850 camshaft pitting, repairable or not!

Hi all,

I have a 850 camshaft which is pitted. are there any allowable limits for pitting on the lobes????.
The pitting is on one of the camshaft lobes at maximum. also there is pitting on the follower that it is mated too.

Can the norton 850 cam be resurfaced and hardened by a specialist, or is it just a better idea and more economical just to replace it with a new cam and followers?

Thanks for all advice.

Brewer.

I realize they are a long way from you, but http://webcamshafts.com/ will get the job done. Keep in mind tappets (lifters) need to be replaced or resurfaced when replacing a cam. You might look upon this as an opportunity to select a hotter cam.

Hi Brewer,

You need to speak to this bloke - Kelvin Mears in Vic Park. He's got the info and parts and who does what. Call him on 0417 772 7474

Cheers,
Mick

Brewer

the 850 cam is a dilemma;
on the one hand you can get someone to weld up the damaged lobe and regrind it, usually with mixed results and depending on the person or company doing the work. You now have a cam with one good lobe but what about the other 3? Ok now you can have the other 3 welded up and reground but again it depends on the compny doing the job and if you look at the cost it is not cheap. Some of the pitfalls of welding up a cam are heat warpage and lobes ground out of timing with the others. thats why the good companies doing this are not cheap.
If you have a stock or nearly stock engine and do not plan on doing a lot of performance mods I would opt for a new cam from one of the Norton parts suppliers and for the 850 sticking to the stock grind will be a wise choice. the 850 got its performance from the extra cc's over the 750 and the stock cam gives nice low end torque.
In any case get the followers refaced.
Good luck mate,
Scooter