as the camshaft, so the cam company's warranty works as it should. Lifters from another company, no dice.
-- All camshafts have some level of "Parkerizing" (metal hardness treatment) to help them last a long time, but as long as most motor oils had enough zddp in them, no problem, usually, as long as the cam break-in procedures were followed. Seems like Comp Cams used to have an option for an extra level of Parkerizing a few years ago. ALL Cam companies now usually sell their own oil treatments for added zddp.
-- Once the engine initially fires, it has to run for a full 30 minutes at 2000rpm for the cam lobes to get engine oil right off the bat, slung from the crankshafrt as there is no other "direct" oiling of the cam lobes via pressure lube (as the cam bearings). This is specific to flat tappet cams, but can also be good for roller-lifter cams, too. UNTIL that happens, the initial cam lobe assy lube is what lubes the lobes and lifter bottoms.
-- What springs were on the cam? Stock single springs or "dual springs"? Cam break-in should usually be done only with the outer sprinigs rather than the outer springs and inner dampers. Once the cam is broken in, THEN the inner springs can be added. This lets the initial break-in period happen with less total spring pressure.

There's a thread in here which illustrates what happens when the divider-bar rollet lifters have a divider bar related failure. On a RECENTLY built motor.

A flat tappet cam, when correctly broken-in, can last a very long time. Not many really "street" roller cams, by observation.

Used to be that for Mopar Perf items, the local Chrysler dealership's service department would be the ones to approve or disapprove any related warranty claims. Not sure how that might work now, so read that information online or in the literature which might have come with the particular camshaft.

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67
 
There has been so many issues with Comp cam's and lifters I personally would steer clear. Lunati is a good brand that grinds cams specifically for Mopar.
 
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-- What springs were on the cam? Stock single springs or "dual springs"? Cam break-in should usually be done only with the outer sprinigs rather than the outer springs and inner dampers. Once the cam is broken in, THEN the inner springs can be added. This lets the initial break-in period happen with less total spring pressure.


Just some thoughts,
CBODY67
I agree the last time I broke in a camshaft we used the original stock springs then switched to the springs that match the cam.

This started to be a big issue in the early 2000. I had a coworker that wiped out 3 cams in his 454.
 
I have a 66 new Yorker 440 motor. Just had motor rebuilt put a Mopar purple cam flat tappet in it heard it run at the engine builder. We put it in car started it heard a lifter tapping thought it would pump up never did. We took valve cover off and found out cam was wiped out in two spots. Been hearing that flat tappet are having a lot of problems right now. A couple people recommend to upgrade to roller lifters looking for suggestions. Scared if I put same cam shaft in it could screw up again. Thanks for any suggestions or experience with this issue.
Contact Hughes Engines.
Their flat tappet cams have always been excellent for me.
You do need to install their valve springs for their guarantee to be effective.
 
i think roller is the way to go . have heard good things about them for a few years now
 
Roller, but use only genuine johnson roller lifters. Trust me, i learned a painful lesson with morrel and comp roller lifters.
 
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