Is it feasible to metal spray a cam?

[Greg Barsamian]

Associated Electro Mechanics (AEM)
185 Rowland St.
Springfield MA. 01107
(800) 288-4276
Welding, Metal Spraying, Plating and more
www.aemservices.com
e-mail: info@aemservices.com

[Tom Goldman]

Chris,thats similar to what the NASCAR Cup cars used to do to their cams.
They used welded inlays on the lobes to obtain a harder surface.

[Phillip marvetz]

Originally Posted by bill dedman

Well, Phillip, I called Comp Cams and talked to a tech there named "Buggy."

Here's what he said: " I don't know where Phillip got a roller cam for a /6, but we don't grind one. We have NO blanks for a /6 roller motor. If you send us a blank, maybe we could grind you one, but we have no source for a roller blank for that motor."

So, maybe somebody ELSE ground that iron roller cam for you????

Curious minds want to know....

The cam I have is for a 360 but it is a comp part#20-742-9, serial #ul1669-04, grind #crsxr274r-10. I talked to Tim Cole when I took it out of the box and saw it was not a billet core and he told me some of the street rollers were done this way. Based on this they should be able to grind you a cam from a standard iron blank. I know for a fact they have slant six cores because they have made me a couple for the stocker..

[bill dedman]

Originally Posted by Phillip marvetz

The cam I have is for a 360 but it is a comp part#20-742-9, serial #ul1669-04, grind #crsxr274r-10. I talked to Tim Cole when I took it out of the box and saw it was not a billet core and he told me some of the street rollers were done this way. Based on this they should be able to grind you a cam from a standard iron blank. I know for a fact they have slant six cores because they have made me a couple for the stocker..

Phillip, they have cores, but a roller requires a fatter lobr profile and apparently, there's just not sufficient material for the required lobe profile that would be needed for the roller.

At least, that's the way I understand it.

The slant six cores he has at Comp are for a flat tappet cam.

Am I wrong?

[Phillip marvetz]

Originally Posted by bill dedman

Phillip, they have cores, but a roller requires a fatter lobr profile and apparently, there's just not sufficient material for the required lobe profile that would be needed for the roller.

At least, that's the way I understand it.

The slant six cores he has at Comp are for a flat tappet cam.

"Am I wrong?"

Yes

[bill dedman]

Originally Posted by Phillip marvetz

Yes

Can you elaborate?

I was told that by a tech at Comp whose name is "Buggy."

He was very specific that none of Comp's cores would work for a roller profile in a slant 6.

If I'm wrong, then he's wrong.

Where do I go from here?

[Dwight Southerland]

Bill -

If you are working on the turbo slant 6 project, it might be that the effort ($$ & time) spent trying to put a roller cam and lifters into the motor would not have enough ROI to be worth it. I do not believe that there is enough power to be gained above 6000 rpm or so to warrant the roller setup. The slant 6 valve train is light enough to be controlled with available valve springs at that engine speed. Remember that a flat tappet arrangement has the design characteristic to have much faster off the ramp acceleration and faster ramp action under .150" lifter rise than a roller cam and that is a great benefit to the performance of a boosted engine. I would spend more energy on camshaft profile for a flat tappet cam than get anal about a roller lifter moving the valves. I bet there wouldn't be a 2% difference in power output after five years of thrashing between a flat tappet engine and a roller tappet engine. IMHO

The cylinder head flow is your biggest limitation on that combination.