Holy cow! We had the 324 for our 54 Super 88 rebuilt by a reputable engine builder. After just 2600 miles, the camshaft and lifters are damaged. The cam wore the bottom of one lifter right off! Has anyone else experienced this sort of thing? Do you know who's aftermarket stock grind cam is best? We obviously don't want to put the same trash back in it!

 

Sounds to me that break in lube was not used, and/or a high zinc oil was not used in your engine, both necessary with flat tappet cams, probably not the cam manufacturer.

 

Or just not broken in properly. 20 minutes at variable rpm from 1000 to 2000-2500 rpm. never let it idle during that time.

 

We used Joe Gibbs Break in oil.

 

Did you also use the break-in grease on the lobes and keep the revs up for the first 20 minutes?

Is there anything unusual about the cam? High lift? Heavy springs?

- Eric

 

You might want to call Ross Racing and talk with them. The valve train in these old first generation motors is a pain.

 

No high lift can. Just OEM spec. Can't say for sure about the grease. I'll inquire. We had explicit instructions from the builder to run it at varying rpm and not to let it idle. Instructions were followed though it ran like crap because of carb issues. We got that squared away and ran it some more. Then we drove it several miles at varying speeds.

 

You may have more problems than just the cam and lifters, that worn lifter probably sent metal through out the engine in that length of time. Have you torn your oil filter apart to see of shavings are present?...Tedd

 

I had a new 56 Olds that had similar problems. The problem was found after several sets of lifters that kept failing and a flat cam, to be the oil pump. The oil pump for the 324 has a small plug in the side, looks like a freeze plug. If this is loose or out, when the oil is low or if you take a curve/corner hard enough for the oil to slosh to one side of the pan and uncover the plug it will suck air. It doesn't take too long for an oil starved wear surface to fail. Hope you found the problem. Chuck

 

Wouldn't one see a dramatic drop of pressure at the gauge when this occurs?....Tedd

 

Ted, No gage on the 56, only a red light. I don't think the red light was very sensitive, because the light never came on other than to show it was working when you turned the key. I found out about oil pump when I stopped for gas at a small town Olds dealer. I asked him if he had heard about any problems and he told me about a bulletin from Olds detailing the problem. The Rockford dealer had told me he was not aware of any problems. Go figure. Chuck