Getting Close to Start Up-What else can I Screw Up?

[Chaplin]

Boss-
With all due respect, you might as well stop asking questions because you are not listening to the answers. You asked about your cam choice, and there was almost unanimous consent that it was too big and you would not be happy with it. Yet, you chose to stick with that cam and not switch it. That is your decision and I understand it . . . I did the same thing with my first cam- I didn't think I'd like it from the beginning but I was too excited to get the car on the road that I decided I'd live with it for a while. Well, 3000 miles later I couldn't take it anymore, and pulled the motor to change the cam to something that was more street friendly. It would have been much easier (and cheaper) to change the cam before the motor went in the first time, but I was eager and impatient to get the car on the road so I ignored my instinct and what other people told me.

Now, just about everyone who has replied to this thread- including one very experienced, competent and respected FE builder has told you to remove the inner springs when you break-in the cam. And if you talk to any other reputable engine builder like KC or Gessford they will tell you to do the exact same thing. And now you question the need to remove the inner springs because it will be too much work? Trust me, it will be even more work to pull the motor, tear it down and rebuild the whole thing again if you wipe a cam lobe because you were too lazy to spend a couple of extra hours to pull the inner springs and break the cam in properly. The expression penny wise pound foolish comes to mind.

As everyone has said, because of the changes to the oil formulations, there is more risk of cam failure on break-in with flat tappet cams than there was years ago. Therefore, if you are dead set on using a flat tappet cam, you need to do everything possible to give yourself the best possible chance of success. And one of the things that can greatly reduce the risk of failure is to pull the inner springs. Maybe break-in will be o.k. with the inner springs in, or maybe not, who knows. If it were my big $$ FE, I would do everything I could to give it every chance of succeeding. But it is your motor, your money and your time, so if you are a gambler by nature and feel comfortable rolling the dice, have at it.