Ramcharger cam questions

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gliderider06

gliderider06

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I have a stock rebuilt 318 for my 87 Ramcharger. I am thinking of putting a larger cam in and 4bbl intake on before installing it. A D.D to work, with 3.21 rears, manifolds and dual exhaust and HEI ignition.
My thoughts are, since I already have a stock 360 cam and either an egr spreadbore, or sp2p intake and run a Holley 650 spreadbore carb. I like the idea of the EGR for emissions and added fuel economy. Both intakes and carb i currently have on the shelf, as well as the cam.
I have toyed around with using one of the Summit 204/214 cams or a stock 340 grind cam (i think may be too large for the RC). I dont have either of these cams and would have to be purchased. I dont want to change converter in the trans or gears. I drive this beast to work almost daily.
The original 318 is getting worn out and wont pass idle emissions BC the idle circuit is bad in the LB 2bbl carb and has a bad lifter. I was fortunate enough to get a great inspector and he had me raise the RPMs up a little to get it off the idle circuit to pass that portion of the test.
Thanks for the imput and suggestions.
 
You have to run a 30 year-old vehicle through Emissions in DE? And here I thought Connecticut sucked!
 
I went through the same thoughts on my F-150 4x4. Honesty the best thing you can do for a heavy vehicle is displacement to get the torque up, a 390 or 408 stroker would be nice. What is your emission laws like? do they Vin the displacement or go by GVW?
Oregon is 76 and up, I pass with a 460 moderately built with cats and some tuning.
 
If it was me, and the compression is stock, as is the TC, and the 3.21s are staying,an a DD Ramcharger; I would leave the factory cam in it.
4bbl and headers are good choices.
At the compression ratio of your combo, any bigger FTH will just trade away torque down where you always need it, for a few HP where you rarely go.
Now if you had a 9.8Scr or better engine and a 2800 or better TC and 3.73s, from me you'd get a totally different answer. Or if you were at 3000pounds, again different answer.Or not a DD, different answer, again.
 
I replaced the 318 cam in my 70 Duster DD 2.76 gear with a OEM 360 cam. It only has a few more degrees duration with a tad more lift. It was cheap and ran great.
 
gliderider06 said:
I have a stock rebuilt 318 for my 87 Ramcharger. I am thinking of putting a larger cam in and 4bbl intake on before installing it. A D.D to work, with 3.21 rears, manifolds and dual exhaust and HEI ignition.
My thoughts are, since I already have a stock 360 cam and either an egr spreadbore, or sp2p intake and run a Holley 650 spreadbore carb. I like the idea of the EGR for emissions and added fuel economy. Both intakes and carb i currently have on the shelf, as well as the cam.
I have toyed around with using one of the Summit 204/214 cams or a stock 340 grind cam (i think may be too large for the RC). I dont have either of these cams and would have to be purchased. I dont want to change converter in the trans or gears. I drive this beast to work almost daily.
The original 318 is getting worn out and wont pass idle emissions BC the idle circuit is bad in the LB 2bbl carb and has a bad lifter. I was fortunate enough to get a great inspector and he had me raise the RPMs up a little to get it off the idle circuit to pass that portion of the test.
Thanks for the imput and suggestions.
Click to expand...
here in ultra liberal Wash. St, we only have to test 25 yo or less vehicles. Wow, you guys are hard core. Why? I believe our testing program is up for renewal, here, and the experts are saying it is not necessary anymore, because 99% of vehicles are computer controlled and very few fail the tests. It's just diminishing returns. Not worth the expense and trouble to manage.
Re OP question, would it be too much trouble and expense to upgrade to an 89 style 318, with TB FI. I feel your pain, I have an 86 318 d250, with about 300k. Very tired. If you have the money, and passion for the vehicle, that's what I would do. I have a Shelby dak w/318 and 220k, still runs great. With the FI, you don't get the fuel dilution of the oil, which is the primary reason, IMO, of engine wear.
 
You obviously don't want to move the powerband too far off idle since its a truck with stock gears and stall.

But the 318 cam is so small there's room to grow without killing under 2000 rpm.

Look at comps xe250h it works from 600-4800 rpm perfect truck powerband. Might be slightly higher In a 318.

And if you look at comps spec it's pretty similar to stock 340 cam just faster ramps built on 110.

But that's as far as I would go with cam.
 
Thank you all for the replies. A stroker motor is not an option. I already have the rebuilt motor and want to try and use what I already have.
I figured the 340 grind might be too much for a 6000# truck, and thought I'd ask anyway.
Thanks Paul
 
gliderider06 said:
Thank you all for the replies. A stroker motor is not an option. I already have the rebuilt motor and want to try and use what I already have.
I figured the 340 grind might be too much for a 6000# truck, and thought I'd ask anyway.
Thanks Paul
Click to expand...
I had a 71 Monaco 318 auto. I installed a340 topend on it and a good used 340 cam. It had 2.94gears. It had a good passing gear at like 70/75mph, but getting there was kindof lazy . The car didn't even wake up until about 35mph......in first gear. With the wife and two babies strapped in,all together we weren't 320 pounds. So that Big Dodge mightabin 4200 to 4400,I'm guessing.
I was very dissappointed. It was waaaay soggier until maybe 3500 or higher-no tach.It was a little better with the 2800TC, but hardly worth talking about.
Years later, I put the freshened teener heads back on, and a 318 cam and stuck her into my Barracuda as a winter-motor. Now at about 3650 car and driver, with that same 2800TC,and now with 3.55s,and running thru TTIs and dual full-length 3inch exhaust, it was gangbusters.
I also ran it with 4.30s, 3.91s and 2.76s, and 3.23s , and I liked every one of those.
I also ran it with an A904, an A999, an A833, and an Overdrive box with a GVOD behind it.
That was a very fun winter motor.
So to recap, it is a pure stock 1973 318, with a Thermoquad and the TTIs: that's it.
She just wanted a bit more gear. Even 3.23s . With the 2800, she was good with a starter gear of about 9/1. That was the A904 and 3.55s. or the A999 with 3.23s.
With the 3.09low M/T anything.....3.55s were about the best for 1st gear. The 3.91s had a nice 2nd. But 4.30s were too much; well it had a nice 3rd. All driving was done on 27/28s.
 
mderoy340 said:
I replaced the 318 cam in my 70 Duster DD 2.76 gear with a OEM 360 cam. It only has a few more degrees duration with a tad more lift. It was cheap and ran great.
Click to expand...
I did this before, and it works. Cams can be had for about "free", and it is a small bump in performance for a 318
 
Couldn't get the link
Google 3 8 teen dream for the article
Screenshot_20170921-130610.png


This is a stock remanufactured rebuild.
1st dyno pull is 100% stock 2bbl 318 with headers
2nd they add M1 dual plane and edlebrock carb and xe262h cam.
3rd spacer and 650 Holley cause they didn't have the parts to tune the edlebrock.

Yes the torque isn't shown under 3000 rpm for the 4bbl and cam ones but since its making 50 lbs-ft more at that point by 2000 rpm it would be making at least the same if not more. And comps xe262h is a lot more cam then stock 340 which almost equal to their xe250h.

There's no reason why the OP can't put more cam into his truck.
 
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