Now was the time to take a look at what cam I have, during the r&r of my new heads (installing Champion Irons). Nick Micale didn't know what cam had been installed (by his engine builder). He guessed it was a 206/206 cam, but he wasn't sure. Partially my fault, as we never discussed what cam I wanted, but that's another story.
So I had my mechanic pull the cam. Firstly, it was discovered that it's a TA Performance 208/208 cam (V264H). But he noticed that a couple of the lobes were significantly worn. See pics. My motor has maybe 1K miles on it (max 1,400). These are lobes 2 & 3, closest to the front of the motor.
Fortunately, because I assumed I had a max of what Nick thought, which was the 206/206 cam, I already ordered a new 212/212 cam from Cotton's. I may not have ordered it if I had known I had a 208/208 cam, but now that I know I have damage to this one, I'm glad I did (and a bit of an upgrade won't hurt, especially with the Champions).
So the big question is - why did this happen? Improper initial cam break in? Or was it that I didn't baby it enough for the first 500 miles like my mechanic said should normally be done. I asked Nick before I received the my car back if I should take it easy on the motor for x first miles to break it in, and he told me it wasn't necessary. I probably avoided full WOT for the first 100 miles anyway (at least for prolonged periods of time).
And I wonder how much power loss the cam damage has been causing. I've made significant progress at ironing out the cutting out, but the motor was still falling flat on power at 3rd gear. Don't know if that's related or not. And as I mentioned before, it didn't feel as powerful as it did when I first got it.
My only concern is to avoid it happening again.
So I had my mechanic pull the cam. Firstly, it was discovered that it's a TA Performance 208/208 cam (V264H). But he noticed that a couple of the lobes were significantly worn. See pics. My motor has maybe 1K miles on it (max 1,400). These are lobes 2 & 3, closest to the front of the motor.
Fortunately, because I assumed I had a max of what Nick thought, which was the 206/206 cam, I already ordered a new 212/212 cam from Cotton's. I may not have ordered it if I had known I had a 208/208 cam, but now that I know I have damage to this one, I'm glad I did (and a bit of an upgrade won't hurt, especially with the Champions).
So the big question is - why did this happen? Improper initial cam break in? Or was it that I didn't baby it enough for the first 500 miles like my mechanic said should normally be done. I asked Nick before I received the my car back if I should take it easy on the motor for x first miles to break it in, and he told me it wasn't necessary. I probably avoided full WOT for the first 100 miles anyway (at least for prolonged periods of time).
And I wonder how much power loss the cam damage has been causing. I've made significant progress at ironing out the cutting out, but the motor was still falling flat on power at 3rd gear. Don't know if that's related or not. And as I mentioned before, it didn't feel as powerful as it did when I first got it.
My only concern is to avoid it happening again.