360 Cam Opinion

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middleagecrisis

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I have 2 360's:
#1- on the stand, machined and being assembled, #2- unmachined 360 (standard bore) with some NOS TRW 11.5-1 pistons.
Here's my delima. I have two cam choices: 1. Oregon Regrind 1176, Hydraulic lifter 230/236 (.050) duration, 106 Intake Centerline, .493 lift 2. Hughes solid lifter 246/250 (.050) duration, 104 Intake Centerline, .576/.588
The 360 (#1) is decked, has forged flat top pistons with 10.5-1+ static CR, ported J heads with 2.02/1.60 valves, ported Torker intake, 750 DP Davinci carb, speedmaster adjustable rocker arms and factory windage tray, Melling HV pump and possibly a Kevco pan (haven't bought yet). Not changing anything on the motor, this is the stuff I wanted to run, for better or worse.
I checked valve clearance with both cams and have a ton on the hydraulic and .100/.080 on the solid lifter cam. The 360 will be behind a fresh 727, 9.5" converter and 4.11 gears in an 8 3/4 sure-grip, so either cam can be run. Streetability and gas mileage are not a concern. I don't have to spend any additional funds to run the hydraulic cam. The solid lifter will require me to upgrade the springs/retainers/locks, machine the spring pads and have the lifters refaced. How much ~horsepower will I gain going to the solid lifter cam and is it worth the expense to do so? I can always save the solid cam for the #2 engine, which who knows if/when it would get built. I know this is a nice problem to have, but I would appreciate estimates from those in the know.
 
I could see that solid being 10-20 hp better than the hydraulic in the same engine at the 450ish hp level.
 
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I just watched an Engine Masters episode on this. It's a big block Chevy, and their two cam durations are a lot closer to each other than on your cams, but it might still be a little instructive:

 
autopar3000 said:
I just watched an Engine Masters episode on this. It's a big block Chevy, and their two cam durations are a lot closer to each other than on your cams, but it might still be a little instructive:

Click to expand...

Thank you for sharing that video! That answers some questions for me. Based on that video and the comments shared so far, the juice may not be worth the squeeze, to lay out the required funding to get the extra performance from the solid lifter cam.
 
middleagecrisis said:
Thank you for sharing that video! That answers some questions for me. Based on that video and the comments shared so far, the juice may not be worth the squeeze, to lay out the required funding to get the extra performance from the solid lifter cam.
Click to expand...
That’s for you to decide. Lots of guys would gladly pay a few hundred to a few thousand for 10-20hp. Just depends on what level you’re on.
 
And solid lifters have these advantages:
- they never pump up
- they never bleed down
- and because they never bleed down, they never get annoying lifter tick
- all else being equal, the sol lifter cam will have a smoother idle & more vacuum because the valves seat more positively.
 
The 360 (#1) on the stand was originally intended to be a re-hone and put back together motor that I bought to replace the 318 currently in my Duster. Of course, I can never leave well enough alone. Engine #2 was going to be my all-out effort with the higher compression, oiling mods and most likely now the solid flat tappet cam. This begs another question, I have a brand-new Speed Master adjustable rocker setup that would be great for engine #2. Would the factory bolt-down rockers be sufficient for engine #1 with the .490 lift hydraulic cam and 340 type replacement springs? I've heard, but never seen, that the factory rockers can fail when subjected to more lift and spring pressure. This cam is an Oregon Cam regrind and the ramp rate shouldn't be as aggressive as something like the Comp Cam XE or Lunati Voodoo grinds. I already understand that I'll lose some lift with the factory rocker arm ratio variance. Like a lot of us, I don't have deep pockets for my hobby and would rather spend the funds on #2 engine. I understand I could have just built #2 first, but it came around after #1 was started. Thanks for the inputs.
 
In my 367/manual-trans car, I have run 3 cams, two of which were/are very similar to your offerings.>In all cases I was/am running 1.6arms on OOTB Edelbrock alloy heads with a Squish of 028>032. This allowed running of 87E10 full-time with 34*PowerTiming.
Here are the cams;
#1) 292/292/108; 248@050, in at 11.1Scr, for~ 170psi
#2) 270/276/110; 223/230, in at 11.3Scr, for~195psi
#3) 276/286/110; 230/237, in at 11.0Scr, for~ 180psi


1) The bigger one, installed in 1999;
This one liked a starter gear of ~11.5, and did NOT work well at low speed with 3.55s. It might be fine with an automatic and a higher stall. I really tried to like this cam, but it was just too big for my application.

2) I ran the in-betweener, from years 2000 to 2004. It didn't care about gearing, was super-torquey, did everything I wanted it to, plus; geared for 75=1850, it got 32 mpg with a prepped carb.
This was my favorite, and I was really sad when it lost lobes.

3) Since late 2004, I have been running the 230cam.
This one is ok with the 4-speed, and would be ok with a starter gear of ~10/1; (altho I run 11/1, see below).
Car has gone 93mph in the Eighth with this cam.
I have been waiting for this cam to die, for an excuse to swap it out for something a lil smaller on a tighter LSA.
This cam, for a manual trans and an 11/1 starter gear, is almost too big to parade with, but it does get me to 4mph@550 rpm. Yes, it was a bit of a work to get it to run down there for an extended period of time.

These are my experiences.
 
middleagecrisis said:
The 360 (#1) on the stand was originally intended to be a re-hone and put back together motor that I bought to replace the 318 currently in my Duster. Of course, I can never leave well enough alone. Engine #2 was going to be my all-out effort with the higher compression, oiling mods and most likely now the solid flat tappet cam. This begs another question, I have a brand-new Speed Master adjustable rocker setup that would be great for engine #2. Would the factory bolt-down rockers be sufficient for engine #1 with the .490 lift hydraulic cam and 340 type replacement springs? I've heard, but never seen, that the factory rockers can fail when subjected to more lift and spring pressure. This cam is an Oregon Cam regrind and the ramp rate shouldn't be as aggressive as something like the Comp Cam XE or Lunati Voodoo grinds. I already understand that I'll lose some lift with the factory rocker arm ratio variance. Like a lot of us, I don't have deep pockets for my hobby and would rather spend the funds on #2 engine. I understand I could have just built #2 first, but it came around after #1 was started. Thanks for the inputs.
Click to expand...

Run the aftermarket rockers and pull them off when engine #2 is ready to go in?
 
cookietruck said:
Run the aftermarket rockers and pull them off when engine #2 is ready to go in?
Click to expand...
Definite possibility that've I've been considering. I've previously considered cannibalizing parts off engine #1 for engine #2, but then I end up with a partial engine setting useless in the shop. Only upside is I have a spare in case I blow up #2 or don't like the higher horsepower mannerisms. I'd like to have a complete engine that I could possibly sell if I'm not going to be using it. Still like to hear from people that have run the stock rockers in a similar setup. I ran the 280/474 Purple cam in a 440 with stock rockers and had zero issues. That's my own personal experience, though.
 
People ran .508 cams with stock style shaft rockers. Punched a bunch of pushrods through them too.
 
It's easy to get caught up in the just a little bit more is better mindset when it comes to motor modifications I did it for decades. I'm starting to move away from that view now II just want solid parts that run good together with as little fitting and modification adjustments as needed. I have ran both solid and hydraulic on my 340 and there's something to be said for both combos. I've been lucky with my hydraulic setups and would run up to 6500 RPMs no problem. My current solid lifter setup uses the speedmaster heads and roller rocker arms I love the way it whistles when lash is right. But getting everything set up with spring changes, rocker sweep , and clearances etc well it's not just the bolt on and go deal for sure. I think you would be very happy with the hydraulic setup you have you will have no problems with the stock rocker arms with that cam yes you'll lose a little lift but all in all it should do a good job for you. If I was trying to squeeze every last drop out of your setup then the solid setup would be the way to go.
 

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