Is this rusty cam usable after it's cleaned up? Just polish it up and send it? What's my chances?

Will polishing work on the "last-known existing 4.3 reverse rotation flat tappet cam in the Free world" gonna work? I'm going to try some very fine polishing strap, kind of like Emery cloth but even finer and give it a try. I need this to work, it's for the 64 Corvair
#nonamenationals #raycr #posracing #rustsucks #corvair #v6 #engines #sendit #camshaft #short #shorts #shortsvideo #chevy #chevrolet #fail #getlucky

[@ryurc3033]

Seen worse work out. Go for it.

[@Raycr]

I gave it a polish and it seems to be good

[@peterphillips1493]

Another thing to take into account is if it goes bad the metal will be throughout the engine possibly costing more money than just getting a new stick in the first place

[@Raycr]

Definitely a consideration. An other consideration is that this seems to be the last cam available to do what we need it to do.

[@OldcarsNmusic]

I have a cam that has good lobes but the journals have some solidified gunk on them. I'm gonna' see if I can get that gunk off, and see how well she cleans up.

[@peterphillips1493]

With rust on the lobes I wouldn’t chance it,especially if it has pitting..that’s one for the nut down the street to make yard art

[@Raycr]

This is the better choice of the only 2 I know of

[@johnwilburn]

I want to see how this turns out because I have a cam that's rusty for a different reason and I hope to reuse it.

[@Raycr]

It did polish up nice. Just hope that the coating isn't mandatory!

[@johnwilburn]

@@Raycr Let us know how the break-in goes. Fingers crossed!

[@craig8187]

It is definitely useable. Clean the rust up gently with scotch brite and WD40, clean off VERY well, (brake cleaner or thinners is best) spray the lobes with john deere graphite lube spray or Dow Molycote. When the spray is dry, prelube lobes and lifter (bases only) with Moly grease.
Make sure lifter bore clearance is good and every lifter moves freely in every bore. With cam fitted(do this before prelube as a dummy fit/check) make sure all lobes are OFF center viewed down through the lifter bores, centered lobes will kill lifters in minutes.
Use oil with 1200 to 2200 ppm Zddp
Prime oil , ignition etc to make sure engine fires immediately. As soon as oil pressure is up, get rpm to 1500-2000 to break cam in. Change oil and filter, drive on!

[@Raycr]

@@craig8187 Sound advice for sure. Thank you
I didn't think about a graphite spray