Hello,
ive got a 2002 flhtcui. It’s been upgraded to a SE 95 ci kit with 203 cams. It’s an older kit and the coating is starting to wear off of the cams. I’ve talked to a local reputable independent mechanical and he suggested to go with the S&S 510 cams. I’ve done some research and seen that the 203 cam is more comporable to the 509 cam. I love the way it performs now. What do you all think?

 

coating is starting to wear off?

Someone is feeding you BS

There will be marks where the lifter contacts the cam... that is normal.

Cams are hardened, I have seen (especially in Kawasaki ZRX's) where the cam lobes became pitted , but they were still usable.

S&S does not recommend the 509 cam with a 95 inch displacement from what I have seen.... and I looked because I have 509G's and was thinking about going for a few more inches.

The gentleman that keeps my TC 88 running, and put the 509's in mine runs 510's in his 88TC, 2002. IIRC he said they lacked some bottom end grunt.

I can't say I have ever heard of a case hardening failure on a HD cam

 

Thanks! That’s what the local Harley dealership told me when I took it in to have the cam tensioners checked.
So, in your opinion, I have nothing to worry about?
The local mechanic even said it was a thing with the coatings coming off the cams. Maybe it’s just a Harley cam deal? He stated that he didn’t have much faith in the Harley cams and when they lose the coating, it can start to flake off and cause the cam followers to lock up.

 

take a look at Andrews 21 or 23 cams better yet call them and tell them what you are looking for

 

Thanks! I’ll look into those!

 

I have a 02 Flhtc with Lehman conversion. I'm running 95in SS510 gear drive CV carb with a dynojet kit and screaming eagle ignition. The 510's really pull strong candidate at about 2500 rpm and up.

 

but back to the original question.... WHAT FILM?

The crappy tensioners would blow apart long before a cam failed... and as I said above cams rarely fail

When the tensioners break and get into the oil pump.... then you have a problem

Lifter failure... yes that happens.

Did HD switch to an inferior cam bearing ... yes.

google Harley cam failure, let me know when you find a cam that failed due to poor heat treatment

 

I went with SE 257 cams with SE CNC heads and 10.5:1 SE pistons (I got a really good deal on them when my nephew went a different direction and didn't want them) and new SE jugs in my engine rebuild on my project Ultra Annie. It has Rinehart true duals and a TTS Master Tune. The performance on the low end is good, but not impressive. The cam really kicks in around 2500 and will get up and go. I have not put it on a dyno yet...

 

I had a previousRoad King with the SE 203 cams and my current with the Andrews 21 cams and there is a difference between them. The 21s start making usable power well below 2k and just pull like a tractor up and beyond rpms I rarely if ever hit.

 

I'll offer my 2 cents on three points....

1) If you didn't misunderstand your mechanic, and he actually said that he "didn’t have much faith in the Harley cams and when they lose the coating, it can start to flake off and cause the cam followers to lock up." .... If by "cam follower" he meant cam tensioner pads, he's an idiot... it is not the cam coating flaking off that causes the spring tensioners (followers) to fail... it's a combo of spring tension, the link chain used, and the tensioner material. If by "cam follower" he meant the lifters, he's not totally off base. The Harley "C" lifters were introduced around 2010ish and are junk. The previous lifters were good performers. However if any kind of debris circulates with your oil, it can lodge in, and plug, any lifter and will cause serious issues. Some people refer to them as secondary filters... While I've seen/read about HD "C" lifters and a couple cams wear poorly for various reasons and need replacing, I don't ever remember seeing a cam "flake"...

2) I was told by Jaime at FuelMoto, when looking for conversion cams for my SE203 cams (that I really liked), that the Woods TW6-6R cams were "somewhat similar" to the SE203 and would work well with my SE (95ci) big bore kit.

3) I'm not knocking S&S cams as I've never used them, but I ended up using Andrews 26 conversion cams in my 95ci engine and it runs at least as good as the SE203 cams did. I have a friend with Andrews 21 cams in his 88ci engine and it runs really well....

Good luck with your decisions...