I had an interesting problem with a camshaft come though the shop today that I thought I'd share. The engine was a 351 Windsor that I had hot tanked, bore and hone and put in cam bearings and freeze plugs. Typical stuff for a rebuild. The customer picked up the engine parts and then called a few days later saying that the camshaft wouldn't fit in the block. I told him to bring it back along with the cam and I'll fix the problem, no big deal. A few more days went by and then today he brough it all to the shop. The customer and his friend who was helping told me that it was the #4 bearing causing the problem. They knocked that one out of the block and then the cam went right in and turned freely. Looking at the bearing I couldn't see anything wrong at all, no gouges or significant marks.

Then I took the cam inside where I measured the journal at #4 and found the problem. On a Ford small block Windsor or Cleveland the cam bearings are all different diameters with the largest ones at the front. On this cam journal #4 was the same diameter as journal #3! That isn't going to work. He had ordered the cam from Summit Racing so I gave him the measurements of the journals(the other 4 were ok on size) so that he could tell them about the problem. As far as I know these cams are produced in big batches using automated machinery so it is very likely that there are a whole bunch of them with this same "feature". I didn't get the part number but if you've got a Summit brand flat tappet hydraulic for your Ford Windsor with the 289/302 firing order check the size of the #4 journal.

 

Interesting story there Dave! Thanks for sharing.

 

Thanks for sharing. I'm not going to ask "Is this camshaft American Made?", because I'd bet money it is not. But I'm curious if it's from China or Mexico. Any idea?

 

Good posting reminder.................. Buying bulk "Plain Wrap" cams is just never a "good thing" IMHO. Saw this years ago....very similar type issue.

 

I saw this in a recent post, can't remember where, but it was a name brand cam.

 

I don't know for sure but hopefully Summit will be able to catch any more bad ones that are on their shelf before they get out into the wild. At least it wasn't ground the other way where #3 was the size that #4 is supposed to be ground to. If that would have happened the cam would have slid right into place but #3 would have had .015 additional bearing clearance. From what I understand Summit is taking care of the problem.

I can't imagine how much stuff must come into and go out of the Summit warehouses every day. Keeping on top of everything quality control wise must be a very big job in this day and age.

 

@DaveMcLain,

Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

We wanted to let the community know that we have reached out to Dave's customer and got him a replacement cam. The camshaft being used is our Classic hydraulic flat tappet SUM-3601. This cam is made right here in the USA! It's a private label part and we can't disclose the manufacturer but rest assured it is made in the USA. We think this was a one-off issue but as a precautionary measure, we're having our remaining SUM-3601 inventory checked.

We like what Dave hit on about keeping on top of quality control. As an enthusiast, it may be hard to imagine something being wrong with a new part. Keep in mind there are humans involved in some capacity with just about anything manufactured. We're all human and mistakes happen. At Summit we strive to have the best customer service in the industry. If things go amiss, our customers can be confident that we'll make it right so they can continue with their projects!