You realise you're over tired when!

[cjperformance]

I just got into degreeing a cam, checking everything to ensure all specs are correct. @.050 all good just 1.5* back from where i really want it, beaut easy to fix ,, check tappet rise @tdc - great, same reading , ICL yep all good, go for a .006" and what the!!! Recheck, no good... thats it im calling those a$$'es at the cam company and then thankfully while looking for the ph number thats .006" valve lift on the spec card, and im checking at the tappet still, heads are on the bench, quick calc on rocker ratio and all good time for a coffee!

[cgarb]

I've been there....working tired. Sometimes you need to step away, grab a coffee and come back with a fresh set of eyes.

How much deviation from a cam card spec is considered OK? I have a cam that was given to me, its a crane the cam had a bad lifter on one lobe and suffered minor damage. The former owner sent it back to crane to be reground and its been sitting unused ever since. I put it in my engine and degreed it in, the @.050 open point is right on, but the close point at .050 is 2 deg off. I'm going to run it either way, but what is considered to be "normal" there?

[cjperformance]

Yep early night required!
At 2 degrees i would not be concerned for most stuff. Ive had same grind from same company and one is pretty spot on while another is not. Check a few lobes to spot any tolerance trend. Depends on build effort level and how on or off the tolerance is but in most cases i would keep it as simple as to split the differences between a few lobes, then set it up as close as practical to where i want the intake closing point to be. If its only one lobe and its a solid cam you could get that one lobe closer with a minor lash tweek on that rocker, or get picky and find a rocker from your set with a bit of ratio variance and crutch it that way. Hey depending on intake/exhaust whichever lobe it is , that 2 deg may actually help! Split duration cams are quite trendy!
Call a cam company and they will say 2* is to be expected, tell a picky customer and they will say 2* is the end of the world !

[cgarb]

I was not concerned about it at all to tell you the truth, I just was curious about that is all. People laugh about how crappy Herbert cams are, but all 3 that I have owned checked dead on with a degree wheel. The Crane came was the 1st one I've ran into with an issue...very small be it. I wondered if the Herbert company grinds the cam to whatever and just records that on the cam card also... You order one thing and get something close to what you ordered. A degree here, couple thou lift different here but all in all what you ordered. But whatever is on the cam card is what works out on the degree wheel.

[benno318]

i hate when youre tired, busy, and to try and catch up you stay back late. then make a mistake, that costs you $$ and defeats the purpose of staying back in the first place!

just last month i was trying to finish these 6 mitsubishi single cylinder truck heads for a customer (damn sight easier than handling the long 6 cylinder heads) come about 10pm my eyes start to blur up, plus the lighting in my shop is not great - all i was doing was fitting the new injector tubes with an install broaching tool - anyway, was doing all 6 at once, rushing a little, low on light, and just over it generally - i missed the fact that i had not one but 2 of them cocked over slightly - $30ea plus freight plus an extra day to get them - should have gone home for a warm meal and finished it in the morning. instead it delayed the job an extra day and cost me money. damn.

[GARY C]

You pull an all nighter building a big block then you fire it in the car and the faint low end noise is telling you that you only tqed 7 of the 8 rods... thankfully no damage, tqed it in the car reinstalled pan and lived happily ever after

[cgarb]

Your lucky. I found my only untorqued rod at the bottom end of the track...swept up a bunch of other stuff too. Lifters, pieces of block, lots of staydry. That was ugly...being in a hurry doesn't pay.

[Dave Koehler]

I had a fuel car that only got fired up at the track.
Did an all nighter starting with a bare chassis and bare block.
Loaded it in the trailer about dawn.
Went to my spare parts cabinet to gather up things to load.
Rods, check
clutch discs, check
oil pump, check
Hazy Huh? moment.
I don't have a spare oil pump.
Sigh

[Dave Koehler]

Your lucky. I found my only untorqued rod at the bottom end of the track...swept up a bunch of other stuff too. Lifters, pieces of block, lots of staydry. That was ugly...being in a hurry doesn't pay.

Had a local team with an Anglia gasser. Young and having fun.
After getting it together they did high rpm launchs in the parking lot.
Boom,
rod on the ground.
silence
One of them picks up the offending rod.
OK, who torqued #6?
Engine by committee never seems to work out

[Dave Koehler]

Working late prepping my blown alky quick 8 type car.
Way past tired.
Getting ready to fill it with the oil.
Fellow stops by. One of those won't shut up guys.
I fire the car up.
Warm it a bit, rap it a couple of times.
Probably ran about 3 minutes
And then
I spot the oil pressure gauge on zero.
As I shut it off I hear a squeak. I kind of know what that may mean
At the same time the guy taps me on the shoulder and points to the floor
where the fresh oils sits.
Sigh
Turn off the lights, go home.

Having nothing to lose the next morning.
I rotate it and much to my surprise it turns over normally.
I fill it with oil and prime the bejesus out of it for the longest time.
Then check, change the filter. Nothing of consequence found.
Fire it up and all is normal.

Ran it the rest of the season before taking a look. Absolutely nothing amiss.
There is evidence here that round holes, straight lines and proper clearance pays off.
That and the fact that is was not under load saved the day...or night as it were.

[KnightEngines]

I put my hand into a flycutter when it was still spinning down after an 18hr day followed by 6hrs sleep and another 12hr day (would have been longer, but ambulance carted me away).
Was too tired, did a finish cut in the opposite direction to normal to get it done quicker, I normally shut off the flycutter & feed the bed back, by the time it's back the cutter has stopped. But I fed it the other way & didn't have to feed it back, cutter was still spinning pretty damn fast when I stuck my hand under to undo the clamp.
Cost me 3 months of shutdown, 43 stitches, 2× repaired tendons, a screw to hold a bone together, permanent loss of 50% movement in my right thumb, 15% in my wrist & a bunch of pain.
Tired + fast spinning things dont mix.

[cjperformance]

^^ tony ! Farken ouch!!

[tresi]

I put my hand into a flycutter when it was still spinning down after an 18hr day followed by 6hrs sleep and another 12hr day (would have been longer, but ambulance carted me away).
Was too tired, did a finish cut in the opposite direction to normal to get it done quicker, I normally shut off the flycutter & feed the bed back, by the time it's back the cutter has stopped. But I fed it the other way & didn't have to feed it back, cutter was still spinning pretty damn fast when I stuck my hand under to undo the clamp.
Cost me 3 months of shutdown, 43 stitches, 2× repaired tendons, a screw to hold a bone together, permanent loss of 50% movement in my right thumb, 15% in my wrist & a bunch of pain.
Tired + fast spinning things dont mix.

As bad as that was you were lucky. Most of the hands getting caught in spinning things stories end worse.

[MadBill]

I'm flashing to a auto machine shop co-owner I know that is occasionally referred to as Cap'n Hook...