Snap goes the cam shaft

[GerryLP]

Ouch... thats a nasty scratch

Ditto...

And the paint finish looked like an excellent 10-footer (maybe a good 5-footer) too.

Talk about things "going-to-hell-in-a-hand-basket" quickly...:ugh;squint:ad

 

[Curtis]

I have broken a camshaft in 3 pieces in our race car..Of course the tattletale tach was at 8200 rpm. We could only salvage the stuff bolted on the outside of the block. except the pan , which had a rod end stuck thru it.. On the inside it broke off two valve tops which were promptly blasted thru the cylinder walls of the block... I guess it wasn't all trash though, we welded up some of the busted parts and made a great looking trophy for our driver. Take John/s advice, get the crate motor. And deal with your body shop guy to come up with funds for it, ie. try the insurance company.

 

[zachh]

let me chime in my story.....oh and by the way, that girl should get her vette drivin license temporarily ravoked.......i work at a local pontiac dealership in virginia beach. An 02 Trans AM came in on a flatbed and was dropped off. Much to our surprise (it had street slicks, and a huge cowl hood) there was oil all over the place. We hit the key and nothing happened. It wouldnt start so we pushed it in. These cars have an LS1 5.7 V8. When we got it in and opened the hood, we found a few interestin things. 1- it had a cold air intake, which was covered in antifreeze...so you know this isnt going anywhere good.... 2- there was no oil on the dipstick, 3- there was a crack on the intake running for the piston 3 runner going back to #7. 4- we looked at the oil pan and we saw 2 rods sticking outside the pan on the driver side and a rod with a piston still on it stickin out the passenger side of the block. the best part is when wa took the trans out, there was the back of the cam stickin outta the block.



we asked the owner how what he was doin, he replied racing a Ford GT....he said he won, hit about 140 and let off, the trans downshifted and the engine over-revved and blew.

A few weeks later, a new engine was in the car and it was gone, i was bored and peeled the valve covers and took off the heads. The cam was in many peices, most of the rods were bent and most of the rockers were laying next to what was left of the valve springs.

I figured, when it over-revved, dropped a valve, hit a piston, wedged itself up, the cam couldnt move the rod up, and the carnage began there...
zachh

 

[vigman]

Current status

The car was towed to the mechanic last week..

It will be sitting there till after Xmas ( to charge the checking account )

The roomie still is unsure about my diagnosis.

I told her I would pay her 50.00 to be there when the auto-topsy starts.

BUT

If the cam is broken.. I get the small piece.

That's where it sits, uncovered & rusting.

Vig~

 

[big2bird]

Ive seen 4 camshafts that broke in 35 PLUS years of racing and building engines
in most cases theres a good deal of internal engine damage , think about it, if the cams rotation is NOT synchronzed with the cranks rotation theres almost certainly a couple valves held open when the pistons reach TDC, when that happends the piston will bend the valves and probably spin the cam, resulting in additional cylinders bendiing valves, bent valves can and frequently do result in damaged rods, bent rods, broken pistons and cracked heads, bent rods tend to beat the crap out of the block, ETC., usually the valve covers and rocker arms, possiably the damper and water pump are salvagable

Yep. Buy a crate engine for $1,400. Warranty and all. All you have is a pile of crap.
You won't bring it back for $1,400.

And yes, it's snapped. Flat lobes don't bend pushrods. Pistons hitting valves do.

 

[TimAT]

My Vette had an installed under warranty L-88 in it until 1974 or thereabouts. The cam broke between the 2 and 3 cam bearings at about 2000 RPM. The piece dropped down on the crank. I've still got the heads. They ain't pretty but they didn't get broken. I've got the intake on the car now. Even the water pump was toast.

Cams do break. It's rare, but it happens.

 

[MrChuck]

A cam broke in a street blower motor my friend in his car had at highway speed. It hand grenaded the whole engine. There wasn't to much salvageable. Though uncommon, they still break.

 

[vigman]

Today's E mail

On 10/19/07 8:26 AM,> wrote:

Hi there:
Just wanted to let you know the recent....
My brother took the car, put some things back together to cover the open holes, etc. and eventually put it up on racks. He found that a rod had blown through the oil pan - apparently thereby indicating a new motor is in order.... I don't have any confirmation the cam shaft is yours yet! ; )
Prices I am getting on a crate motor - 350 (no more L82s made) is from $3K to $4K give or take some small change.... Yea! whatever. small change..... Oye. That is the recent scoop..

Hey ya Trish...

Well sorry to hear that..
3 to 4K is a bit steep, unless that includes installation....depending on how BIG of a motor you want
Here are some price comparisons ( not EXACT motors.. But VERY CLOSE within 20 bucks )

350 /250 hp Crate motor ( stock HP ) $1695.95
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=NAL-10067353&autoview=sku

350/330 HP crate motor ( WOOO HOO ) $2789.95
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=NAL-12486041&autoview=sku

$139.00 freight to front door.
Warranty 90 day from Summit
12 month /12K warranty when PROFESSIONALLY installed
1-800-230-3030 ( Smitty ext 5862 )

Coming out of Nevada

Keep in the budget oil, belts,vacumme lines & T’s, gaskets,Taco’s & beer ( 200.00 ish )

And YOU KNOW NOW that cam is MINE.....

Mike