Alright guys, as some of you know I have done some work recently to the engine in my truck. To recap, I pretty much did all the external mods that a lot of you have done, or at least looked into. I have a 465 Holley(as opposed to the 390 typically used), heated spacer, Offenhauser intake, EFI exhaust manifolds, walker y-pipe(cleaned), and DUI distributor. I have been looking at going back into the engine and upgrading the internals. I have started looking at both the comp cams and the clifford cam kits. Does anybody have any experience with either one, and what are your impressions of quality? The prices are close enough for me to not think about one over the other too much. The biggest differences between those two are that the comp cams kit comes with a new timing gear set, and the clifford doesn't. Any input you guys have would be great. I plan to do the port and polish on a "new" head as well. I think I am going to have that professionally done, but not positive on that yet. Again, any help you guys can offer would be greatly appreciated.

 

I have the Comp 260 with valve spring and lifter kit and I recommend it. F-250 restorer might recommend the Isky 256 Super Cam...no problem with it either. Just from all the static generated by Clifford on this Forum and at FSP, I would avoid Clifford.

 

Yeah, I thought I remembered hearing some less than reputable things about Clifford recently, but couldn't nail down anything. The 260 is the more aggressive cam correct? What all did the kit come with when you got it, and if you don't mind my asking, what did you wind up paying. Like I mentioned, I did like that the comp cam kit came with the timing set. Did your kit come with the push rods? Did you swap out rocker arms as well? By the way, I noticed you are running EFI plugs. What is the difference between those and the stock copper core plugs? Thanks for the help again.

 

I don't recall what I paid for the cam kit...got it on eBay NIB. It had gears, springs and lifters with it though ended up changing out the gear set...had a knock in them...new stock push rods and rockers. The EFI plugs are a little longer and considered a cheap upgrade. I pulled them last fall...clean as a whistle, regapped to 50 and put them back in. When I put them in I got an increase in idle speed which I had to adjust back down.

 

I have seen reports that Comp had a few issues with lifters, mostly older reports, so likely resolved now. They've been in the game a long time, and offer products for most domestic engines, regardless of configuration. Their kits can be much cheaper than buying all the components separately, which is always good.
I have heard Clifford has major issues with the finish on their cam journals, so I would avoid them. They were once the king of I6 parts, but seem to have gone downhill lately.

 

I'd recommend the Crane P/N 503901 cam myself. Some people suggested that it would be too much for an EFI, but my personal experience with this grind has been great. It is a split profile, meaning it has different specs for int/exh. It has more total duration than the comp 260 on the exhaust side (272). the .050" specs are 204/216 and LSA is 112 where the Comp is 108. The lift is significantly higher, however, at .458/.487 as opposed to the Comp's .447. The engine is all stock except for this cam, all steel timing gears, minor head porting and 19lb injectors with an adjustable regulator. It ran good, but a bit lean on the 14lb units, but the 19's with the pressure set to 40PSI has worked great. With a 3.06 rear (want to change to 3.55s) and auto trans it gets between 16 and 19 MPG depending on load and driving mode. CONSIDERABLY better power than before however. I DID have to advance the base timing considerably, however, but once that was done it idles and runs well, with only a VERY slight lope. I really want a megasquirt, as I think there is a good bit more power to be found there, but the auto trans control is an issue. (Like any other, solvable with enough time and money, of which I have neither). Think about it, though. It worked good for me.

 

Picking a cam is like picking a bride. You just have to look through the catalogs until one catches your eye, then follow your heart. And always pick one that seems a bit too small instead of one that looks too large.

 

I do like the "Made in the USA" on the crane cams. Wish they had a package deal though.

 

There is really a lot to consider when buying a cam. I had no idea when I bought mine. I just got lucky. But unless you are staying on the mild side, then you need to think about tire size, rear gears, and what you want to use the engine/vehicle for. If you want that loping idle, then you need to go a bit beyond the isky 256 or the comp 260. And yes, I would avoid the Cliffy cams.

Read the info @ Accelerated motion cams. He has everything you need to decide on a cam. Crower also makes cams for the 300, as does Schneider, and Howard. The latter has a few on Summit.

I'd also say that a good porting of the head goes hand in hand with a cam. One helps the other. Neither is at full potential w/o the other. Good luck. You might want to conside dual exhaust too, unless you have nice size pipe already.

 

My nephew runs the Comp 268. I run a regrind from Oregon Cam Grinding, which is a 274. You dont want to run a choppy cam with highway gears & manual trans on a daily driver. I'd highly suggest the full kit, and get the good timing gears with 3 keyways. Pay attention to the cam descriptions, and recommendations.

 

schnider (call jerry) will make a custom for the price of the others. Gotta give him a lota specs off your 'final' tho.

Matt at Vintage Inlines dot com caters to the i6 (like Cliff did) ONLY & specializes in engines...

 

I would send a PM to AbandonedBronco. He went with an Erson cam, that has a lope at idle, and he is quite happy with it. He may have mentioned the cam # in his build thread

 

Wow, resurrection of an old one here. Wish I still had that truck.

 

? aint the name of the site "Enthusiasts"?