Scraped Cam Lobe on Bucket, No Shim

Stupid mistake but I wanted to get thoughts before I button this thing up. Was in process of pulling two shims to swap and I rotated the camshaft which opened a valve that did not have a shim. When the valve closed, the slotted part of the bucket caught the cam and shaved some material off each side of the lobe. Don't want to put this back together and have the shim/cam go bad.

 

I would be more worried about any metal shavings than the edges of the cam lobe. I would use a magnet to search for metal fragments and not mess with the lobe as long as there are no burrs or loose metal. But someone else may have more experience and a different opinion.

 

Agreed about the missing metal. Grab a magnet and get it all out.
As for the cam.....it is repairable.

The best way is to pull the cam and take it to a machine shop, along with the cam specs from the factory service manual.

The cheap way is to stuff rags around the cam, and very carefully dress a bevel on the damaged portion of the cam using a progression of 1,000 then 1,500 then 2,000 then 2,500 grit finishing paper. Use oil on the paper as a lubricant to help catch the bits of metal you are removing. Go slow, be patient, and do not touch the undamaged portion of the cam nose except at the edge where the damage was done.


The smart way is to buy a good used cam.

If it were my bike I'd do it the smart way, and save the damaged cam for the future (like in 30 years when the supply of good used cams drys out).

 

I'd just bevel the edge and make darn sure there's no burr. If its perfectly smooth it won't be a problem. The X lobes are narrower than yours and they work fine. Yours should be fine.

DO get all the little pieces out though

 

get any chips out and carry on. there is no fixing it and no reason to make it look pretty

 

I agree fix or good used cam, if you clean up the one in there run it for a few min and see if it is damaging the shim. That will seal the deal on your efforts

 

Good deal, think I'll try cleaning it up, run it for a bit and inspect for damage a little later.

 

Since there are 7 broken intake bolts/exhaust studs in the head, I just bought a good used head complete with cams. Money spent on the bolt/stud repair would be much better spent ensuring the replacement head is good to go. I'll still hang onto the old parts as someone will need them someday.

 

Good call and bonus extra shims are always a plus