[DaleO]

Considering the hobby issues with failure rates on hydraulic cams is there experience out there with having camshafts treated by Ionbond? Their Tribond 42 process looks applicable, maybe another of the 40 series too.

I see where it is being used in the firearms hobby with mixed reports. One problem it seems is "chipping" but reading between the lines so to speak it looks like their problems have to do with sharp edges sliding/banging into each other which in my opinion are different loads than the sliding of two surfaces and no banging of parts.

Do you have experience with it's application to a camshaft?

[steve25]

Have you looked into a cryo treatment?

[hurryinhoosier62]

Originally Posted by steve25

Have you looked into a cryo treatment?

Definitely investigate cryo treating as well as nitriding. In aircraft recip engines both the majority of cams and lifters were nitrided; we had zero cam lobe failures in normal use.

[ID67goat]

Anyone know a good place to get cams nitrided?

[mgarblik]

You could call Mile High Crankshafts in Denver. Ask for Dave. They definitely nitride crankshafts. Not sure about camshafts. If they do them, they will be perfect.

[geeteeohguy]

From what I've seen, camshaft hardness doesn't seem to be the issue. The issue is lobes with no taper and journal sizes out of spec. Along with lifters that aren't crowned or have honed out centers and leak down with standard size pistons. So lifters can't rotate and cams go flat. I think if you measure every lobe for taper and verify each lifter for crown and for leakdown, you should be ok. On a recent video, a builder had to go through three sets of Summit lifters to get 16 ones that were not defective. THREE sets. He also got a cam that would not install in the block....the journals were oversized.

[hurryinhoosier62]

Originally Posted by geeteeohguy

From what I've seen, camshaft hardness doesn't seem to be the issue. The issue is lobes with no taper and journal sizes out of spec. Along with lifters that aren't crowned or have honed out centers and leak down with standard size pistons. So lifters can't rotate and cams go flat. I think if you measure every lobe for taper and verify each lifter for crown and for leakdown, you should be ok. On a recent video, a builder had to go through three sets of Summit lifters to get 16 ones that were not defective. THREE sets. He also got a cam that would not install in the block....the journals were oversized.

Off and on, various OEs have had serious problems with “soft” cam lobes: in particular GM had horrific problems with “soft” cam lobes back in the mid to late 1970s/early 1980s( I replaced several SBC and Oldsmobile V-8 cams because of chewed up cam lobes) I have never seen the number of cam failures or lifter failures like are being reported. Diesels use roller lifters and have for decades; very few cam or lifter failures in those engines. As I previously stated, we had very few cam or lifter failures in aircraft recip engines; many of those engines used lifters and cams that were nitrided. There were several batches of “soft” lifters that came from Superior Air Parts back in the late 1980s that were due to improper hardening. The performance industry is but a minuscule part of the overall automotive industry. We had all best to used to the FACT that we are going to have to check EVERY part for usability BEFORE we install them in the engines we are assembling.

[Skip Fix]

Cryo and a DFL coating?