Ah, I only read the top link where they mentioned the KA24, the other links looked like they wanted me to pay, so didn't go there. The old Cortina engine (we never got the Pinto, so it's not a Pinto engine to me) certainly had cam problems, but they weren't the normal pitting of lobes and followers you get with pushrod engines. The lobe would wear at an angle, and the clacking was the finger follower flicking off to the side. Then a fractured oil pipe which squirted oil onto the lobes wouldn't help...the 2 were separate problems, you didn't need a broken pipe to get a clacking follower, and a broken pipe didn't mean the cam or followers were going to be a problem.
The Mitsubishi 4D56 had similar problems, they would come in with a cyl out going duh, duh, duh out the intake. The roller on the rocker would be collapsed, but the wasn't the whole problem. The rocker shaft would wear, this put the rocker at an angle, loading the roller, and the angled roller would wear into the cam. You could replace individual components, but the real fix was rocker shaft, camshaft and rockers. Could be an oil related problem, as I haven't seen one do that for a decade, and they are still around...but the oil is better.