The lifters go first and once the loose their radius ( they are high in the center to make them rotate ) and become low in the center they start riding the edge of the cam lobes. The worst cam wear happens as the lifter goes toward and over the nose. If there is anything your finger nail will catch it's done. I have a load of cam cores as I only use new cams on fresh blanks. Regrinds for me are a thing of the past. Steve (CTR)

Dang, all the followers I just pulled were pitted really badly..  Cam looked "alright" and only one lobe showed pitting.  Guess I was looking at the wrong things.

Awesome info. I was planning on adding fuel injection as well so a hotter cam would be better for that too. I’ll look into the other options. This engine, alone, is going to break by wallet. Haha

Put a MG Metro cam in the 998 with Cooper head, lcb...worked well.

I'm using an SW5 cam in my 1098.  With that and a couple other mods....keeps up easily with a stock 1275

As mentioned oil not being what it once was cams and lifters are suffering. Kent offers a copy of just about any worthwhile grind you could want. They are ground on a new blank, rifle drilled and pressure oiling to the lobes. I think the MG Metro grind also mentioned is a very good all round cam. Look at your lifters and it they are pitted chances are your cam is toast. Steve (CTR) 

731 or a Russell engineering RE 266ss

731 or a Russell engineering RE 266ss 

The MG Metro cam, or the Kent Cams KC500 version of it, is an absolute belter in a 1098 or bigger.

Any performance mini camshaft will come with the wider cam lobes, 1/2” vs 3/8”

Considering the loss of zddp in oil, you may see some reliability improvement with the wider lobe. However, you will absolutely see an improvement with a road performance oriented camshaft profile. The stock 998/1098 cam leaves so much room for improvement.

The stock cam is not worth the cost of shipping.

You would never regret the costs of improving the camshaft or timing gear components on any mini engine.

I am getting ready to begin my engine reassembly but I’m thinking my cam is shot. I want to take it to the machine shop to confirm my suspicions. If I’m right, does anyone happen to have a stock cam laying around for a 1098?