>Is it ok to reuse old cam followers. I am rebuilding my engine and
>replacing the stock cam with a mild street cam. I am obtaining a used set
>of followers (lifters) from a friend. He said that if you polish them with
>glass you can reuse them like this, same with push rods. What is the
>consensus of the list. While I would love to buy hardened lifters and alloy
>pushrods along with double valve springs, I am running out of money
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This comes up from time to time, and the answer is always - NEVER, NEVER,
NEVER, use old or used lifters on a new camshaft. Your friend is mistaken
and giving you advice that could be very costly. For that matter, never
use ANY used lifters unless (AND THIS IS THE ONLY EXCEPTION) they are in
excellent condition, and each lifter will be replaced in exactly the SAME
bore for the lobe of the camshaft that it was ORIGINALLY riding on.
Camshaft lifters, tappets, whatever you want to call them, are NOT flat on
the bottom as many people assume. Lifters are actually ground with a VERY
slight crown on the lobe contacting surface, and are designed so that when
run in properly they "mate" with the lobe that it rides on. Using an old
lifter is inviting disaster! While in *some* cases where someone used
already used lifters on a new cam, it might not have resulted in disaster.
It WILL have definitely shortened the life of the cam. In the worse case,
it will destroy the cam and lifter(s), which will require replacement of
both, and with a higher profile cam and stiffer springs, the loading is
vastly increased - It's your choice, time, effort, and your money -
Barry Schwartz (San Diego) bschwart@pacbell.net
72 PI, V6 Spitfire (daily driver)
70 GT6+ (when I don't drive the Spit)
70 Spitfire (long term project)
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