Helping me with this cam specs

[Bewy]

That is a very old cam. More recent cams are rarely ground with 114 LSA, including Crane cams. 114 is a loser. After D. Vizard tested 19000+ cams for Crane, the cams in later Crane catalogs were ground on tighter LSAs.

Hyd lifter cams.

In the 1984 Crane catalog, there are 13 cams listed, 6 are on 114 LSA. One is on 106 LSA
In the 2010 catalog, there are 47 cams listed. 7 are on 114 LSA, 13 on 106 LSA & 1 on 104 LSA. I used the SB Chev section because there are more cams & gives a better representation of the numbers involved.
Now people will be chiming in saying how well their 114 LSA cam performed. Compared to WHAT??
Below you will see a comparison of three cams, identical except for LSA.
The 110 LSA made an extra 5 peak hp. But this cam was 24 ft lbs down through the average compared to the 106 LSA cam.

 

[ValerianMagnum]

114 lsa is great for the street right?

 

[junkyardhero]

114 lsa is great for the street right?

sure. why not.

wider (say 114) has a tendency to "mellow out" something that general public might consider a little rowdy. but at the expense of moving the power elsewhere (higher). generally. sometimes. maybe.

if i see something ground on a 114 i immediately think it's an ollllllldddd grind or something for forced induction.

 

[Bewy]

The 104 LSA cam I mentioned above is the first cam on the page & is categorised as 'having brute low end tq' & duration @ 050 is 184/194. This tight LSA would have been unheard of [ 104 LSA ] 40 yrs ago, but testing & more knowledge has flipped some old ideas upside down....

 

[ValerianMagnum]

But i understand the basics of cams...but its a smooth 114 lsa but a very big duration even at .050 , 236/244 : 114 lsa ... my mopar perf cam is : 229/233 but 108 lsa and its barely streetable in a normal summer weather , very aggressive cam, so the old Crane is smoother with a worst int/ exh duration but better lsa? ? Im confused here...

 

[abdywgn]

my 284/484 Purple shaft cam was much "milder" than this Crane grind. Maybe smoother if in a 360.

 

[junkyardhero]

But i understand the basics of cams...but its a smooth 114 lsa but a very big duration even at .050 , 236/244 : 114 lsa ... my mopar perf cam is : 229/233 but 108 lsa and its barely streetable in a normal summer weather , very aggressive cam, so the old Crane is smoother with a worst int/ exh duration but better lsa? ? Im confused here...

in a word, yes. the wider LSA will generally produce a more moderate idle characteristic.

it has more duration, not necessarily "worse" or what have you. how that affects idle quality is dependent on a whole host of other parameters: the other specs of the cam, compression, cubic inches, intake, exhaust and even ignition timing and the tune you've got.

 

[ValerianMagnum]

Sorry for the poor quality , i bought the cam , it was cheap , i have several 318s and some 360s that i wanted to mess around with just for fun , and i dont mind having this nos cam on the shelf..even if it looks super overkill !

 

[Bewy]

Valerian,
Decades of increased knowledge & 'hands on' testing has shown that wide LSA is NOT the best way to get a smooth idle/low end power. D. Vizard gets the credit for that from his testing of 000's of cams. There have been many, many tests done since that have verified this. Richard Holdener did one. A very good test is a 30 min video by the Cattle Dog Garage. I do not know how to link it, maybe someone can. DV developed the 128 rule [ find it on the net ] for LSA calculation from his testing. Basically, if you want a smoother idle/more low end you reduce duration, you do NOT widen the LSA. Sure, you can use a wide LSA cam for a idle smooth, but it will not make as hp throughout the range as a tighter LSA/shorter duration. Not all factory engines came with 112+ LSA's. The Morris Mini engines came from the factory with 107.5 LSA cams; small 850 cc engines that needed all the tq they could muster from 850 cc...& cams ground on 107.5 LSA.

 

[AJ/FormS]

But i understand the basics of cams...but its a smooth 114 lsa but a very big duration even at .050 , 236/244 : 114 lsa ... my mopar perf cam is : 229/233 but 108 lsa and its barely streetable in a normal summer weather , very aggressive cam, so the old Crane is smoother with a worst int/ exh duration but better lsa? ? Im confused here...

a 114 cam is smooth for a few reasons;
1) the late intake closing event, drops cylinder pressure, and
2) the wide Lsa has less overlap. and
3) she has a shorter power-stroke

This means less power and less torque, for a streeter. and wicked less hiway fuel-economy.
> Some of the less torque, down low, can be recovered with a Static higher compression ratio; but you can only go so far with that until you get into detonation.
> But as to powerloss at rpm, the only cure for that, is more cubes.
>As to fuel economy, most hot rodders choosing a 114 cam, are not thinking about that.

Notta chance would I install a 114 cam into a street-318, even one with pumped up compression.

 

[ValerianMagnum]

a 114 cam is smooth for a few reasons;
1) the late intake closing event, drops cylinder pressure, and
2) the wide Lsa has less overlap. and
3) she has a shorter power-stroke

This means less power and less torque, for a streeter. and wicked less hiway fuel-economy.
> Some of the less torque, down low, can be recovered with a Static higher compression ratio; but you can only go so far with that until you get into detonation.
> But as to powerloss at rpm, the only cure for that, is more cubes.
>As to fuel economy, most hot rodders choosing a 114 cam, are not thinking about that.

Notta chance would I install a 114 cam into a street-318, even one with pumped up compression.

So....otherwise , its almost only a forced induction camshaft? So this thing would be better in a 340 or 360? I mean it was design for a street car , why wouldnt a higher compression 318 wouldnt take it , or a smogger 360 ? It can be worst than a stock cam , if it has gears and a certain stall?

 

[AJ/FormS]

So....otherwise , its almost only a forced induction camshaft? So this thing would be better in a 340 or 360? I mean it was design for a street car , why wouldnt a higher compression 318 wouldnt take it , or a smogger 360 ? It can be worst than a stock cam , if it has gears and a certain stall?

The 340 cam was not designed for performance.
It was designed for these reasons, maybe others too, IDK;
1) to meet coming stringent emission laws. and
2) to still compete with Chevys,
3) to not make enough power to annihilate those same Chevys which would have been an insurance nightmare, and
4) Chrysler still had to warranty them. That 5n50 saved my teenage azz more than once.

If the 340 cam had been designed for a 340, it would have been on a 107Lsa, had more lift, and maybe more compression.
I have installed that 340 cam into several 318s from the 9/1s to the 8/1s and the result is always anemic, until you do the stall and gears thing.
This is not the way to performance.
Stall and gears are band-aids for lack of bottom end, which, on the street, is like 95% ( I may be exaggerating but you get the point), of your driving routine, cuz after about 65mph, you are risking losing your license. With an automatic and 3.23s , 5500 will get you over 85mph in Second gear; and so, you'll only hit shift rpm ONCE on the way to 65.
In a 318,
I'll take 185+ psi with a smaller cam, over 130psi and that stinking 340 cam, any day. IIRC, I got between 2 and 4 of them on the shelf here, all were pulled out, back in the 70s. Most of us high-school boys pulled that cam out before the end of the first summer, along with the cast-iron logs, and those weakazz-springs.
That cam at 236/244/114 is even bigger than the 340 cam and still only has a modest lift.
My current cam is a 230/236/110 and the only reason it's still in there is cause I couldn't sell it, back in 2004, after I realized it wasn't the cam for me, and I had a clutch! and, a minimum 11/1 Scr engine.
Car did go 93 in the Eighth tho with that cam and 3.55s.

IDK anything about forced induction.

 

[RustyRatRod]

No, it's not "just" for forced induction. Almost without fail, a wide LSA compared to a narrow one will have a broader and flatter torque curve, instead of being more "peaky" with the power. The power normally comes on sooner and lasts longer before dropping off, but does not have as high of a peak power compared to a narrow LSA. All these "gurus" on here quoting other "gurus" act like there'll be 100HP difference and that's just as far from the truth as you can get. The fact is, a wider LSA is generally more street friendly given it's stronger vacuum signal for better driveability and operation of vacuum accessories like power brakes if you so desire. The street manners will be far superior to the same cam ground on a 108 or 106 LSA. Too many people get all hung up on boosheet magazine articles and gurus who say one is better than the other. They each have their place and the simple fact is, just tune the engine to the camshaft and it'll run fine. Remember, the factories used wide LSAs on even their performance camshafts, because those engineers knew a thing or two about good, reliable, responsive street engines. Run it and be happy and to hell with everybody else.

 

[junkyardhero]

All these "gurus" on here quoting other "gurus" act like there'll be 100HP difference and that's just as far from the truth as you can get.

indeed.

there was that test where they ran the same cam with 114~106 (or, hell it may have even been 104) in 2* increments and the difference was something paltry like 8hp under the curve.

too many people get to sniffin' their own farts so much that the wind up with their head up their ***.

 

[Bewy]

LSA. By Sig Erson, cam grinder

 

[ValerianMagnum]

Just received the cam , its a nos piece , in very good condition

 

[ValerianMagnum]

IS this accurate vs my other purple camshaft ?

 

[Bewy]

Yes, accurate but I wouldn't believe the redline numbers. They are guesses at best, factors other than the cam are going to have an effect.

 

[AJ/FormS]

On the Street
My 292/292/108 Mopar cam was still pulling hard long after 6200.
(11.3Scr/028Q, 367, with OOTB Eddies, and 1.6 arms). I used to shift it at up to 7200, just cuz, and cuz how often do you hear a SBMMopar scream past yur house at 7200.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
In the end, that cam was too much for me and before the summer was out, I had swapped it out in favor of about as near to perfect a cam as I'd ever had ; 270/276/110; 223/230@050
Excellent torque and power, now at 10.9Scr, and over 190psi CCP. and, now running an A833od. Soon joined by a GVod, splitting gears for 7 useable ratios; and, I eventually settled on a 4.30 rear.
-------------------------------------------------------
Just so you know, the Road gears were;
13.29/10.36-7.18/5.60-4.30/3.35-2.38 with splits of
.78-.69-.78-.78-.78-.71 which I usually drove as a 6-speed
.78-.69-.78-.78-.55 going straight from direct to double-over.
For awhile I drove it starting in First-over, as a 5-speed, saving 13.29 for parading at 3.5mph=580rpm. thus, the splits were;
.69-.78-.78-.55 I mean, you can't imagine anything sweeter. and
65=1930rpm.
But, in the end, I found that the GVod would not hold pressure in od for a full stoplight. But it would, at a stopsign.
However, in the very end, I found three things;
1) that unless that doggone A833 was ALWAYS split shifted, my engine didn't really like that far away second gear, even with 4.30s. and
2) Seven gears was too much, and I figured out that 5 was more than enough, and 4 in the Eighth was just right. and
3) My combo liked a Second Roadgear of about 6.80.
so, I did some math, and ordered a Commando Gearset from Passon Performance, to bolt on to my GVod, for a total now of 8 gears, of which I rarely use more than 5, but not always sequentially. And I went back to 3.55s. That's been installed now since IIRC 2004.
The Road gears are;
10.97/8.56-6.82/5.32-4.97/3.88-3.55/2.77 Normally I run it as a 5speed, engaging od after third and skipping direct.; the splits are
.62-.73-.78-.56od; But later with a 230cam, I ran the Eighth, at
.78-80-78 for 93mph=6260 on that 230 cam.
and 65=2240rpm
BTW
when using the GVod as a splitter, I bypass the electronic module, and that doggone thing shifts like lightning ........ which tends to destroy clutch-discs at WOT. So I had to soften the hit a lil.
I got rid of that ugly truck shifter too. I installed a micro-switch into the ball-shifter, and run the GVod off a relay..... BAM !
and I installed an LED under my tach to tell me when od is engaged.
Briefly I had installed 4.88s which was an awesome parade gear for 3.5mph=660rpm. and 65=2190 with the A833od box.