It is common for the air cooled cam shifts to go bad. Basically, the
lifters will start to collapse,(dish on the face) and the lifter walls
will make those lovely grooves in the center of the cam lobes.

The uneven wear on the main bearings is an indication that the case is
worn or warped and is basically garbage. Proper fix will include removing
all the center studs, machining both sides flush and then re-assembling
with an align-bore for both the main and cam journals. Then you need to
reface the area where the cylinders sit. This is job for Bob. The
Brazilian piston sets have a lousy finish but they will usually work just
fine if the case and heads are good. I gave up rebuilding these engines
years ago because the case work is too expensive and they are still only
good for one over heating event.

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
thomas LaPointe
Sent: Monday, March 24, 2008 5:17 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Air cooled camshaft

after pulling down our so called "rebuilt" 2.0 air cooled I inherited. I
noticed the cam is bad as I suspected.
1. is there a "better" cam or cam grind I should use on this ex
Californian
injected 82 Westy?  this engine only had about 4-500 miles since the
supposed rebuild by a shop in Colorado springs many years ago. the cam has
uneven surfaces on the larger lobes and I cannot believe that someone
would
install this.also we noticed that the main bearings had uneven wear on one
side. sheesh!
2. it has Mahle of Brazil Pistons and cylinders. how were the quality of
these?
thanks, Thomas

--
1985 Full Westy "Rustfalia"
1982 Full Westy "dead engine on the mend"
1991 GL "smokers cough"
1972 Honda Z600 2 cyl