Looking for any Buick 455 roller cam for my engine built @ TSP. Specs are not important, as Jim will regrind cam anyway. I know it is a long shot, but the cam is the final piece holding up the engine built. No worries with international shipping, as cam would be shipped to Jim directly. Thanks for any consideration helping a board member out. Ralf
https://www.powellmachineinc.com/ thought I read this shop got a few cores a little bit ago. I know a long shot.
David Powell is making billet roller cams.. that's one of the other options unless TA finally gets their new cores in.. JW
Re-griding a billet cam core that is already ground is a roll of the dice. You might find yourself grinding past the treated hardness. Which I am told isn't very far before you grind past through it. And if you do grind past the hardness the material will be softer. Once that happens the lobe wears out quickly. The hardening process does NOT go right through the core . And it is difficult to determine how far it actually goes.
Yup, that is why I have them heat treated and press straightened, after they are ground. The final straightening can be tricky, but I know a guy.... You do what you have to do, when there are no parts available, but lots of engines to put those non-existent parts in. JW
I wouldn’t just have anyone do it. There is less than a handful,but nothing that hasn’t been done before.
More street than strip. looking for a little bit north of 500hp with decent manners. Will be a 482 setup with Stage 2 TA-Heads. Anything you have somewhere on the shelf? Would you mind providing some more details / pics, so that Jim can assess if it would be doable?
Ralf, Having had a couple cams repaired, generally with the cost of the cam, and the cost to repair, your so close to the cost of a custom billet roller, we might as just well go down that path.. no advantage in time frame or cost really.. last roller I had fixed took almost a year.. Where as the regrind/harden/straighten deal is at worst about 3-4 months. Finding something we could use as is, is the jackpot. JW
@BrianTrick: Nevermind So the search for the jackpot continues, counting on the shelves from the fellow board members
Question for you Jim. Have you ever had a cam Nitrated? I know a crankshafts are nitrated and are glass hard. Maybe too hard to the point it wares out the lifters to quickly? On camshafts, the Harding process is carburizing. To repair cam lobes and re-carburizing the lobes back to 56 Rockwell hardness shouldn't be a huge deal. The straightening process is a big deal I would think, a process I have not seen in person. VET (Navy)
With metal, almost everything is possible. It is a matter of equipment, skillset and of course cost. Questions is: where is the tipping point to make the necessary efforts worthwhile and do you have a trustworthy, reliable source to get all done (any sooner than cores will be available again). Still hoping for the jackpot, finding a member willing to part from a cam which can be used for my build.
