camshaft question

[Stuart72Sprint]

My 72 (Fed) Sprint has a "W" series engine number, which from Miles Wilkins' book (Pg 184) suggests that it has the relatively rare "E" series cams. I'm pretty sure the engine is stock and has been well looked after, but with 82K miles on the odometer, how much life can I expect out of these cams? The car is running fine, so I'm not about to disturb anything, but want to make sure that I keep it all in good shape.
Any advice much appreciated. (I'm running Mobil 1, with annual [< 3K miles] changes)
Thanks

Stuart

[schroeder]

Cams should be fine after 82k provided the oil system is ok

Stu

[rgh0]

82 K miles should not result in any problems however it is easy enough to check the cams and followers in situ.

Pull the cam cover and measure the lobe heights with a micrometer. Any variation between lobes or versus the original specification indicates wear. Similarly look at the followers top surfaces looking for wear in the cam contact patch versus the outer ring on the following where the cam does not contact.

If you have slight wear that has not resulted in surface damage then you can keep running the cams and followers. Any visual surface roughness will result in rapid failure and cams and buckets should be replaced immediately.

It only takes about 30 minutes to check it once a year and you should have many more years of trouble free cam and follower life.

regards
Rohan

[Stuart72Sprint]

Thanks Stu and Rohan - your input is greatly appreciated.

Stuart