Hi All,
This is what I was referring to earlier. You can see how the follower was missing the flank altogether and hitting on top of the lobe, where normally you will see a line right around the cam to one side.





Note: The nose radius on this profile is under the recommended nose radius for a camshaft. This also makes it very hard on the followers as it doesn't carry enough oil to lubricate.

Graham Russell

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"It's better to be not informed than ill-informed"

hey GR thats werid that the uk dont regrind cam followers, i had to do this at trade school when i was there. it was one of the first things we got taught when regrinding camshafts, where i worked we used to have to regrind all new followers before we put them into enignes.
can you find out why the uk dont

HI Norm74
I don't know why but so far every body that Keith has spoken to just said "i'll send you my followers" and you would be very surprised at the companies that are going to get him to grind followers, the problem is at the moment it is a lot easier to sell a new set than to grind up a set of old ones.
Just think how long it takes to grind a set put it in the machine start the machine grind the follower stop the machine take it out put another one in and off we go again, the price they sell new ones for it's just not worth it every body just wants to make the fast dollar and doesn't care about quality any more.
BUT YOU ONLY GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR, think about it when you buy that new cam, may be it's like here all the old school is fading away back in the 60s and 70s nearly every service station had a Repco boring bar valve facer and follower facer, to day you have trouble finding engine reco places that can grind followers as it is easier to just buy a new set.
I know Clive at Clive cams in Melbourne grinds a lot of new ones for performance engines places as does Dean Tighe up in Queensland it's a dying trade.
Graham Russell

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"It's better to be not informed than ill-informed"

Hi GR thanks for the reply. just a question about your camshafts, will clive grind your profiles or do i have to send them just to you.

i did part of my apprenticeship at repco and then at a smaller shop, mainly dealing with hi-po V8's and really old engines, we never used new lifters/followers without grinding them. so i know all about the good old Repco equpiment.

Hi Norm74
Sorry you'll have to get your cam ground from me,

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"It's better to be not informed than ill-informed"

thankyou i thought that you might have done a deal with clive to grind your profiles, but now i know what i have to do when i need a cam ground

OK fellas the problem is this - the plant that used to make the genuine followers for Rover and the ones MSC used to sell went out of business many years back now (Clancey's Limited). The tooling all got sold off or scrapped. There are no quality followers made in the UK now for push-rod engines. They are all made abroad by companies that do not have the technical capability, no-how, or machinery to make them to original spec. The followers they make are generally good except for the most important part - the follower face profile. This is not Mini Spares Centres fault as such - they are supplied followers from the importer. The importer and manufacturer have been told time and again what the problem is, with no solution, and more importantly no admission to the problem. So Graham (Russell) and I have taken steps to offer the beleaugured A-series users a real answer to the problem.

Cam manufacturers in the UK are no better than the follower manufacturers when it comes to decyphering cam/follower damage/failure. They just point the finger at each other to no benefit or solution to the users (us). The manufacturers are not interested because they sell the followers anyway. They are not looking to invest money in tooling or machinery to do it - even if they actually understood what the problem is. Since we need followers to be able to run the engines, a solution is needed. Graham and I now have that solution.

So with old out of production followers, when the cam grinders offer a reface to followers ( since no new ones are available), do good cam shops radius the face?

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Have a Nice Day.
If already having a nice day please disregard.

GR asked me to post the following extract from the Repco Engine Service Manual (published 1972) which explains the relationship between the cam lobe and cam follower surfaces in simple terms. I'll leave it to GR to elaborate further if he wishes.

P.S. I think there is a typo in the description under para B. I assume it should read 'flat end on the cam follower' rather than 'flat end on the tappet'.

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ex-NSW Police 1970 MK II Cooper S
VMCI #43

@winabbey,
Tappet is an olde skoole word for cam follower (aka lifter).

The term `adjusting the tappets' came into vogue with SV engines of yesteryear. The adjuster was in top of the `cam follower" and pushed the valves open.

ps.
I also used to work in the engine reco business- at `Acra Bores' in Sydney. Back in the '60s.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

_________________
Have a Nice Day.
If already having a nice day please disregard.

Yes, that's why I missed the 'error' first time I read it. Perhaps I'm being pedantic but I feel the article deserves some consistency in the use of the various terms. To change from cam follower to tappet mid-paragraph doesn't seem right.


Wow, I didn't realise I knew someone famous. Does that mean you should sign my copy of the book, David?

I agree it's a straight forward, easy to read technical book that covers the basics (and more) in its two sections - Engine Design Considerations and Engine Service Practice. For those wanting to buy a copy you can search on the ISBN - 0 909638 00 4, but don't expect it to be cheap. There's a couple of copies available via Biblioz at up to $200.

P.S. There's a nice picture or two of the Repco Brabham F1 engine in it.

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ex-NSW Police 1970 MK II Cooper S
VMCI #43

850man
If it such a well known problem with the lifters and easy to fix the problem how come you have not said any thing about it and just let people put rubbish lifters in their motors? I've been grinding lifters for a long time but the problem is getting worse now and it's time some body said some thing about it that's why I had the photos posted so people could see what is going on, I've been telling Keith about it for a long time but nobody wanted to know anything about it that's why I got him a facer so he can do some thing about the problem over there.
Are you SURE you've been taking your lifters to Clive? Clive bought all Wades masters the good cam grinder and their cam follower facer.
Graham Russell

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"It's better to be not informed than ill-informed"

HI Doug
What about putting up pages 136/138/139 good information there.
Graham russell

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"It's better to be not informed than ill-informed"