Beware: Kelford Camshafts

[adi2009]

I've owned my Supra MK4 for 20 years now and in that time, I had grown to enjoy working on this engine so much that I went on to add a couple of more 2JZ cars to the garage. (Aristo 161, E36 2JZ). During my tenure of owning these cars I have bought and installed; the HKS 264 cams, the GSC S1 cams and the Kelford 260 cams. The Kelfords were my last purchase and the quality has been a bit of a shocker to me. 

 

Once I received them, I noticed that the overall quality of the casting looked quite poor in comparison to the OEM and HKS cams (GSC is billet). I proceeded to install them in my engine. However upon closer inspection I noticed what appeared to be a hairline crack at the edge, on the front tip adjoining the sprocket locating pin. As I felt the crack with my finger, a small piece where the crack originated fell apart. It seems like a stress crack while machining the dowel pin. Kelford refuse to acknowledge that it could be a manufacturing defect and insist that it happened in transit or during installation. 

 

[Swampy442]

How can that happen in transit? Its obvious its poor material and pressing the dowel in caused the issue. Outrageous.

[Mike2JZ]

SRD uses Kelford on pretty much everything. Can't say we've ever seen anything like this in probably 100+ sets of camshafts, normally quality is up there, hence why we use them. 

That said I guess anything could happen in manufacturing/transportation/installation etc. Disapointing to hear they arent a bit more open to helping you out. Did you buy direct or through a dealer? If through a dealer I'd see if they can leverage a bit to help you out.