Yeah, I put another lifter in the bore and rotated the engine over. It barely moved and was loose enough that the rocker arm could wobble.

And yeah, I used a Comp's cam break-in oil. It was about $10 or so.

I'm not sure what more I could have done to break it in properly.

 

It's like has been said many times. Sometimes you can get away with swapping new lifters onto a used (even barely used) cam, and other times you can't. Guess this was just one of those times that the stars didn't align for you.
It's even possible the lobe was slightly damaged when the valvetrain locked up, and you had no way to know. Might not have even been able to see the damage with the cam removed and given a close inspection.
Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug........

 

I agree. And not a darn thing I can do about it now.

On to the next step.

 

Really? I didn't know it was a crap shoot putting in new lifters on a used cam. That is good to know.

So, can we say that 'cams mate for life?'

 

Yeah. New cam/used lifters almost always end in disaster. New lifters/used cam can go either way. Used cam/used lifters not kept in the right order, almost always goes wrong.
Heck, these days, even new cam/new lifters don't always make a match, regardless of the steps taken to make a good match.
I blame it on lower quality control......

 

Quality is why I try to stay with Isky. And I'm not saying AB's Comp Cam was not super. It's just I've always used Isky and so I feel comfortable. That and because I've never heard of one of their cams failing.

I knew you should never mix lifters, used on a new cam, or reuse lifters, but I wasn't aware of a problem installing new lifters on a used cam. But it makes sense. Haaa! It also gives me an excuse to change my cam when I change the lifters. Isky 262, here I come.