Just pulled this out of an old 350. Comp tech support said they couldn't find the part in their system so I'm guessing its an older cam.

comp cams 3
12-289-2 228

275 is stamped diagonally over the two lines

 

im betting thats 12-209-2 that would make it a 275deh.

http://www.compcams.com/Company/CC/c...?csid=105&sb=2

 

That would be my guess also. I have an old CC catalog and that grind isn't listed. I doubt you would get a 12-289 grind with a -2. it would be at least a -4.

What you have is basically a slightly hopped up, inexpensive hydraulic flat tappet street cam.

 

Wouldn't be a bad grind if it were in good shape, it was going back in the same block, and all the lifters were in good shape and marked so they could be matched back up on the same lobes. Its about as big of a grind as I would consider running on a car with a/c, vacuum assisted brakes, and an automatic tranmsmission with a tight torque converter. Probably only creates ~14 in/hg of vacuum @ 700 rpm in a 9:1 350.

http://www.jegs.com/i/Comp-Cams/249/12-209-2/10002/-1

 

12-209-2 275DEH 275 277 219 229 .462 .482 110°

 

A used flat tappet camshaft that's in good condition can easily be reused providing the used lifters are reinstalled on the original lobes or new lifters are installed.

OEM hydraulic flat tappet lifters are cheap.

 

What about using new lifters on the used cam? The cam looks to be in great shape

 

That's where it gets dicey….the original lifters and lobes wore together during break-in, so when you introduce a new lifter into the mix, it doesn't match with the existing wear on the lobe.

It would be like breaking in a new cam…or worse. Could you get away with it?….maybe, but I wouldn't do it. Just bite the bullet and get a new cam and lifter set.

 

I already said original lifters on original lobes or use new lifters.

There's no harm in putting new lifters on an old cam. They will wear into the cam as they spin. You just can't put already worn lifters on a new cam or onto different lobes that they were not worn in on.

Basic daily driver street engine. If you had a hydraulic lifter fail internally that doesn't damage the camshaft would you replace the camshaft and all the lifters or drop in a new lifter?

Under normal wear a tear, your lifters will wear a lot faster than a cam lobe.

 

Well I finally got the old engine completely disassembled and the crank is pretty rough as are the cylinder walls. I'm gonna call it all garbage besides the block and the rods and just go with that

 

Alky - Never tried putting new lifters on an old cam. I understand the cam lobes are hardened, and technically they should be fine. In a perfect world, the lifters will wear first with no wear on the cam at all…I got that. I also agree that you may need to replace one lifter…

Still - the only time I would even consider running new lifters on an older cam is if I were installing this in a higher milage engine that I had to get back on the road out of need or didn't care much about.

I'd personally never do it on a fresh rebuild. In my mind, it's akin to moving a dollar out of the way to pick up a nickel in that particular case. But maybe that's just me...

A lot of times, you can just replace brake pads on a car and not bother machining or replacing the rotors and it works fine….sometimes not. But it's a lot more work replacing a cam.

Again, new lifters/old cam is something I've never tried and if you say it'll be fine, I'll take your word for it…..but I personally STILL wouldn't do it. Let's agree to disagree on this one!