Reprofiling cams and the quality of new parts

[steve c]

Who regrinds cams and followers in the uk ?

I fitted a new 357 spitfire cam but wasnt massively impressed with quality, the gears not paticularily tight on the taper so might redo a 356 used one I picked up. Supplier just shrugged his shoulders having tried all 6 of his stock and multitude of gears..

Also I had a kick start pawl  and its mating part which failed quickly.I  Haven't questioned the supplier yet but expect shoulder shrugging and there all like that mate!.

And a uk made 4 spring clutch sprocket the first of which which was totally badly machined and would not assemble, the second of which would not accept my surflex plates with out jamming but would with taiwanese plates but dragging so going back.

Getting nowhere fast on the BSA !!!!!!!!

[brackenfel]

Hi Steve,
Sorry to hear of your problems, I suspect there's a lot of poor pattern parts out there now, not at cheap prices either.
Can't advise I'm afraid but I'd be interested in who supplied the poor quality kickstart racket parts as I need a new pinion gear.. If you could PM me with the details - I don't want to join the agument with the seller of duff ones if I can help it!!

Cheers,
Adrian

[MG]

Steve,

Draganfly Motorcycles offer an exchange service for camshafts. You send them yours and they will supply a reground and (very important!) rehardened one.
Unfortunately I can't say anything about the quality, but usually their work is good usually.

Cheers, Markus

[Beezageezauk]

Hi Steve,

Whereabouts in the UK are you??

I know a guy in the NE of England who builds the cams up with (I think) Stellite and then re-profiles them.  I've used him in the past but I also get him to do the cam followers at the same time.  This way I know that both mating surfaces will be the same degree of hardness and should last longer.

Unfortunately I don't have his address because I see him at a local monthly autojumble.  I hand the worn items over one month then collect the finished ones four weeks later.

If I can help in any way send me a PM and we will be able to sort something out from there.

Beezageezauk.

[alanaitch]

Hi  Steve

As far as 357 cams are concerned, Cake Street Classics had a batch specially made, at my instigation, by Newman Cams.  I bought 2 of them and although you'll need to clean the thread on the end of the camshaft, otherwise they are fantastic quality.  The downside is they'll cost you £150 each inc VAT.

Newman cams will also regrind and re-harden your cam followers for about £8 each.  Contact David Newman (david@newman-cams.com) for a quote.

Cheers
Alan

ps: sorry I'm 6 months late!

[bikerjohndavies]

I have used Newman Cams to make me a new cam for my long stroke A7 and was really impressed with the quality. They also hardended the NOS cam followers I had to match the hardness of the new cam.

I would recommend that you speak directly to David at Newman Cams as they charged me a lot less than Alan was charged by Cake Street though I had to wait a few weeks for it.

http://www.newman-cams.com/contact.html

[wardleybob]

Iam up in the north the man you need is northen hardfaceing

[KiwiGF]

SRM sell aftermarket camshafts, mine bought this year and was about 110GBP from memory, 67-356 type, it was cheaper for me to buy a new cam than get one reground/rehardened locally but it took mny months to arrive.
I was not 100% happy with the lifts as it was slightly less than spec. but SRM explained this was only due to me getting one from a "small batch" they needed to build engines and normally they would have the correct dimensions, so I would say order one from SRM but check they are in stock first.

[Pete Gray]

I write this partly in shame but perhaps more in amazement of a bodge that worked !
When rebuilding my A7 engine approx 30 years ago I found the cam and followers were worn with steps and grooves evident on all 4 profiles. At the time I was working as Production Engineer at Stanley Tools in Sheffield and found a narrow fine grit belt linishing machine which enabled a freehand refinishing of both cam and followers with no re-hardening or other treatment.
The engine ran well on re-assembly and as far as I know, although I have never done huge mileage, is still operating with the same cam. I say as far as I know because I had a complete overhaul done 6 years ago by a much better engineer than me but I'm pretty sure the cost didn't include a replacement cam or followers?
You'll have realised that engine performance in my terms is mainly measured by whether it runs or not.

Well at long last I've got that embarrassing admission off my chest !

[KeithJ]

SRM are currently out of stock of the stellited cam followers and not sure when they will be in stock.  Newmans did not recommned re-facing followers.  I can't find a contact number for Northern Hardfacing.  Can anyone suggest how I can get my old followers re-faced.  I live near Southampton.  Any help appreciated.  ATB.

[K1100]

Hi KeithJ .....Did you ask to buy a new cam follower or for a repair to a damaged follower? I ask because I posted one damaged cam follower from my 1954 A10 to SRM on Monday (this week) asking if they could make a Stellite repair, they emailed me with a couple of questions on Tuesday morning, and I received an exchange cam follower by post on Wednesday.

[KeithJ]

Thanks for the reply.  Looks like you had good service from SRM.  I bought a new cam and wanted the followers as well but did not ask if they could refurbish my old ones.  In the meantime, I have found a company to "Lazer Weld" some hard stuff on the face of the followers.  I will then get them reground.  Not sure how it will work out but post an update at some time.  Lazer welding is a "new technique" which does not require as much heat as other processes so should be an improvement.  Going to be some months before I get it on the road.

[KeithJ]

Doesn't time fly.  My last post was 2013 and have now done about 5000 miles on the engine and all apears well regarding cams and followers.

Am in the process of rebuilding my standard engine and have just sent my camshaft, 67-356, of to Kent Cams for a re-grind.  Surprisingly, they did not have the profile on file but can take it from my cam as there was a lobe with an intact profile.  They have quoted £50 which is a lot less than a new cam.  I have asked them to confirm hardness after the regrind will be OK.  Once I have the camshaft returned, I will get the followers hard faced to a suitable hardness compatible with the camshaft. 

ATB

Keith