In the August, '08 issue, there was a letter about a 396 (408) that went through 3 hydrualic cams.  I have a 454 that has gone through just as many.  I have tried valvoline 50 wt with Lucas oil additive, I have tried rotel diesel oil, all to no avail.  You wrote that there is an oil out there that might fill the void for BBC with flat tappet cams. I want to know if other guys are having the same kind of luck as me and the author of the other article and what are they doing about it other than changing over to a roller cam.  

The weird thing is that after the engine warms up the valvetrain sounds loose at idle. But, when the engine was cold, it was quiet.  Also, to quiet the valvetrain noise, I have tightened the valve lash 1&1/4 turns past 0 lash.  This last cam lasted a lot longer than the other two.  I then cut out the center of some old rocker covers and adjusted the valves with the engine running.  I tried adjusting the valves 1/2 turn past 0 lash; the cam went flat in a few weeks of daily driving.  I have checked everything except the lifter bore angles.  I am running chrome moly pushrods, crane silver roller rockers, I have tried two lunati voodoo cams and one crane all around the 215 @ .050 lift and around .520, .530 ish lift.  When the engine is fresh it runs 'real' good.  Am I missing something here? On a positive note, I am getting real fast at pulling the engine out of my Blazer.

Thank you

Gary  

The truth is that an oil likely isn't going to solve your problem. Just because an anti-friction additive is removed isn't going to automatically make the cam go flat in a couple hundred miles. Long-term durability is the concern with oils with little to no ZDDP additives. This is of course doesn't mean that I don't think that oil supplements with ZDDP additives are important though...

The Lunati Voodoo cams are fast, arguably too fast. That makes the tappet much more "finicky" of a perfect break-in.

If the same tappets are going out, or there is some discernible pattern the lifter bore angles may be the problem.

Who assembled your cylinder heads? What valve springs are you using? What height are they ALL installed at? Precision with the valvetrain is important to making it survive.  

You have to use flat tappet break-in concentrate no matter what. There is no substitute for this since today's oils don't have enough heavy metals in them for break in of a flat tappet cam. All the major cam companies have break-in additives you should use, but Comp Cams seems to have the best formula.

Plus, 50wt oil is way too heavy for cam break-in. You should be using 5w30. Heavy oil like 50wt takes longer to flow through the engine when cold, so the top end can run dry when firing up a motor for the first time. Plus, you hagve ot hold the RPM abpve 1500 for proper break-in.  

Of the many big-block Chevys I have built, I only had a problem with my first. One of the first things to check is that the lifter freely spins in its bore. To do this, take off a valve cover. Then start the engine and watch the pushrods one at a time. You will notice them slowly spinning. If you see one that is not, then you can bet the lifter is not either. Do you always take out the same lobes? I ran a Comp Cams Xtreme energy with similar fast open-close rates as Lunati Voodoo, never had a problem. That first engine I mentioned, I later found out was overheated to the point of breaking a piston. I believe the block warped and deformed the lifter bores. If you have a lifter that is troublsome to drop in the bore, count on a problem! I assume after this many cam swaps, you are familiar with the break in procedure. Could be a problem in the heads, but check out those pushrods first. 1/2 to 3/4 turn on the rocker nuts should be plenty to get your 0.60 lifter plunger depth. As far as valve train noise goes, they will always make more noise when hot. The only quiet BBC. lifters I ever heard were stock GM. Hope this helps.  

I believe that the Voodoo's are faster than the Xtreme energy profile. They are several years newer.

Even though overheating could have been the culprit the factory lifter bore machining isn't the most accurate in the world either. Since factory cams were ridiculously slow with .400" lift if the angle between the lifter and cam wasn't a perfect 90° it didn't matter all that much but if you take the same block and put in a larger cam that moves the lifters significantly faster problems can arise.

Lifter rotation is arguably the sole reason a flat tappet can survive, so it is very important.  

its called cam break in additive ,it works good but use a light weight oil always,during breakin .  

summit has it cheap from comp cams,  

what ur missing from your oil is specifically the zinc additive. most motors i break in personnally (even before the epa took zinc out of) especially ones with far more radical cams than yours i began using a comp cams oil additive and add it everytime i change the oil it has the correct minerals in it but must be used everytime. i believe that for that particular cam u only have a single set of springs so removing the center spring isnt applicable but comp has the oil additive u need to run everytime u change the oil. Its the ZINC you are missing. as for the lash dont keep adjusting it once uve set it if things begin to loosen during break in u have a problem. adjusting ur lash is only worsening the lobes and sending more metal through the motor.
ASE MASTER TECH drag race and circle track engine builder