Tylus

Seriously thinking about grabbing some used Hot Rods from the classifieds. Anything to watch out for? Been years since I did cams on a motor and am a bit out of the loop.

Just wanting to cover my behind. Earlier today I bought the Spring Compressors and Timing Wedge earlier to assist in the install

TIA

Blacksmoke

Why is this person getting rid of them?

I am always leary of buying such items used.
Some people feel perfectly comfortable but not me.
I mean we are talking parts that can make or break your engine.
If you are out of the loop I'd sure have someone that isn't take a look at them first at least.

They'd have to be completely flawless for me to buy them.
I'd look for ANY scratches, etc. on the journals and if ANY trace of one was there I'd stay away.

Also... you better make damn sure you are buying the right cams and someone isn't selling
you a set of their stockers so THEY can put in Hot Rods lol.

Maybe that's why I have the title below my name that I do.
But still, its better to be safe on a paranoid level than sorry lol.

jdmcbride

Yea, I wouldn't buy used cams. A member on this site bought a set of what he thought were Hot Rods, but they ended up being the stock cams. Buyer beware!

RAT281

Just buy new, its not worth the risk of getting ripped off. Buying a used CAI is one thing but I would not be putting used cams in a car that I have 40k tied up in

Simon1

If the price were right I knew what the specs should be, I would take a micrometer with me and verify what they were. As long as there is no scoring or wear marks on the journals or lobes, you should be fine. If it was really cheap, you cend them to a place and have them regrind them or polish if you want.

Recon111

New cams, New rear gears, new clutch, new spark plugs etc.

Used Tires, wheels, air horn, K&N. That's about it.

Tylus

these are on another forum where they have buyer/seller rankings and the guy has a good reputation. so I'm not worried in that respect. That and I'm using my bank Credit Card and Paypal. My bank is vicious with fraud cases, and Paypal is pretty good as well.

I'm waiting on pictures of the lobes and journals. obviously I won't grab them if they are anything short of perfect.

just looking at grabbing these because I can get 'em for $200 under retail shipped to me. Brenspeed wants $80 for shipping, AM quoted me $100 for shipping. Add that to retail pricing and now I'm paying $820-850 for brand new cams vice the $720 you guys pay. so $550 shipped is a screaming deal for me


we'll see.

Norm Peterson

For only a $300 price difference, you're giving up any warranty against things that the seller may or may not know. Lobes do get ground incorrectly from time to time, and a picture won't show you that. I realize that roller cams can be less risky than flat-tappet cams from a wear or lobe lift loss point of view, but you still may not see everything in the pictures, and the cam's previous use/abuse is still a big unknown with no independent verification. IOW, you're still taking the seller's word, and he knows it. He probably also knows that you aren't in the "lower 48".

How much would an unexpected engine teardown/rebuild cost?

Personally - I wouldn't go anywhere near this unless I could count the seller as being one of my close friends - and was familiar with the car that these cams were in and the sort of use it got. I've re-cammed engines and built up a few engines from piles of parts - and I just can't make this look like a good place to save $300 no matter how hard I try.


My vote is "NO".


Norm

VistaBlue

Used tires on a performance car is a huge waste. Air horns are for big rigs, and a used filter that brand new costs $50.00? What? Your choices make no sense.

Cams are perfectly fine to buy used, assuming (as was already stated by Blacksmoke) that there are absolutely no scratches on any of the journals/bearing surfaces.

Also, used rear gears are perfectly fine as well, once again adhering to a decent inspection for massive flaws. This ain't rocket science.