Camshaft failure

[Ben Kallies]

I suspect that my camshaft may be on it’s way out on my 454/365 B/S Corvette. I discovered a metallic-looking substance in the oil during the last couple of oil changes so I pulled the valve covers to have a look. A number of the rocker arms have as much as .030 clearance. Bear in mind that this is a hydraulic flat tappet cam, and the motor was running less than a week ago.
I have a couple of questions related to this: First, should I be worried about the rest of the motor in regards to wear from oil contamination? Specifically, the rod and main bearings? Secondly, aside from pulling the intake manifold and removing the lifters, are there any other good methods to verify cam failure? Thank you in advance for your help.

-Ben Kallies
3869