A10 engine rebuild.. need cam followers!

[Big Seven]

Hi folks, I recently bought my A10 only to be told by a friendly mechanic,that the gear side bush sounded worn!! Turns out he was smack on... not only that, the cam is sh---ed and the followers!, the crank needed grinding(new shells to -30) and the journal end. On top of that the n/s (left) piston had a shattered scraper ring, fortunately this must have happened recently as the majority of the bits seem to have stayed with the ring causing only minor scoring. The upshot of this is that I have had the crank ground by Hargreaves nr Carmarthen(a lovely job they did to!!), s/h cam courtesy of C&D Auto's (now near Ullenhall) also a gasket set, main end bearing, shells and rings etc...
The camshaft is a 356(think it should be a 344) but I may have found a 344, either way I now need followers to suit one or t'other, so the question is does anybody have a set they don't need. Cash would of course be forthcoming!!  . Looking forward to your eager reply's...

[Greybeard]

I bought cam followers from Draganfly.

[trevinoz]

Use the 356.
Trev.

[a10 gf]

Welcome to the forum, am hoping you will find it useful.
(And as usual, a reminder that a presentation in 'Bikes, Pictures & Members' is always appreciated)

[orabanda]

I support Trev's good advice!

[Big Seven]

Okay seem's I will have to use the 356 (thanks for the input),still have'nt been able to source a 344. I assume this will enhance performance or acceleration? or something!! Can you tell me in more detail what it's likely to do. Was this cam a development to improve all  round performance, better fuel con, smoother, faster etc, or acceleration/speed/top speed.. or what ?

Still looking for cam followers, seems people are waiting for batches to be produced, C&D Auto's are the most reasonable but I'll have to be patient. Can't sit around for ever though so I bought myself one of those R Enfield 500 moderns for a bit of fun. :)

[muskrat]

G'day Big Seven, "good things come to those that wait" or put a wanted post for good 2nd hand followers.
The 356 cam gives a lot better mid range and torque over the 344. The 357 is for rev heads like me for more top end.
         io   ic   eo  ec
344 = 24, 65, 60, 21.5
356 = 30, 70, 65, 25
357 = 42, 62, 67, 37
Cheers

[trevinoz]

The early cam is a 334.
It was replaced by the 356 in later years, which is the "sporty" cam as used in Rockets and Shooting Stars.

Trev.

[KiwiGF]

Ive a 356 in my a10 and (edit) although it is the sporty cam as trev says it does not make the engine really sporty like the 357 does (unedit) and I've not heard anyone say that they prefer the 334 over the 356 for low down poke or other reason, the 356 only has only about 020 more lift over the 334 so does not strain the valve gear and from what I can see it's just an all round better cam than the 334 especially if the compression is up a bit over standard, as most engines are it seems, with flat topped pistons being a popular choice.

How stuffed are the followers you have got, can they be reground and hardened?

I think I read british only austria sell followers but the quality was suspect.

[Greybeard]

I bought cam followers from Draganfly.

I needed to clean up the pushrod cups on the new followers though; they were pretty poor. I used an old pushrod in my electric drill held in the vice jaws and grinding paste. I held the followers and worked them against the spinning pushrod to clean up the radii. Finished of with first wirewool then cloth and metal polish wrapped around the pushrod.

[chaterlea25]

Hi All,
I know SRM will build up and reprofile your old cam followers,
the ones in my SR were done when I built the engine and have been fine for 11or 12 years and I  dont spare it
I have just recieved another set for a customer build and I'm confident they will be as good

HTH
John

[wardleybob]

Hy I don,t know wear you are but I can get your old ones redone .I have had loads done. Wardlebob Tyne and wear.

[Briz]

Get the followers refaced, as others have suggested.
SRM build them up with stellite and then regrind, The surface is better wearing than the standard cast iron.

[trevinoz]

I don't think that they are cast iron.
I had several sets reground and hardened.

Trev.

[Briz]

Maybe not - but thats what the guys at Megacycle cams told me. They reface them too.
They're not really very hard whatever they're made of. Stellite is always going to be better.