Is this a good cam for my 318

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glhx

glhx

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Location
Middle Tennessee
76 318
Holley 600
Edelbrock street master intake.
Headman short headers.

Otherwise stock

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I also have a 68 318 I could put it in but the motor needs more work as it's been sitting 15 years.
 
I like it. Old school. Slow, lazy ramps that will make valve springs last forever. Should run nicely.
 
RustyRatRod said:
I like it. Old school. Slow, lazy ramps that will make valve springs last forever. Should run nicely.
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I like this post ^^ Any old school cam, much easier on valve trains.... and will perform if tuned properly. Not knocking the fast ramp cams, but too often the oldies but goodies are knocked.
 
Drive it around town....on the highway. A little kick to it but not crazy. No racing or crazy stuff.

A very mild build while keeping the gas mileage.
I did consider the ld4b intake
 
glhx said:
Drive it around town....on the highway. A little kick to it but not crazy. No racing or crazy stuff.

A very mild build while keeping the gas mileage.
I did consider the ld4b intake
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I think that intake would be a fantastic match.
 
I'll say 'no' to this cam for this use; I seriously would not even consider it at all. The ramps are slow... I mean REEEALLY SOOOPER slow; 78 degrees between advertised and .050" lift durations? That is a new record in my book LOL. It looks like it was made to go into an 11:1 SCR engine to lower the DCR so as run regular gas on the street. You're starting with an 8:1 SCR and its gonna drop the dynamic CR to around 6:1 or less..... low RPM and off idle torque is going away due to the 74* ABDC intake closing, so you're gonna have to rev it to take off briskly at all.

I'll agree that the slow ramps are good for being easy on the valvetrain. But you just don't need to go this far. I would be looking at something like the Crane H-260-2 grind, PN 636901. 56 degrees between advertised and .050" lift durations, still easy on the valvetrain, and much better low RPM torque to fit this particular use in a stock 318.
 
The 260H Crane is a good recommendation, but I would save some money, and get the Summit cam kit with 216 degrees at .050". It has 272 degrees advertised, and IIRC, .454" lift. Sorry, I don't pay attention to part numbers, just specs. I've used this cam grind in basically stock 318 builds, and it just plain works nice, and it's still a slow lobe.
 
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I wonder if that is right.......292 does seem very long for that lift.
272 sounds better.

I need to refresh what I know about cams. It's been 15 years since I looked at any specs.
I remember my 440 had a 284 .484 and that worked well. It was also the HO 440
 
Do you HAVE the Erson cam? If so, run it. It will run fine.
 
Go with one of the smaller Lunati VooDoo grinds. You cannot miss. I think I would keep advertised duration under 270 and you will be very happy. Maybe the 260 or 262. Not sure I would go as high as the 268. That's gettin a little big.
 
RustyRatRod said:
Go with one of the smaller Lunati VooDoo grinds. You cannot miss. I think I would keep advertised duration under 270 and you will be very happy. Maybe the 260 or 262. Not sure I would go as high as the 268. That's gettin a little big.
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I was always impressed that the CCA-20-212-2 is under that magical 220° @ .050 threshold that works with manifolds and stock converter.
 
toolmanmike said:
I was always impressed that the CCA-20-212-2 is under that magical 220° @ .050 threshold that works with manifolds and stock converter.
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I would sling the Crane magic cam in it, but that's "too big" for most people around here. Every time I recommend it, someone says "that's way too much" but I would use it in a minute. It has 222 and 234 at .050, but it is ground on a 114, so it has great street manners. In a 318, it would be a little bumpy, but it would work well.
 
RustyRatRod said:
I would sling the Crane magic cam in it, but that's "too big" for most people around here. Every time I recommend it, someone says "that's way too much" but I would use it in a minute. It has 222 and 234 at .050, but it is ground on a 114, so it has great street manners. In a 318, it would be a little bumpy, but it would work well.
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Ah yes. 114° mellows it out a bit. Wish I had enough guts to put that cam in my 318. I always loved those old Crane grinds.
 
toolmanmike said:
Hey Rusty, do you know the specs on the old "Fireball" cams?
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The one I have in the 400 Ford I am getting ready to swap into my truck is .505/.515 224/234 on a 108. @Bighead440 found it NOS for me on Ebay. He may know some more specs off the top of his head. He is a super sharp dude. If I remember right, there were several different Fireball grinds for each make. I do know that the PowerMax line replaced the Fireball line......and a few more, so some of them are similar.
 
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