Fiat TC - odd cam lobe wear

[fiat124sedan]

Whilst going through head gasket replacement, I found the following and I had absolutely no idea what might be to blame.

First thing I noticed was the scoring on the cam shim. So I looked at the cam to see what might have caused it and noticed that the cam lobe was worn to an edge!

I consulted with Guy and he suggested I put it up here for all to see. His suggestion is that it may be the result of dry startup - could be from the recent time that my car was pulled onto a trailer-truck, forcing all the oil away from the front of the cam boxes...or it may have just been I did not put oil diligently into the cam boxes once upon a time in a build...but then, that's not really possible as the oil filler cap on a Fiat TC is right above number one exhaust cam lobe - the one that's worn in this pic...

Food for thought.

[sumplug]

Looks like you have been running with too little clearance, wrong timing, blocked or partial blocked oilways, or a combination of all or some of above.
Running with the wrong oil filter can drain the cam boxes dry.
!t must of been making quite a noise whilst running to cause that damage!!
Was the cam box dry or wet with oil on removal of the cover?

Andy.