Re-building my 1986 302/347 Bronco

Yikes!  That is D.A.M.A.G.E.D!  

I'd really be surprised if the cam isn't bad as well.  But about the only way I know of to check it is to turn the engine over until the questionable lobe starts coming up and compare it to another lobe.  Turn it a few degrees and take a pic.  Turn it a bit more and take another pic.  Etc.  Then check a lobe where the lifter looks good.

in my experience, the cam is now bad! this really looks to be a case where the ability of the lifter to rotate in its bore was not proven before assembly. the camshaft lobes in a flat tappet design are offset to put a positive "spin" of the lifter. in doing this the lobe and the lifter contact surface polish to each other to a fine finish but if the lifter does not rotate it does the exact opposite and grinds into the lifter. sometimes to the point of making the lifter hard to remove. or even impossible without removing the camshaft first. any scratches in that bore may be from pulling that lifter just now. it saddens me for your sake, but the engine should be disassembled and reinspected thoroughly. this is the primary reason for a hydraulic camshaft to go through a proper break in procedure. but still if the lifter cannot spin freely, it will not break in correctly regardless of whether the rest of the procedure was correct. if the lifters are inferior then this becomes even more likely.

Mat, there is a real problem currently with cams and lifters failing during break in, even roller cams and factory engines.

Google cam failures on YouTube, or go to YouTube and look for Ford Boss Me.

yes, there is. I've been dealing with and watching it for about three years now. to the point that I am looking for oem cams more than ever and rebuilding lifters too.

Yes...I've bought a endoscopic camera for my mobile to check it.

I hope the lobe was hard enough to resist...I don't want to get out the cam if it's not necessary...I will post photos tomorrow...

Hmm...my old lifters (I don't know if this were the stock ones) got my scrap dealer two weeks ago...

But I still have my cam and crankshaft. But also there I don't know if these were the first ones...

I don't know that it makes sense to rebuild lifters...

In Germany it's also very expensive to let re-build cam- and crankshafts...it's more expensive than new ones...

there is a real problem with rebuilding/re using hydraulic flat tappets. the contact surface has already been polished to the cam it was previously installed with. possibly enough so that it is too polished to rotate positively. when im rebuilding lifters im mostly referring to roller lifters.

Hi! While waiting for my replacement cam, I'll show you my custom build exhaust system, regarding to the real title of this threat: Everything is custom made, execpt the headers (stainless steel from alibaba, good quality. I've bought there before the header for my CJ7) and the muffler (bought from a racing equipment store in germany) I start with the headers collecting each port in 2.5" pipes. Both meet in a y-pipe, equiped with one db-killer, each side and expanding to 3". This setup follows a 3" muffler (also with a db-killer inside) ending in a 3" tail-pipe, going around 180 degrees to get it out before the passenger-side rear-wheel. It sounds very good, in my opinion...a bit like a dragster... So I have added the two db-killers inside the y-pipe. I have had no chance to test ist, cause (some of you know) I need a new cam... Next weekend I will install the new cam and set-up the engine as doing the cam break-in with new lifters from melling again. I will keep you up-to-date...have a nice time...