Got my Cam Back from Oregon
- Thread starter Dusty 997
- Start date
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Been driving the car for a while now and got it tuned and timed pretty well.
It's pretty decent now.
I think moving forward into winter my plan is going to be to swap to 4.10 gears in the rear, add a shift kit, and have a 3000-3500 Converter custom made from someone like Dynamic.
Ken also suggested two other grinds i could try as well if i still want to go bigger.
Oregon 1606 229/235 @ .050”, 287/290 adv, .480”/.488” lift
Oregon 1357 229/235 @ .050”, 284/292 adv, .515”/.515” lift
It's pretty decent now.
I think moving forward into winter my plan is going to be to swap to 4.10 gears in the rear, add a shift kit, and have a 3000-3500 Converter custom made from someone like Dynamic.
Ken also suggested two other grinds i could try as well if i still want to go bigger.
Oregon 1606 229/235 @ .050”, 287/290 adv, .480”/.488” lift
Oregon 1357 229/235 @ .050”, 284/292 adv, .515”/.515” lift
It's good to hear you made headway. We all have hiccups and Gremlins with our projects I don't care who you are that's part of the deal. But it always feels great when it starts to come around and your car begins to run the way you feel it should.
Yessir! If it was "easy" everyone would be doing it!!!
Those lobes are pretty slow.
michiganpat
Well-Known Member
what I was thinking. benefit of a roller cam is a much more "square" lobe with more lift and .200 duration for a similar advertised/.050 duration. with his original cam, looking at Bullet's master lobe catalog, Bullet Cams Master List, and matching his 218@.050 duration, they have a moderate lobe, HR269/327 that is 6 degrees shorter advertised (.006 lift), but 11 degrees duration bigger @.2" lift, and .327 lobe lift (.523" valve lift with 1.6 rockers, or .045" more lift than his cam), and have super aggressive lobes all the way up to the HR270/363, which has 15 degrees more duration and .1" more lift than your cam with 1.6 rockers for the same .050 duration....
hmm im not sure what all this means?
middleagecrisis
Well-Known Member
It means your cam profile is small for a hydraulic roller.
The rate of valve lift that Ken uses is not near the maximum available. For instance, Bullet Cam profiles lift the vale at a faster rate per crankshaft degrees of rotation = more air flow sooner and during the vales off seat timing.
mayhem
Well-Known Member
The engine dyno guy I'm familiar with here (i.e. haven't used him, just shopping services/rates) is a flat $1000 - that includes cam break-in (when using a flat tappet) through any and all tweaks/pulls to get the engine to its maximum performance.
mayhem
Well-Known Member
This is a true statement. But we don't know what the OP and Ken discussed. Ken has been spot on with recommendations in the three cams he has ground for me after we talked about the specifics of the build & application. I'd be very interested to hear what the OP thinks once the cam is degreed.
I have bought several cams from Ken too. He knows what he is doing, but has limitations caused by his camshaft pattern catalog.
Ken is no slouch! I went to his shop several years ago and spoke with the man. I have several of his cams, yet realize that he is restricted by his patterns. When I want a more intense pattern I use Schneider Cams in So. Cal. The company, (family) has been grinding cams for a loooong time.
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No, the specifications they listed are from Bullets hydraulic roller patterns. The drawback is the quality of the lifter and the valve spring pressure necessary. Hydraulic roller lifters are very heavy, that's why Ken is very cautious of lobe lift rates.
mopowers
Well-Known Member
He's very conservative with suggested spring pressures too on his regrinds.
michiganpat
Well-Known Member
yeah, the lobe profile is very mild, looks more like a flat tappet lift/duration wise. for a given advertised duration, a roller cam can have faster ramps and more lift for more "area under the curve" for more power. that's how modern engines like gen3 hemis and LS's can make stupid power with what looks like tiny cams. here's a pic kinda showing the difference https://static.summitracing.com/global/images/FAQs/4695/Lobe_Compare.jpg.
Yes a roller profile camshaft can improve and the increasing horsepower but the LS and gen 3 platforms are much more about cylinder head improvements.
thanks that image perfectly describes what everyone was saying! So, if i wanted to go with something more like that, where should i start looking spec wise?
I would stick with Ken's suggestions. It's very easy to fall down the rabbit hole of fast rate camshafts . it's been my experience all other parts need to be adjusted to begin to take advantage with any significant level of super fast rate grinds. Heads, springs, gear ratio, converter , etc etc. knowing you're supporting cast strength and weaknesses will contribute to the overall success of your build.
And it’s bullshit in 2025 to use a lobe that slow that kills idle vacuum and makes tuning harder than it has to be.
No one said get the fastest lobe in the book.
Personally I don’t care what the guy does. But someone will have to help his sort out his nasty to tune engine when he gets there.
So why use a 1970’s lobe?
Hydraulic roller lobe from the 70s? Ok ... Just my opinion that I believe these older motors with substandard heads in comparison to modern can use a little overlap but hey to each their own. And tuning is not rocket science in anyone who has a hot rod should know how to tune it or at least have the desire to learn.
I know you’re long past this part but I think before I would switch to a bigger cam, I’d degree the one you have now. I installed a .218/.224 cam from Ken in my 5.9 magnum and I had planned to stick it in dot to dot but @RustyRatRod talked me into degreeing it and I’m glad he did. I had to set the timing set to 8* ADVANCED to get the cam centerline where it was intended to be. If yours is similar, I think you’ll notice quite a difference just by degreeing what you already have.
I don’t care if it’s a 2025 lobe, it’s damn slow.
If tuning is so easy why do I look around and see so many engines that run like they were tuned by a sixth grader?
Why is I can go to the track and see cars with black plugs?
The upshot is the OP can do what he wants. If he were my customer I would not install that cam.
If he didn’t like it he could go somewhere else.
Probably what ill do. To swap cam it all has to come apart anyway so no reason not to try .
Fair enough no doubt I'm stuck in the past a bit. And if I was building a motor for the track I would be right there with your train of thought.
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