I bought an LT1 cam from some dude and unfortunately there's some rust on the cam. I'm talking about on the cam lobes and the bearing surfaces. Should I take it to a machine shop? Use some sand paper? Just toss the cam in?

Thanks

 

if it's bad enough to need sand paper trash it, brass wire brush on a bench grinder works good for rust removal or scotch brite

 

Id say its time 4 a refund

 

As usual, Ed is probably right. If it were a flat tappet cam, you could likely get away with sanding the lobes, but a roller lobe AND the journals are a little more sensitive to surface finish. If you need much more than an oily ScotchBrite to clean them up, they probably shouldn't be used. If there is only some staining and discoloration after the cleaning with a ScotchBrite (and no pitting) you should be safe.

Try the brown (more coarse) ScothchBrites rather than the green ones.

Got a photo?