Why ?
Do you think I just imagined that question ?
*****
When you are measuring these cam lobes..
Can't you just cut a hole in sheet metal , split it at the hole , which was the size of the main cam shaft....and then put the two sides up against the side of a lobe and trace around it ?
Then measure on a table ?
If you make witness lines in two directions when drilling out the hole... you can use that to measure the height ... and you have the profile traced...

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1980 240d ,

chain elongation, cam marks reference:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/10414-help-i-need-check-stretch.html

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/305365-9-degrees-chain-stretch.html

evap fin cleaning:

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/156207-photo-step-step-post-showing-w123-evaporator-removal-1983-240d-1982-300td.html?highlight=evaporator

A/C thread

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/297462-c-recommendations-mb-vehicles.html

No not easily partly 'cos you've got the camshaft bearing bits in the way - it would be a real pain trying to get metal to reach up against the side of a cam lobe - and partly because the tips of the lobe are narrower than they are on the shaft. They taper...

I'll stick with the tried and tested line up the teeth on a cog and measure with a DTI method I used last year.

As for the first comment - did you imagine the question or have you read something I haven't somewhere? I did the 2mm lift method as per the FSM to check if my new timing chain was good - paranoid eh? - and it was at (drum roll please) zero degrees.

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!