Hey everyone, havent posted here in a while, but now that I am a proud Ford owner again, I figured I'd come back to pick everyones brain again.....

I just picked up a 95 F150 with a 302 in it. Got a god deal on it but it needed some vavle work (int. & ext. are in very good condition). So my question is, after taking the heads and intake manufold off, i noticed that the gasket between cylinders 3&4 had blown. On closer inspection, I found that the lifter retainer (little H shaped piece of metal) had broken free.

My question is should I be concerned about the condition of the cam? when I looked at the lifters the appeared to have not rotated as the flatspots are still lined up as if the retainer never moved. anyone know the part number for the retainer clip holder down thingy (one single piece of spring steel holding all 8 retainers in place)

 

You can pull that lifter out and look at it and the cam lobe , may have just came apart when you pulled the push rods out , not sure of the technical term for the part , i call it the spider retainer , part of the assembly that keeps the roller lifters from turning in the bores.....Lew

 

Yes you should be concerned, take that lifter out and inspect the cam lobe and lifter roller as thoroughly as possible, and if you see any damage that will affect smooth operation replace the parts. All of these items can be found in the junkyard if you're looking for cheap replacement parts, there is no issue transferring the cam and lifters from another motor if it was necessary.