2 replies to this topic

[PACINO]

Hi everyone! I find it incredible that a camshaft can break so easily. It's 54 years old. A friend sent me it packed in a cardboard box, and on the outside the box did not have any damage.

[Spider]

Wow !

Could you kindly post a couple of photos of the break itself ? End on ?

[DeadSquare]

Looking at the oily marks on the wrapping paper, the two pieces travelled quite a long way in a separated state.

 

It is a sad fact of life for engineers, that hard metal is more brittle than tough metal.  Tough metal can be given a hard coat, but things start costing more, so cam shafts, which don't encounter much stress but need to be hard, are made from a hard but brittle steel.

 

I remember watching the start of a race at Silverstone.  When the flag dropped, there was a bang and a "U2" jerked forward as a con-rod stepped out of bed, punched the camshaft and kicked a hole in the block, ..........  and two cam lobes rolled towards the pit wall.

Edited by DeadSquare, 07 March 2024 - 09:51 AM.