Is my cam toast?

I picked up a set of Web Cams from a member here a few years back. Fast forward 5 years of engine building, with no run time on the motor. I had the bike running last year after a complete head rebuild with all new valves. Put a few miles on the bike- maybe 25 tops and checked valve clearance again. Only a few shims had to be changed down a size after the valves seated themselves. The bike sat over winter as I buttoned up some carb issues. This year I got it running somewhat reliably, so I put about 50-60 miles on it. During this time, it had a tick that sounded like it was coming from #1 exhaust. I had checked valve clearance again, and it was 0.08, tight but in spec. I chocked it up to a possible exhaust leak. Bike had a hard time at idle after it warmed up, despite running it somewhat lean. Checked into things and I need to get some new coils, and IC Ignitor. I figured while the bike is sitting waiting for those parts, I would check all the valve clearances again.

This is what I found on #2 intake....

 

Looks like the cam lobe and shim hit Mutually Assured Destruction.
The lobe is now convex and looks a bit worn down.
Is there any chance to save the cam, or is the effort to repair it not worth the effort, and with reduced reliability?

He's dead Jim.  

Sorry for your loss.

I figured as much.

Any ideas what would have caused this condition? I don't want to make the same mistake twice.

Completely unrelated, does anyone have a web 110 they're willing to part with? 

I have two sets of stock cams, I suppose I can put those on. Should be fine with my 1173 kit, pods and Mac 4 into 1 right?

Is this what you used for shims?
 

One thing to consider is what was the root cause of that cam/shim failure?  You have two hardened steel surfaces separated by an oil layer.  It appears as though there might have been a lack of lubrication, as both surfaces seem to be equally worn; which seems very odd.  Just thinkin' out loud...

MIke

Could the shims have been made by K&L?  They had a bunch of bad shims a while back.

wrote:

Could the shims have been made by K&L?  They had a bunch of bad shims a while back.

 

I purchase them from Z1E last year. Valve Shim - 29mm Diameter - 2.35mm p/n 43-0008

wrote:

One thing to consider is what was the root cause of that cam/shim failure?  You have two hardened steel surfaces separated by an oil layer.  It appears as though there might have been a lack of lubrication, as both surfaces seem to be equally worn; which seems very odd.  Just thinkin' out loud...

MIke
 

That could make sense.
One additional thing I did this year, was replace the base gasket, head gaskets, valve cover gasket, and cam end caps to solve some oil leak issues.
I noticed the head gasket I had installed, a one-piece from Cometic (C8020), did not have proper clearance around the oil passages, causing the o-rings to collapse and restrict the passages. I swapped that out for the two-piece that came with my Wiseco kit, replaced the intake side o-rings with a correct set from Z1E, and the exhaust side with some 7x3mm o-rings (I had read from multiple members here that doing so will help prevent the annoying leaks that tend to happen there)
I wonder if this initial restriction had caused problems I didn't see during the few hours I spent tuning the carbs initially, and with the few miles I put on it.
There is oil film on all of the cam parts, however I have noticed there is a lot more pooling of oil on the exhaust side than the intake side.
Is there a good way to check for oil flow to the head without removing it and running cleaner through the passages? What does a good amount of oil in the head even look like?

If it's just the one lobe that is affected it isn't oil feed up the block that's the problem.
Unless there's a blockage in the heads cam oil feed gallery after number one lobe it's mechanical failure caused by either a faulty shim or the lobe hardening.
The other possibility is that there wasn't / isn't enough clearance between the top of the valve guide and the underside of the retainer causing the lobe to be forced into the shim.
 

rokit_armor post=868618Is there any chance to save the cam, or is the effort to repair it not worth the effort, and with reduced reliability?

I have no idea what it would cost, but Web advertises that they will weld and regrind cams.  If it's only one lobe that is damaged, maybe it's less than a buying a new cam?

www.webcamshafts.com/pages_misc/faq.html

wrote:

rokit_armor post=868618Is there any chance to save the cam, or is the effort to repair it not worth the effort, and with reduced reliability?

I have no idea what it would cost, but Web advertises that they will weld and regrind cams.  If it's only one lobe that is damaged, maybe it's less than a buying a new cam?

www.webcamshafts.com/pages_misc/faq.html

Yes! And the repaired and reground lobe will be as good as new.

wrote:

If it's just the one lobe that is affected it isn't oil feed up the block that's the problem.
Unless there's a blockage in the heads cam oil feed gallery after number one lobe it's mechanical failure caused by either a faulty shim or the lobe hardening.
The other possibility is that there wasn't / isn't enough clearance between the top of the valve guide and the underside of the retainer causing the lobe to be forced into the shim.


 

I was also thinking an oil feed issue would cause a bearing to go kaput first.
When I have the cam out, I'll pop the bucket off and see what it is like in there.

DOHC post=868635

I have no idea what it would cost, but Web advertises that they will weld and regrind cams.  If it's only one lobe that is damaged, maybe it's less than a buying a new cam?

www.webcamshafts.com/pages_misc/faq.html  

Good call, can't hurt to ask. I'll give them a call next week.