Torque cam for 318 2bbl

nm9stheham said
I only wish I could LOL... I don't have any old TRW cams info.

The engines in this era respond to the same things....so I'd not dismiss SBF info just out of hand. Interesting on the vacuum numbers.... look at the overlap between the 2 cams. LSA certainly has a lot to do with that. But, others factors like carb leakage and PCV setup can factor into vacuum levels, so it is not a 100% definitive test per se as to the cam differences. I'd be curious to know what your 289 has for actual compression ratio. The SBM's typically come in at .75 points below the marketing numbers, give or take. The OP is going to be right around 8.1:1 true SCR numbers even with the smaller 302 heads. (He would be helped to put in the Mr Gasket 1121G head gaskets at .028" thick, but would still be at 8.5-ish.) A whole point makes a big difference in how it will behave at low RPM's; you can feel a quarter of a point.

And what we can't 'compute' is the subjective aspects of this.... lots of guys like to rev a lot LOL

You're absolutely right about subjectivity. I had my machinist cc one chamber of my heads, and I did a rough calculation based on that number and the other information I had. I did NOT do any more than a cursory deck height measurement because this is just a street car that I drive about a thousand miles a year. So I'd say that my 9:1 compression is within a couple of tenths either way depending on the deck height. As far as comparing the two cams I've run in this engine, I didn't change anything but the camshaft in the engine, along with checking pushrod length. I was trying to figure out some valve noise I had, which is why I changed the cam and lifters.