Camshaft Replacement and a couple questions

[unitedracing]

Hey guys. The cam in my 1.6 was at some point damaged by a cam lock. It broke off about a third of the material on the top side when in locked position. It's a clean break and I've been told to run it but not sure I'm good with that advice. Also this is a hydraulic engine. If I replace the cam do the lifters also need to be, like the air cooled engines? I have a used undamaged solid lifter cam available but not sure they are compatible. Thanks!

[libbydiesel]

The cam and lifers are much less sensitive to wear than the air-cooleds.  Each cam lobe of the air-cooleds runs two different lifters (one on either side of the engine) so they are particularly prone to introducing wear patterns and flattening cams.  That said, you run a bit of risk installing a used cam on used lifters that did not wear in to the current cam.  In a similar situation I'd probably take that risk and not be concerned.  Of course I bear no responsibility if you do the same and your replacement cam wears out. 

[unitedracing]

The cam and lifers are much less sensitive to wear than the air-cooleds.  Each cam lobe of the air-cooleds runs two different lifters (one on either side of the engine) so they are particularly prone to introducing wear patterns and flattening cams.  That said, you run a bit of risk installing a used cam on used lifters that did not wear in to the current cam.  In a similar situation I'd probably take that risk and not be concerned.  Of course I bear no responsibility if you do the same and your replacement cam wears out.

Thanks, yes I understand. I had a thought to replace the lifters and install the used cam to help avoid problems. I still cant figure out if the hydro and solid cams are the same. Also I may just run the damaged cam it as is, I really don't think it will cause an issue

[libbydiesel]

If the only damage is the broken timing slot then it can work fine.  Timing the cam accurately is a bit of a pain, but doable.  The hydro cam and solid lifter cams are different.  I remember reading a thread on this forum where someone did all the measurements and posted them.

[unitedracing]

Thanks. I had a feeling I had read the cam was different. The slot is still there enough to lock the tool into for the most part. The piece the broke off was at one side of the slot and broke off towards the outside of the circle. I really think that there's enough left to track properly. I'll try to figure out how to post a picture later so you can see...Not sure I'm describing it properly.