Hi Simon,
When you took the lifters (cam followers) out did you arrange them
such that you could put them back on the lobes they came off of? If
not, reusing the cam becomes a more iffy proposition. There's a wear
pattern involved. Each lifter becomes wedded to the lobe it ran on.
The cam and lifters will last longer when re-used if they're remated
upon reassembly.
Now, how bad is the pitting? Are the associated lifters discernably
pitted too? Are all the lifter bottoms still convex? Do the high
points of all the cam lobes have a run-over look on the edges? If the
answer to these questions is yes, replace the cam and lifters. It's a
judgment call.
A reground cam can be a good investment. Sometimes not. When I was
rebuilding my engine, I ran into a situation where I could buy a new cam
from a reputable dealer for what it would cost for a reground cam, when
all the shipping and core charges were taken into account. Also, no
matter who sells you the reground cam, you're at the mercy of the cam
regrinder and you don't know who that is. When in doubt and the cost is
only a few bucks different, my advice is to buy a new cam. Also, always
buy new lifters for a new or reground cam.
Hope this helps,
CR
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