• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Going to replace the cam IN-CAR tomorrow on the Road Runner.

Well spent the better part of today waiting on a tow truck to get the car to my house. I now have the cam out and all of the lifters but the exhaust lifter on number 8 is bad as well as that one lobe on the cam. Everything else looks like normal wear to me. No cupping or mangled lifters they all look useable. The first picture is the rear most lobe and then the lifter.

A8BDF648-25F3-48DF-B10A-281ECB169185.jpeg EC24A499-7596-4782-A882-FC037A705D72.jpeg E4058D3D-1438-41A2-836A-2D44E83E69B1.jpeg
 
Last edited:
1 Wild R/T said:
Cut the oil filter open....
Click to expand...
Will do. I didn't think about that. I have to drain the brand new oil anyhow. Sucks I changed the oil thinking it would help. I bet this oil has 1/4 mile on it lol.
 
Last edited:
Now to figure out WHY only one lifter failed. I guess it stuck pumped up. Perhaps I should tear it apart and see if anything internal looks messed up.
 
One lifter failed cause you didn't run it long enough for more to fail....

When going back together verify that the lifter spins....

Thing is the metal from that lobe went somewhere... I've seen it embedded into piston skirts, stuck in rocker shafts, or just in the oil pan.... Some get lucky and have no damage, some lose the whole engine....

High mileage engines seem to not get damaged as much cause they have looser clearances, fresh rebuilds that aren't caught quickly damage allot of parts....

First time I saw a completely destroyed engine was a 4V Cleveland back in the eighties....
 
Looking inside the engine it is as clean as the 440 I built. Its almost like the engine was rebuilt. I cannot verify when it was built. The guy the roadrunner came from said that the engine was built prior to him buying it. He gave me the guys number I called the engine builder a long time ago but he was very vague on the information. But when I pulled the valve covers I could tell it was at the very least a recent rebuild. He told me it had a purple cam but couldn't tell me the duration. He said it was a roadrunner cam. Now with that said. I looked up what numbers I could find and those numbers pointed to a 440 6-pack cam. So anyhow I'll drain the oil and cut open the filter to see what's in it.
 
If it was the lobe and lifter at the rear of the engine, why is the missing lifter at the front on your piece of wood that has "back of engine" written on it?
Just making sure they haven't been put in the reverse order when you pulled them out.
 
66 Sat said:
If it was the lobe and lifter at the rear of the engine, why is the missing lifter at the front on your piece of wood that has "back of engine" written on it?
Just making sure they haven't been put in the reverse order when you pulled them out.
Click to expand...
I moved the lifters from one place to another. It was just a coincidence. In that picture they are in no particular order.

I have a new set of pushrods,new lifters and new cam. All of the pushrods that came out were straight as an arrow. Nothing bent. Not even the one on the messed up lobe.
 
It wouldn't have made any difference anyway would it, as you couldn't re-use old lifters with a new cam. I just wasn't thinking straight, been a long day.
 
Daves69 said:
Some old cam break in info in the link.
One tip......
View attachment 1114150
The 1970 Hamtramck Registry - 1973 Chrysler Hustle Stuff (Pg 1) (hamtramck-historical.com)
Click to expand...
Awesome.. Good stuff. I will check to make sure there is no binding when I install them. But to note when I pulled everyone of them out of the lifter bores I just hooked under them with my finger and pushed them out and grabbed them with my other hand. So I will say at that point nothing was binding. I was thinking maybe an internal lifter problem. As in maybe stuck inside. I will take the offending lifter apart and show what I find. Now on the same note. I was watching Tonys Garage and he showed that lifters are supposed to rock a tad on a nice piece of flat steel. If they do not then the lifter is flat and not good for rotation. And he also said that its a big issue with modern lifters and the quality control of who makes them.
 
Why don't you just replace the one bad lifter and lobe?
 
1 laugh 4.jpg


It sure would be great if we could, right?
20w50 is thick oil. I could understand using it if your engine were really loose, old or had some crazy .004 bearing clearance. When some new engines run 0w10, you have to wonder how tight of clearance they have.
My 2007 Ram 1500 5.7 has 360,000 miles on it and still shows great oil pressure with 5w20. They must run some .00125 clearance on the crank bearings!
Back on point:
It is a gamble to just replace the cam. You may be in the clear. I hope for your sake that you are.
Often when I hear people say "Purple Cam", I sort of shake my head while thinking that they may not be as knowledgeable as I hoped.
Ma Mopar made several "Purple Shaft" cams in a variety of specs so to simply use the "Purple cam" name seems generic.
That car sounds great....do you have a CAM in it?
No...it has electric valves!
 
I am not dead set on the 20/50 I was just reading some stuff. But I have new lifters new cam and new push rods. I did notice that the oil pump shaft bushing was not very nice looking. I will be replacing that as well. Just gotta figure out how to get it out.

THis was the cam prior to being smoked.
 
Sounds a bit more chunky than a stock 383 Magnum.
 
My thoughts too. Sounds a bit choppy for a stock style cam. The cam didn’t have anything engraved on it but it did have some numbers stamped into it. I don’t recall the numbers at the moment but it came up as a Elgin cam. But on another site it mentioned 440 6 pack cam. I will go get those numbers and post them to this post. Maybe the numbers will ring someone’s bell. Here they are forgot I googled them on my phone. e1222 z012

9B606410-0037-4866-9FCA-07E31290285B.png 577DB23E-BE43-4068-8E62-BCF9DC94200C.png
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

68-500
If you're depending on zinc to protect your flat tappet?
2 3
Replies
46
Views
3K
Dodge Bros
Dodge Bros
tmaleck
Saw an Awesome Road Runner today in south Austin
Replies
0
Views
444
tmaleck
tmaleck
themechanic
Truck in for service: No loaner vehicles available.
2
Replies
25
Views
1K
themechanic
themechanic
BeepBeepRR
Saw this in the rear view mirror.
Replies
10
Views
487
Budnicks
Budnicks
SteveSS
Header problems on the 383.
Replies
4
Views
344
1STMP
1STMP
Auto Transport Service
Back
Top