So im doing a cam swap.
When i pulled the original cam I can se some copper spots on the front cam bearing.
Nothing major, no "grooves" in the bearing, and I cleaned up the camshaft and the lobes are perfect as well as the journals.
Just like a mirror. No pits, scratches, nothing.

Also the bearing has no dents in it.

I installed the new cam with oil on it, and it spins smooth by hand.

Questions is, is this "normal" wear, and ok to run with or should I go throu the major process of change all the cam bearings?
Motor only has 55000 miles on it.

Its a 1991 TPI / L98

Thank you.

 

No one ever seen this?
😢

 

I've seen it. Could be accelerated wear, could be the cam bearings aren't perfectly concentric with eachother, could be the cam tunnel isn't perfectly straight. Could be a bunch of things that don't necessarily indicate imminent disaster. Does the motor hold good oil pressure (especially hot, at idle)?

Also, is the oil feed hole in the cam bearing in roughly the 4:00 position. It should be. Oil should be fed there so that it "sweeps" down into the 6:00 position, where the highest load happens on the cam bearings.

In most cases, not a big deal and nothing I'd rip a motor out for unless you have other "tell tale" signs of significant bearing wear or engine "death noises". Next time you get the motor rebuild you'll want to address it, but it's not a show-stopper at this point.

Put a little thicker oil in the motor if you're nervous about it.