Oil Mod info  (2)

Posted by Dave Dodge - DRP on February 29, 2000

In Reply to: Ron Dittmer

I'm certainly glad to see that at least 4 people have what they consider to be good cams. May they live long and prosper. I will also say that for every good set I hear about, there are 3 sets I sell because they went flat. I will also say that there have been many instances where the customer brings or sends his cams to me for inspection saying they are good, only to find that the profile is worn down, and is noticable because of the ridge worn on the edge of the lobe. 

This means that the majority of home mechanics do not even know how to determine if a cam is good or not. Pitting is only a visual defect, it's the non-visual wear that people cannot detect.

I have sent oil system info to any body that requested one, and there is NO ONE that knows more about these engines than myself. I am an engineer, I design and test the parts I sell, I race the parts I sell, and I have full access to metalurgy gurus that I consult with.

You will also be interested in the fact that Honda increased the surface hardness on production cams beginning in 1983, and this is the year that pitting started, rather than a melt down as was the failures in '82. The reason is because they use a localized heat treating method that produces a hard surface on a soft base. 

As the cam wears you work your way through the hard part of the cam lobe and into the softer material. I have tested every hardness revision and found that improving the oil volume and pressure to the heads allows all cams to last without pitting or cam wear (soft or hard). The oil mod is the easiest and most effective way to prevent cam damage, along with proper valve adjustment procedures. 

I also offer hardfaced replacement cams that have improved base metal consistency through a process called nitriding.

I have been doing this stuff for over 28 years, and V-4's since 1982. Let me know what you guys do for a living and where your BBS is located so I can be a newby and question all your years of experience :-)