I dropped my 304 at the shop almost 2 years ago to the day, and we are finally in the home stretch and of course we have hit a snag. I've been working with a talented local guy (Powell Machine in Iva SC) and he is telling me that though he regrets not spotting it sooner, but it appears about half the lifters have concave wear, and the cam will need to be replaced. His concern is that, in general, there is an issue with the reliability of off the shelf cams and lifters for flat tappet engines in general, and more so specifically with this engine (and his regrinding of the cam) as the cam operates in reverse. As a layman, I may be relaying this partially incorrect, but as I gather that is the gist of the issue. I got some background on metallurgy and break in methods etc, but again his concern was their tendency to fail upon replacement. So rather than just asking him to replace with the best parts he can find and send it, I wanted to consult the Binder Hive Mind and see if I could get some feedback on approaching this issue with the best chance of success in mind.
I realize I can do an LS swap, and if this motor blows maybe so, but I would truly rather stay the course and get the original motor back into my '77 rather than scrap the rebuild project after 2 years.
Any guidance or insight on this issue?
Cheers!
I realize I can do an LS swap, and if this motor blows maybe so, but I would truly rather stay the course and get the original motor back into my '77 rather than scrap the rebuild project after 2 years.
Any guidance or insight on this issue?
Cheers!
