I'm using a Piper Cam with their Solid Followers with their Double Valve Springs, but getting Cam wear problems.

The springs are 290lb.

They specified 12 Thou Clearance for the Inlet Valves and 14 Thou Clearance for the Exhaust Valves.

Within 500 Miles we are getting measurements of approximately 20-21 Thou average.

I am now on the second Cam which is totally fooked and to be honest, I have just about had enough of it. Everything has been done to the letter from assembly to running it in. I still believe that I couldn't have done it any better, but still it appears to wear. There are even signs of material having picked up on a couple of the lobes. < Real Tears.

What do I try next? I have 3 options.

1. Lower poundage on the Valve Springs.

2. Smaller Valve Clearances.

3. Altering the Cam Profile in some way.

I notice that most people specify Valve Clearances of 6-8 Thou, I'm not sure if Piper have specified larger Clearances because of some aspect of the Cam Profile. Is this likely?

Piper have got to the point where they have literally said that they dont know what to do. I am not against Newman to do a Cam, but really aren't keen on their Followers. What are RS1600i Followers like? Are they even still available?

HELP!!! (Because at this rate, my car is going to end up in bits).

 

are ur followers the adjustable/screw type?

 

No, they are Pipers Shim type and the person that is shimming them is highly experienced.

 

ok - the feriday followers are supposed to be very good, spoken to them?

 

custom titanium cam

 

Someones flush


Lend me a fiver?

 

Is this unheard of for the particular ramp profile on the cam? eg does anyone else use this cam and can a comparison be drawn?

12 and 14 thou seems a little on the large side to me, but then I dont know CVH engines/the cam tolerances.

Are there possible oil starvation issues on the top end?

As a comparison my old rusty 16V Vauxhall which had a set of non hydraulic cams in was shimmed for 10 thou inlet and exhaust had. 6000 miles later, when inspected for sale, the shim gaps were still 10 thou. 500miles is taking the piss.

Can't help re the spring poundage, who specified it?

 

The Piper Followers are the Feriday ones. Feriday designed them for Piper.

Im not sure about that.

The CVH Engine is not great when it comes to Top End lubrication, but someone must ben running Solid profiles successfully in these?

 

Ferriday uses Piper himself, specifies his own profiles and gets them to grind from blanks. A very knowledgable chap, and his stuff works but unfortunately I don't think you'll have any more joy in this direction.

I'd follow up on the point Ben has made - oil starvation. Is it always the same cam lobes showing wear? I took a good look at a CVH head once and how oil is dispersed through it. It seems ford messed it up somewhat and hardly any oil reaches the lobes of Cyl. 1, especially the exhaust. Also some of the little recessins which collect oil to drip down onto the cam are badly cast - maybe dig them out a little with a stone so they hold more oil to drip down?

It might be an idea to somehow redrill the oilways that lead to the lobes in question, try to get more flow. Another idea I've had is to build an open cam cover, which is large enough to catch any oil which would otherwise spray everywhere. Then run the engine, to see exactly what is going where. Then, you could construct some form of baffle, to splash the oil spray exactly where it is needed.

Obviously all this could be beneficial, or it could be a complete waste of time and cause you more problems...but at the expense you're going to in just replacing cams, it is probably worth a try on an old CVH scrapper.

I don't think you can get 1600i followers any more - they appear on German Ebay sometimes - mostly secon hand though.

 

Get it skimmed, they may even ask for proof!



All sorted mate, hope u get u probs sorted!

 

Are the blanks from the same company? May be a casting issue. Also, is it defo a profile for solid lifrters with the correct ramp angle?

If i were u, id get a std cam and follwoers - i can get em for 80 quid. They seem to last very well. Put one in ur engine, and run it for 500 miles, and inspect the wear. If it's not worn, u know that u have no problems with oil supply.

 

dont think oli has cam wear issue using whatever solids or cam he uses

might be worth asking tim about what oli has as ive no idea

 

ask tommy field (field motorsport)

he had some issues with my cam (custom cam/ solid lifters) but resolved them quickly


his built a few cvh with these cams so might be able to offer some advice



worth a try i guess

 

CheeRS everyone, so good info there.

for more opinions.