Cam Followers - Basket Case and Not Marked

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SEd27

SEd27

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My 1971 was purchased as a true basket case. As such, many of the parts weren’t marked or tagged well (if at all).

My cam appears to be in good condition and am considering reusing. The problem is the cam followers weren’t labeled and I have no idea which side they belong, to or what pair out of the four go together.

The upper portion of the followers has a bit of mild pitting but the stellite pads look to be in good shape.

Is there my method for discerning what goes where or will I need to match as best as possible and have the followers reground?
 
If the motor is going to be fully rebuilt then new followers be my choice, they are expensive little buggers but, but if the old ones are good I be fitting and try to match the wear marks with the bores as best as I can, all depend how much money you want to spend, I have 4 sets of old and very good condition followers in my shed that I bought cheaply over the years from Ebay and swap meets and I have a jig for regrinding on a surface grinder which I made to do my Norton original followers.
 
The only advice I could give is to make sure the bevelled edges are at the front - they "channel" oil from the head down onto the backward rotating cam lobes and provide the majority of lubrication to them.
 
You would want to be sitting down if you price a new set of followers (from either AN or JC) (then a new camshaft to go with them)

If the camshaft is OK (lobes and journals) it might be easier to get the followers refaced if they have any form of furrow across the face.

Perhaps a catch with marks on them is, excessive marks on the follower cross over to the condition of the follower tunnels in the cylinder (possible galling) unless it is polished area's or staining.

Or you could look closely to match a pair then with the cylinder follower tunnels clean and dry find a set/pair that both slide nicely when in place especially on used parts unless you want to break out the measuring gear for tunnel ID and follower pair OD to confirm the installed clearance.
 
SEd27 said:
My 1971 was purchased as a true basket case. As such, many of the parts weren’t marked or tagged well (if at all).

My cam appears to be in good condition and am considering reusing. The problem is the cam followers weren’t labeled and I have no idea which side they belong, to or what pair out of the four go together.

The upper portion of the followers has a bit of mild pitting but the stellite pads look to be in good shape.

Is there my method for discerning what goes where or will I need to match as best as possible and have the followers reground?
Click to expand...
New probably make sense, but you certainly could figure out the best by trial and error.

Clean them well and the holes they go into as well. Coat with oil (lighter is better). Choose a pair and try them in one of the holes (with the separator installed). They must move easily with no slop. By pair I mean two that have the bevel next to each other and installed towards the front of the engine - there are very few combinations that match this!

If the pitting is in the cups - they are not usable IMHO. Pitting around the cups makes no difference IMHO.
 
I'd put them in as stated above
And get them re faced
Don't forget on first start up to keep the revs high to save cam damage
 
I hear today AN is very soon offering low noise lifters for sale as a new product.
JS Motorsports BSA type lifters are another option to consider .
Either way I would contact AN for release date and details.
Jim Schmidt too as per his website.

If you choose to refit the original lifters , you have the obvious (to me ) effort of fitting each one in their bores /casting areas and swapping them about ...
with the goal to find the least slop / tightest fit that works well without any chance of any tight hang ups.
4 x 4 = 16 attempts to mate and match ? Maybe more , mathematical.
Good luck on the 3 choices.
 
Torontonian said:
4 x 4 = 16 attempts to mate and match ? Maybe more , mathematical.
Click to expand...
I almost said that there were four to the second (16) combinations but caught myself. Since the bevels have to go forward and next to other, it is much less - glad it was you and not me. :) Hopefully, my math is correct and there are four combinations or someone will give me what I deserve for bringing math into it and picking on you :)
 
Torontonian said:
I hear today AN is very soon offering low noise lifters for sale as a new product.
JS Motorsports BSA type lifters are another option to consider .
Either way I would contact AN for release date and details.
Jim Schmidt too as per his website.

If you choose to refit the original lifters , you have the obvious (to me ) effort of fitting each one in their bores /casting areas and swapping them about ...
with the goal to find the least slop / tightest fit that works well without any chance of any tight hang ups.
4 x 4 = 16 attempts to mate and match ? Maybe more , mathematical.
Good luck on the 3 choices.
Click to expand...
Only 8 possibilities as there are only 2 LH lifters and 2 RH - they are handed due to the bevel.
So... four combos for each tunnel
 




Thanks for all the replies. Upon closer, look there galling is more more pronounced (See attached pics).

I hate to say it, but the previous owner “cleaned up“ a lot of parts with a wire wheel and the followers might have succumbed to this fate (my pushrods did and had to be replaced).

The cups appear to be decent shape, but there are is a wear line on the bottom of the pads.

I’ve priced the Andover units and thankfully I was sitting down. Might have to go that route for piece of mind.
 
SEd27 said:




Thanks for all the replies. Upon closer, look there galling is more more pronounced (See attached pics).

I hate to say it, but the previous owner “cleaned up“ a lot of parts with a wire wheel and the followers might have succumbed to this fate (my pushrods did and had to be replaced).

The cups appear to be decent shape, but there are is a wear line on the bottom of the pads.

I’ve priced the Andover units and thankfully I was sitting down. Might have to go that route for piece of mind.
Click to expand...

Like I said , explore the new possibilities.
 
Take a look at the follower on the left in that auction and the gap between the body and pad.

As long as the body is not severely galled the ones you have can be cleaned up and refaced.

Fitment is not a major shuffle, a follower can go in one pair or the other (the bevel dictates that) that pair in one tunnel or the other that gives equal sliding fit (clearance)
It might make no difference, it might be noticeable.

If they are refaced they could be used on that good used cam if that is the case (unless you are doing a no expense rebuild)
 
SEd27 said:




Thanks for all the replies. Upon closer, look there galling is more more pronounced (See attached pics).

I hate to say it, but the previous owner “cleaned up“ a lot of parts with a wire wheel and the followers might have succumbed to this fate (my pushrods did and had to be replaced).

The cups appear to be decent shape, but there are is a wear line on the bottom of the pads.

I’ve priced the Andover units and thankfully I was sitting down. Might have to go that route for piece of mind.
Click to expand...

I would tend to agree, the sides are not clean / smooth (actually looks like cleaned up rust damage to me) and that is the bearing surface that slides up and down in the follower tunnel.

I would therefore also check your tunnels. If they are marked and / or rusted badly, they may make short work of your new lifters!

If your tunnels are damaged, oversized lifters are available from some sources, but boring them out is a specialist job. Alternatively, that’s when the JS kit makes sense as his lifters run in bronze lifter blocks that are held in place in the tunnels.
 
For the uninitiated, I see the marking FE referred to, but is there anything wrong with the cups?

If the tunnels are smooth does the marking on the side of the lifter matter, provided they move without fouling the tunnel or any slop?
 
Mart UK said:
If the tunnels are smooth does the marking on the side of the lifter matter, provided they move without fouling the tunnel or any slop?
Click to expand...
It will most likely run fine. But it is a bearing surface, so I suggest that lifters with sides like that will accelerate wear on the tunnel if used.
 
Fast Eddie said:
It will most likely run fine. But it is a bearing surface, so I suggest that lifters with sides like that will accelerate wear on the tunnel if used.
Click to expand...
Then maybe not and maybe they will work fine for many years without problem, but then who knows, its luck of the draw.
 
The eBay listing has 30-day return and a set of four is approx. $188 USD delivered to the US probably less to Canada). A new set from AN is over $610 USD plus shipping. They are going into used barrels. Seems like a worth a shot to me. Alternatively, could by the + .020 set some sell and have the barrels bored o fit them - now we're probably over $1500 USD.
 
SEd27 said:




Thanks for all the replies. Upon closer, look there galling is more more pronounced (See attached pics).

I hate to say it, but the previous owner “cleaned up“ a lot of parts with a wire wheel and the followers might have succumbed to this fate (my pushrods did and had to be replaced).

The cups appear to be decent shape, but there are is a wear line on the bottom of the pads.

I’ve priced the Andover units and thankfully I was sitting down. Might have to go that route for piece of mind.
Click to expand...

Mine were pretty galled, (from a layman head gasket job dropping sand into the pushrod tunnels, I think) I polished with machinists stone the O.D. of the lifters, and used crocus cloth on the bores. They ran reliably for 25,000 miles (and were still just fine). JMWO
Be aware, there was a problem with "soft" stellite pads on some recent replacements. Get solid assurance the parts you buy are NOT them, if you buy "new".
 
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