I was just reading about Jay Brown's cammer build. It is very clear that his experience with these complex motors has given him the skill to be able to solve many issues. I really respect that. I clearly do not have that expertise and as a result have had to rely on others to get me through the building of my 452 SOHC. For the past 5 years I had been accumulating the parts to build one of these motors and as a hobbyist I find it extremely rare to find honest people in the cammer world. Many out there peddling parts do not have a clue about what they are doing and do not stand behind what they sell and most of it is pure junk.
I purchased a front cover from Dove along with the backing plate and the interchangeable top intake. When it came to assembling the motor, the cover did not fit as the holes did not line up and the backing plate was the same story. As for the intake, the plate that goes under the intake was misdrilled and the top had to be completely reworked as it was chipped and the screws were not able to hold the top together. I ended up getting a new front cover from Pond and it fit like a glove and I was fortunate enough that Jim Barillaro who built the motor had an extra backing plate that was the correct thickness and configuration. The Dove front cover is now a dog dish for Jim Barillaro's dog to eat out of and the backing plate is scrap. I don't understand how Dove stays in business as he obviously has no scruples and does not care what goes out his door to customers. Does it make sense that you buy new parts and have to repair them before you can use them.
I had purchased much of the valve train from a now defunct business called Cammer Concepts run by Michael Deutsch. It turns out that the billet steel T&D rockers that I purchased from him had the adjuster nuts made from tool steel instead of 8620 steel. When Jim Barillaro had the motor on the dyno and shut it off to check the valves, he discovered that when he turned the nuts, they crumbled. T & D asked Jim to send back all the rockers which he did and T & D replaced all the adjusters and nuts with the proper material. They mentioned that Cammer Concepts had insisted that they use tool steel and many sets had come back with the same problems. T & D stood behind the product free of charge. The billet rocker shafts happened to be ok.
I also bought the cams from Cammer Concepts as well as the valves, bee hive valve springs, titanium retainers, and locks. This turned out to be a complete disaster that necessitated that the motor having to come apart after the first dyno session. The billet cams were fabricated by Comp Cams and both the right and left cams had the same profiles, so they did not make any power. Jim Barillaro had to tear down the top end of the motor, send the cams to Comp Cams and they reground them free of charge but I had to pay for new springs and retainers. After I notified Cammer Concepts about the problems and then tried to contact Deutsch about the costs involved, he never returned a call or e-mailed me. I had to absorb the costs of the parts and the labor. No wonder he is out of business and I am sure I am not the only unhappy customer.
Next up was Butch Engelbrecht of the SOHC Shop. I bought supposedly a mint set of iron cammer heads from him. The first problem was that he sent me two left hand heads and being inexperienced I only realized this about a year after the purchase as I had been stock piling the parts. I originally thought that they would be interchangeable. I finally tracked him down and he did send me a right hand head but the left heads both needed a lot of work to make them serviceable. So much for selling me what I paid for in terms of mint heads. I also bought chain guides from him and the top one had a large piece of it missing. Thankfully, Barillaro had a mint one to replace it with. The cam gears that I did buy from him were good quality.
All I can say is buyer beware of these three guys as they have no morals and their actions illustrate this. I feel fortunate that I had the financial fortitude to overcome these problems. The only person that I had the pleasure of dealing with throughout this whole ordeal was Jim Barillaro. He has been building these motors since 1969 and was essential in providing me the motor that I asked for. From the Shelby block to the billet Crower crank and billet Crower rods and Arias pistons he provided me with all the guidance to get these components properly specified and made. He meticulously built and tested the motor and I feel very good about the finished product. It is a stout streetable motor and it arrived last week and it will be installed in a GT40. Jim has been a pleasure to deal with and I highly recommend him. He says what he means and he follows through on what he promises. There are no games and complete transparency. What a rarity.....like these motors.
