gramercyjam Posted March 4, 2004 Share Posted March 4, 2004 Anybody here ever sucessfully welded a camshaft lobe? I've got an old Racer Brown 325-R performance cam I bought off ebay from a guy in Houston that turned out to have a worn lobe, and I thought I'd give it a shot and use it until I have a new motor built up. Also a brand new .550 lift Crane Cam (broken in half, supposedly in shipping I bought from a guy in Canada). I have bad luck when it comes to buying cams. How about valve springs? Any way to rejuvenate old valve springs? - I've got buckets of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ZSpud Posted March 4, 2004 Share Posted March 4, 2004 Hey John, I have an L9 Nissan Motorsports cam I was going to send to Delta Cams in Washington state. They repair cams there along with regrinds. I do have a Delta regrind in the shed , but have never used it. I just got their remanucatured Ford 4 liter rocker assembly for my Exploder. I should have that installed by this weekend. The quality of the rocker assembly is good. Check out their website at http://www.deltacam.com/ BTW they also resurface rocker arms for a few bucks each. I had to register again on here after the site went back up again. Darn thing wouldn't log me in under SpudZ Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vashonz Posted March 4, 2004 Share Posted March 4, 2004 I went by delta cams a couple weeks ago to talk to them about a cam for a friends opel gt. From what the owner said the lobes that are welded are stronger than the original ones. The only down side to the process was that it cost more than just regrinding the cam. The shop looked good and the owner knew what he was talking aboutt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted March 4, 2004 Share Posted March 4, 2004 I've never bought a new aftermarket cam, only regrinds, never had a problem either. I thought that a lot of regrinds were welded and reground... maybe I was mistaken. IMO you should spring for some springs, though, and not try to cut corners reusing old stuff. I supposed if you really wanted to use the old stuff you could have it tested on a spring dyno (I think that's what they are called). The machinist who did my last engine build had one, just basically a glorified scale with a lever. Put the spring in and you can tell what the installed seat pressure will be and what the pressure is at max lift. Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gramercyjam Posted March 4, 2004 Author Share Posted March 4, 2004 I know about Delta. I was thinking the same thing, but heck, I don't plan on using these cams very long, and I'd really like something along the lines of a Nissan Motorsports L3 so I figure I don't really want to spend any real money fixing them. I see Delta heats up the lobe with induction heating before welding, presumably to minimize any warpage or cracking and for better pentration. I don't think they harden the lobes after welding them though. Supposedly the welding should make the lobe surface harder than new anyway. No laughing please, but I was thinking after welding it up, I'd just file that puppy down and sand/polish it smooth, making frequent measurements with a dial indicator of course. Sand and polish up the rocker arms too. Do you know what they charge for fixing a lobe or a regrind? $$80 - 100 or so? Courtesy lists a new L9 available for $250. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gramercyjam Posted March 4, 2004 Author Share Posted March 4, 2004 I have a spring tester - a digital bathroom scale and a drill press. Just pick out the best of the bunch I guess. New springs are the way to go, of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gramercyjam Posted March 5, 2004 Author Share Posted March 5, 2004 Ok. I ordered some springs. Now I guess I'll need a tach too (LOL)! I didn't need one before, valve float was my rev limiter. This one looks like it will do ... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&category=33679&item=2464660683&sspagename=STRK%3AMEBWN%3AIT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted March 5, 2004 Share Posted March 5, 2004 There is no treatment to the best of my knowledge that will 'rejuvinate' an old spring. You are talking about trying to reverse the effects of metal fatigue, something which if possible I'm pretty sure I'd have covered in my fracture & fatigue course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gramercyjam Posted March 5, 2004 Author Share Posted March 5, 2004 I was thinking maybe austempering, but it has been years since I took materials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 customarily welding is done at a cost per lobe.Depends if they have an automatic wire-feed submerged-arc welding machine. I know Powers-Brother's machine in L.A. has one, but they do industrial stuff for the most part. Paeco does it, but I have not had stuff done there. They're in Birmingham AL. They charge by the lobe. Same thing for repairing journals so they can be reground to stock spec again, instead of undersize. Good Lcuk with the project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 Austempering is an interesting thought actually... The only problem is that high end valve springs are often alloy (chromium-vanadium, chromium-silicon) to resist shock load failure and I don't think that the austempering process works so well on high alloy steels. (could be wrong!) However, I suspect that the nissan springs might just be a high carbon mild steel, in which case it is an option. It could be an expensive experiment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.