Camshaft Replacement

MHO is that Norton must have gotten pretty sad in quality control near the end. My early Norton cams wore quite well, although I did run a lot more oil than stock and it was much cooler.
I can only hope for the cam in my 72 engine and run Redline.

One of the issues of the INOA newsletter (I think it was #152) had an article about the hardness of various cams. Also Geoff Collins had an article in the issue #154 Tech section about nitriding various items including cams.
Apparently there is quite a variation in the hardness of different cams that are available for the Commando. I tried the stellite welded cam w/ a regrind but decided not to use it since it looked a bit cobby and the last thing I want to do is take the beast apart because of a failed cam. Unfortunately it's hard to visually determine the hardness of a cam lobe and I haven't been able to locate anyone with the equipment.
Not that it is a sure thing but the air cooled Porsche guys like the high zinc oil for their engines. As someone said the oil may need to make up for the lack of hardness and consider the high zinc oil cheap insurance.

Scooter

You can notice a cam wearing by the need for frequent adjustment, I'll keep an eye on this one. Running Redline will only get me so far if it is soft. If I continue to use it the same way as I did last year even a soft cam should make several years. My Goldwings get the wear of a distance ride and they don't care.

Cookie said:

You can notice a cam wearing by the need for frequent adjustment, I'll keep an eye on this one.

Click to expand...

The cams don't wear on the base circle so there won't be any evidence in terms of tappet adjustment. Reduced lift is really only measurable rather than visible, at least to start with.

The first clue is really a bit too much 'christmas tree' growth on the magnetic drain plug, with tell-tale shiny fragments as the followers begin to follow suit.

If you're not an earnest thrasher then the gradual tailing off of performance is not immediately noticeable but fuel consumption will improve

Humm, that's interesting. I've not had this on a Norton so that old tip off won't work huh? Perhaps I'll try measureing the lift each time I check the valves.
I've only had a soft cam on a 289 Ford once and it wore everywhere.