240 How's this cam wear? Retorque head bolts?

This is an ipd VX cam (albeit a really old one I think). Looks like wear through the hardened outside layer? Don't know much about cam wear



Another question, I put this head on like 15k miles ago, should I re-torque the head bolts a little, or is it too late? Or not recommended for these at all? These are the later style bolts.

Have you done a valve lash adjustment? If the adjustment is too tight you can get excessive wear on the cam lobe like that. You can retorque the head bolts but that's not going to affect something like this. You need to check the valve lash and adjust it if needed.

dl242gt said:

Have you done a valve lash adjustment? If the adjustment is too tight you can get excessive wear on the cam lobe like that. You can retorque the head bolts but that's not going to affect something like this. You need to check the valve lash and adjust it if needed.

Click to expand...

When I did the valve lash originally I set everything to the tight side of the spec. I measured again and everything is still where I left it.

The question about retorquing head bolts is a separate thing, I was just wondering about it since I have the valve cover off anyway

Cam looks perfectly fine. The layer that is worn through is the "Parkerized" layer. It's just there to help with cam break-in.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkerizing

No need to re-torque if it's a stock HG and a relatively stock engine build.

I didn't mean to imply that the cam is badly damaged. Seeing that made me think the lash was tight. Keep on rolling it. Thanks for correcting me Culberro.

culberro said:

Cam looks perfectly fine. The layer that is worn through is the "Parkerized" layer. It's just there to help with cam break-in.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkerizing

No need to re-torque if it's a stock HG and a relatively stock engine build.

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Good to know, thanks!

Looks fine for a crappy aftermarket cam compared to the originals of much better quality from a longevity standpoint...

...tho the later (white engine) cams/buckets are better setup to deal with modern oils without a lot of ZDDP since we don't want people breathing heavy metals in the air from some inevitable blowby being re-burned and spit out the exhaust or fouling the cat or 02 sensors on newer cars or want to have to adjust valves at a frequent interval with significant labor times...just change the oil and drive 1-200K or the warranty and throw the car away and get another one is the new thinking!