Street 360 W/.528" P.S. Cam

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That's his design philosophy. Of all the stuff I've read over on Speedtalk that Mike Jones has posted it appears to me he prefers to use a little less intake duration and spread the LSA to broaden the torque curve. If you listen to Chad Speier's engine on the dyno its very tame @ idle and yet it made more power everywhere. In a street or street/strip application on pump fuel that would be my approach. Less overlap equals less intake charge dilution by exhaust residual unless of course you need the heat of the leftover exhaust residual to help vaporize the mixture because you can't get it done after it leaves the carb or on the compression stroke because of too little compression or too late a IVC point for the compression to build and cylinder pressure.

I'm not Chad Speier. Just pointing out that there are different approaches to this stuff that gets results.
The engine in the Speedtalk link you provided is a a Super Stock engine that operates in the 5500-7500 rpm range . I don't see how the considerations used to determine optimum LSA for that particular engine are applicable to the typical street/strip combo.
 
Actually, there was talk of a 6600 converter and a trap rpm of 8800.

So yeh, totally apples to apples with the typical mild street combo.
 
The engine in the Speedtalk link you provided is a a Super Stock engine that operates in the 5500-7500 rpm range . I don't see how the considerations used to determine optimum LSA for that particular engine are applicable to the typical street/strip combo.
Same guy who reconfigured and tuned a Street/Strip ford small block making 2 HP per cube on Pump Fuel wrote this:

"A wide LSA with a high flowing port enables a cleaner mixture to be achieved inside the cylinder, the wide LSA reduces exhaust overlap contamination and intake reversion. Provided you can achieve the energy necessary for sufficient vaporization by other methods then wide LSA will gain more power and better emissions from the engine. Better emissions translates into longer engine life and less oil contamination etc.
In terms of cylinder fill it is better to balance the amounts of intake ram which is occuring at the beginning of the intake valve opening against the fill percentage at the valve closing phase. LSA is influential in that. Flow in the port build over time and the intake ram can kick start it or finish it off , I think it is better to edge toward the finishing rather than the start as most intakes have no hope of getting good ram pulses at the start, especially common single planes etc. A wide LSA helps in that regard.
with good droplet condition and good smooth fuel delivery with no dry air pockets a wide LSA cam can rev and power to just as high a rpm as a narow LSA but with the added torque spread of the wide LSA. So the car is a better driver overall. It doesnt seem to benefit a narrow LSA as much by correcting the droplets and fuel curves etc. A narrow LSA allows the piston to pump the exhaust backwards up the intake and you cant stop that with the carby much. So what you can gain from wide LSA is more than how you can fix a narrow one."
 
Same guy who reconfigured and tuned a Street/Strip ford small block making 2 HP per cube on Pump Fuel wrote this:

"A wide LSA with a high flowing port enables a cleaner mixture to be achieved inside the cylinder, the wide LSA reduces exhaust overlap contamination and intake reversion. Provided you can achieve the energy necessary for sufficient vaporization by other methods then wide LSA will gain more power and better emissions from the engine. Better emissions translates into longer engine life and less oil contamination etc.
In terms of cylinder fill it is better to balance the amounts of intake ram which is occuring at the beginning of the intake valve opening against the fill percentage at the valve closing phase. LSA is influential in that. Flow in the port build over time and the intake ram can kick start it or finish it off , I think it is better to edge toward the finishing rather than the start as most intakes have no hope of getting good ram pulses at the start, especially common single planes etc. A wide LSA helps in that regard.
with good droplet condition and good smooth fuel delivery with no dry air pockets a wide LSA cam can rev and power to just as high a rpm as a narow LSA but with the added torque spread of the wide LSA. So the car is a better driver overall. It doesnt seem to benefit a narrow LSA as much by correcting the droplets and fuel curves etc. A narrow LSA allows the piston to pump the exhaust backwards up the intake and you cant stop that with the carby much. So what you can gain from wide LSA is more than how you can fix a narrow one."
Notice he says "with a high flowing port". What is that exactly ? I doubt those words could be used to describe your highly touted 302 castings.
 
Food for thought:

Shout out to Mike Jones 2!!

"I just got back from spending 2 days in Paris TN dynoing engines. One was my 1970 LT1 Super Stock engine.

Mike did a cam for it was we totally went against the "norm." It was a 55 tool steel, less duration, more rocker, and way wider LSA...

Some folks I knew were worried about no torque, etc..

With out giving too much away, I had more power at 6000 and 8000 than I did with engine 1 at peak. It peaked at 7400 and flat as Kansas. I have 46 more HP at 7500 than I had."


Edit: Chad Speier Racing heads. Not me!

Me: I'd take cam advice from Mike Jones before I ever listen to Vizard and his 128 theory.....
No specs given wider than what?, What works for this type of engine has little to do with average guy builds. and how far off would a Vizard spec'd cam be ? your just assuming it be vastly different.
 
Notice he says "with a high flowing port". What is that exactly
Isn't that what every street strip engine has when they swap out the stockers? So your argument is a tight LSA makes the ports flow more?

I doubt those words could be used to describe your highly touted 302 castings.
You mean those severely restricted ports that some how manage to run 10's in a 318?

No specs given wider than what?,
I've already asked and he isn't prepared to divulge as its a class racer type deal. Maybe head over to SpeedTalk and ask what the normal LSA would be for that class and then realize its much wider in Chads engine?

What works for this type of engine has little to do with average guy builds.
The average guy believes everything the magazines tell them. Vizard who?
 
More food for thought:

Vizard on 106* LSA vs 112* LSA in a BBC

All 9 pages of it: Here are the opening salvos'

Mike Jones:

"Pretend the story was written by someone you've never heard of.
How does it match what you've seen in the real world.

I've done many dyno tests were we change nothing but LSA, and then move each cam around to where it runs the best. I've come to different conclusions then David."

UDHarold:

"My opinion is that you should buy whatever Dave Vizard recommends, because you probably deserve it.......
Tell your cam man what LSA you want, and he will grind it for you.
This way, your car will run its' fastest.
However, I recommend everywhere from 107 to 118, just depending."

:rofl:
Notice no quotes from Joe Sherman's Racing Engines.

Everyone seems to be arguing a strawman version of Vizards point.
Weaker heads per cid generally needs a tighter lsa.
His point for general aftermarket cams people tend to pick by duration so cam companies run a wider lsa to give a customer an generally acceptable street overlap.
He's generally saying for a given overlap a tighter lsa and less duration would probably give better results for the average street engine.

Not saying DV is the ultimate word on cams, engines etc.. but for novice he's basically the only voice out there and the average dude ain't gonna be led to far astray.
 
Here's an interesting quote from Mike again:

"In circle track racing, there are a bunch of classes, where the engine rules are almost identical, but some are limited to lower compression.
These classes run the same size engines, heads, manifold, Carb, and turn the same RPM. The lower the compression the tighter the LSA and ICL needs to be."


Wonder why lower compressions ratios like tighter LSA's......
 
Notice he says "with a high flowing port". What is that exactly ? I doubt those words could be used to describe your highly touted 302 castings.
Didn't Hysteric give his specs the other day an eddy head 318 topped off with a 750
 
Here's an interesting quote from Mike again:

"In circle track racing, there are a bunch of classes, where the engine rules are almost identical, but some are limited to lower compression.
These classes run the same size engines, heads, manifold, Carb, and turn the same RPM. The lower the compression the tighter the LSA and ICL needs to be."


Wonder why lower compressions ratios like tighter LSA's......
DV also states low cr = tighter lsa and vise versa

So is the average street performance engine is running 110-114 lsa, would they generally benefit with more or less lsa? performance wise.
 
Same guy who reconfigured and tuned a Street/Strip ford small block making 2 HP per cube on Pump Fuel wrote this:

"A wide LSA with a high flowing port enables a cleaner mixture to be achieved inside the cylinder, the wide LSA reduces exhaust overlap contamination and intake reversion. Provided you can achieve the energy necessary for sufficient vaporization by other methods then wide LSA will gain more power and better emissions from the engine. Better emissions translates into longer engine life and less oil contamination etc.
In terms of cylinder fill it is better to balance the amounts of intake ram which is occuring at the beginning of the intake valve opening against the fill percentage at the valve closing phase. LSA is influential in that. Flow in the port build over time and the intake ram can kick start it or finish it off , I think it is better to edge toward the finishing rather than the start as most intakes have no hope of getting good ram pulses at the start, especially common single planes etc. A wide LSA helps in that regard.
with good droplet condition and good smooth fuel delivery with no dry air pockets a wide LSA cam can rev and power to just as high a rpm as a narow LSA but with the added torque spread of the wide LSA. So the car is a better driver overall. It doesnt seem to benefit a narrow LSA as much by correcting the droplets and fuel curves etc. A narrow LSA allows the piston to pump the exhaust backwards up the intake and you cant stop that with the carby much. So what you can gain from wide LSA is more than how you can fix a narrow one."
what do consider wide lsa? to me that means 115-120+, middle ground 110-114, anything under 110 is narrow, or simpler 112 is the middle above gets wider, below gets narrower.
 
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If you uses DV formula for 10.5:1 cr

2.02 408 = 105
2.02 360 = 108
2.02 340 = 109
2.02 318 = 110

1.78 318 = 108
1.88 318 = 109

1.78 273 = 111
1.88 273 = 113

Don't seem to crazly off if looking for high tq:cid seems to me a good ballpark to start from.
110 is close enough probably for most of those without given much maybe the 408.

Main problem I see is going by valve size not port flow, he has stated he picked valve sizes cause most know that over flow numbers.
 
That works for the basic parameters of a 10.5-1 to gnome and a decently well prepped head. AKA - ported. On or about but closer to under a 300 cfm head but better than a stocker. Giving that the narrow LSA is for the porter head flow on a street engine to aid in extra torque production, it’s a winner.

On higher performing engines, ones with a higher developed intake and exhaust system running much higher compression ratios and big valves that aren’t crippling to the CID of the engine, though on a wedge, that’s always the case, severity is the next issue, the case of a narrower LSA is ridiculous since your ignoring the lower rpm range and operating in a much higher one without care or concern to low rpm output. Mostly because, you’re never there except idling around the pits.

I have no experience how this would work or quite honestly feel on the street. The widest LSA I have used was a 112. I have no notes to compare it against a narrow LSA on the same engine size.
 
Hysteric,
You make these wild claims [ latest in post #23 ]. More power than......what?????????? Where are the numbers for the cam it was compared to????? And the specs?????
I gave an example of an engine making more HP in post #18 of the wider LSA cam making 3.4 hp more [ 3.4 is more hp, right?? ], but dropping 24 ft/lbs through the mid range.
So the Speier cam from Jones used less intake duration but more rocker. Guess what more rocker does! It increases the effective duration...& lift!


And see if you can find ANY comparison dyno tests that Brookshire actually did that tested HIS cams & LSAs.
I could not find any. Would love to see some!

Vizard devotes two pages in his BBC book to LSA correction/optimisation. He tested [ p. 96 ] cams in one engine with 112 to 116 LSA to see the HP difference. Does that sound like he is recommending a tight LSA for that engine??

Nascar engines. Running 9000-10,000 rpm. These rpms are not what your average hot rodder is running & is NOT what Vizard is making recommendations for.

You are just making yourself look stupid.

Oh.....engines had things like cams & pistons in the 1960s....just like they still do in 2023.
 
Starts at 4:00, 402 LS 108 vs 112 vs 120 lsa

 
Hysteric,
Nothing wrong with my comprehension skills. But plenty wrong with your 'logic'. Unless there is cam information posted, there can be no apples-to-apples comparison. Did you miss the bit about 'more' rocker &..... what that does? Did the cam that made 46 hp less have more rocker???
 
273,
Thanks for posting that. That was the comparison I was referring to earlier in this thread.
So far, examples for 4 cyl British engines of less than one litre, LS engines & all the way up to 572CI V8 engines all on tight LSA cams: 350 Chev, LS, 468 & 572 making more hp everywhere on tighter LSA cams.
 
273,
Thanks for posting that. That was the comparison I was referring to earlier in this thread.
So far, examples for 4 cyl British engines of less than one litre, LS engines & all the way up to 572CI V8 engines all on tight LSA cams: 350 Chev, LS, 468 & 572 making more hp everywhere on tighter LSA cams.
I'm sure there's application where lsa wider than 112 have a better power curves but for most of the builds that this site deals with 112 and narrower are probably the better bet.
 
What would happen if one were able to add a half point of compression when they swapped a cam from 108 to 112 lsa?
Or swapped cams with 108 vs 112 lsa but both were installed at 108 or 106…

There are so many damn variables. Seems one could get get quite similar power curves and maybe get some of the advantages of the wider lsa.
 
273,
In one of Vizard's articles/testing where he tested different displacements in SB Chevs, the 350 reqd a slightly wider LSA than bigger engines for best power. He does not have a 'fixation' with 106 LSA. All he said was that his testing [ 19,200 dyno tests ] found that cams sold by cam companies in general were on too wide LSAs for best overall power. From that testing emerged a computer program he sells & the 128 rule as a simplified guide for LSA rather than 'pick a cam' out of a catalogue.
 
What would happen if one were able to add a half point of compression when they swapped a cam from 108 to 112 lsa?
Or swapped cams with 108 vs 112 lsa but both were installed at 108 or 106…
Stop asking logical questions.....
 
273,
In one of Vizard's articles/testing where he tested different displacements in SB Chevs, the 350 reqd a slightly wider LSA than bigger engines for best power. He does not have a 'fixation' with 106 LSA. All he said was that his testing [ 19,200 dyno tests ] found that cams sold by cam companies in general were on too wide LSAs for best overall power. From that testing emerged a computer program he sells & the 128 rule as a simplified guide for LSA rather than 'pick a cam' out of a catalogue.
:rofl:
 
This project has been a long time coming to completion but here we are. It is a very straight forward 360 w/ J heads w/no real work other than a good valve job and resurfacing , positive seals etc... 1.88"/1.60" valves? I didn't do them or take them apart as they were very fresh. The bottom end is just a 4.030" KB 107 piston, W Magnum Rods/ARP bolts, balanced and an old new Mopar .528" SFT with a Holley Strip SP. The customer supplied nearly everything including the 273 iron rockers and banana groove shafts.

Broke it in today for 20 minutes with Joe Gibs 15W50 BR oil, locked out timing @ 37* and the same GB 650 I used a week ago on the 408. It ran excellent and sounded nasty compared to the 408 on account of the 9" of idle vac. Pulled it numerous times on Esso 91 and 34-35* was best with no spacer other than the dumb little steel "gasket" you have to use to seal up a square bore to a spread bore. Yes it was very rich but like the 408 this is not the customers carb and I am only verifying the engine makes the expected power and doesn't leak/smoke/make bad noises or act weird. Could I jet it and change the oil to a thinner Vr1 10w30 and make more power? Yes I'm sure it would respond. Could I spend excessive time exploring carb spacers and lash loops/timing loops and gain more? Yes likely, only to find out the customer doesn't have hood clearance for anything more than a .062" carb gasket. I did spend some time checking / adjusting lash and more time again setting up a dial indicator and measuring valve lift on all valves (.498"-.509") and then compression testing all cylinders (175 psi). All in all this engine is healthy with great 50 psi oil @ 180* oil/water @ 900rpm and 380hp/390tq. It should move the 1st gen Dakota just fine I would imagine. Just sharing another SBM build that contains ZERO exotic parts or porting and what to expect. J.Rob

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What do you think this would have made had it been a 318 instead of a 360. I know you didn’t like the cam and it would probably be worse in a 318.
 
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