225 Camshaft Supply Drying Up

There was another post here a few weeks ago about having a hard time finding a 225 oddfire camshaft, and I am having same problem. I guess factor this into your engine rebuilding decisions.

engine shop said my cam still had life and so I will just put it back in.

comp cams said they haven’t gotten a shipment of blanks in a long time, if they get another one it will be a month for comp to grind it.
Melling keeps kicking back their delivery date.
ta performance said they can t find anything and last person had to ship theirs to be inspected for hardness depth and reground.

 

Not surprised, getting harder and harder to find a lot of parts for these old jeeps. I got to the point where I save every thing I remove or replace if it is serviceable at all. Never know when you may not be able to replace them. Every time I order parts like oil seals and bearings I order a extra one.

 

I'm still waiting on one.
It seems Melling is the sole supplier for everyone and they don't seem to be in a hurry to make any.
I have one on order from Summit and a "notify me when available " on Rock Auto.
Summit just keeps pushing the delivery date further out.

When they do become available I'm going to buy two of them. I will either use the spare in a future build or just consider it an investment in precious metals.

 

My wife keeps telling me investing in Jeep part futures is not a reasonable retirement plan, but someone could buy a bulk of these and make a killing in 10 years.

 

I had called Comp Cams about 2 weeks ago and the lady that answered the phone had told me same thing that they were waiting on blanks. She said they were expected beginning of April and then would be put in que to grind, her guess was mid April to send out.

 

I doubt I can replace my 4.3 cam. It's a part used for 1 year. Anything newer is roller lifters. Anything older is semi-odd fire.

 

I saw the post a couple weeks ago about camshafts drying up so I impulse bought a 212 from CompCams. It's now in my attic waiting for the 71 when it needs a rebuild.

 

Guess I should buy a cam while I still can if I need it for the future.

 

Here you go.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2767754928...2BqrBH+tMVGe2OoKy76tTzV1A=|tkp:Bk9SR-bAv52zZQ

 

Now out to the end of April for delivery on a camshaft. Wouldn't suprise me if it gets pushed out even further.

 

Y'all got me worried now. Seriously thinking of splurging on a spare when they get done grinding the new blanks.

 

Called comp cams this morning about my order from 2 months ago…they still didn’t have blanks so I went ahead and cancelled it.

 

Bad deal.

 

You can always have someone grind one grind one from steel "billet". The 225 cams with the keyed gear would work really well as you could still use the stock gear and not have to worry about bronze or composite distributor gears. I went though this can of worms putting together the sbc in my 3B. That engine block was machined for the larger big block cam journals and no one had a cam core available suitable for grinding a hydraulic roller for the low end torque cam I had in mind. It ended getting ground from a stick of 8620 steel by Jones Cam Design.

 

Have you tried Isky cams, last I checked they still have have odd fire cams available

 

Isky still shows them on their site but doesn't say if they have any in stock ready to ship. Kinda pricey at 440 for the cam only

 

If you're interested in a regrind, these guys have been around for decades. I personally have not used them. Berry Cam Service Minnesota

 

Yeah, but in the big picture, what is your time and mental health worth, compared to hoping to (maybe) save a dollar?

These days it costs a hundred bucks to go out for a burger and a beer.

 

True. Its all part of the risk when choosing to use an obsolete motor with limited production compared to a sbc or ls. Its a miracle anyone still makes anything for the oddfires.