351M torque/towing cam
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From: Wingo, Ky
351M torque/towing cam
I have a 1978 Bronco with a stock as far as I know 351M. Its not the original one though my buddy said he pulled it out of a Thunderbird I don't know the year.
I'm wanting to know the best cam for torque/towing?
It has stock gears. 31x10.50-15 tires. If I go with bigger tires ill change gears accordingly. Freshly rebuilt C6 transmission. with 1000 stall.
It moves the Bronco around fine but I know the stock cam isnt worth a dime. Prolly gonna get TMEYER pistons to bring compression up and probably end up making it a 400 also.
Thanks for any help.
I'm wanting to know the best cam for torque/towing?
It has stock gears. 31x10.50-15 tires. If I go with bigger tires ill change gears accordingly. Freshly rebuilt C6 transmission. with 1000 stall.
It moves the Bronco around fine but I know the stock cam isnt worth a dime. Prolly gonna get TMEYER pistons to bring compression up and probably end up making it a 400 also.
Thanks for any help.
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From: wyoming
stock valvetrain
keep your lift in the .500 max. sometimes coilspring bind issues with factory valvetrain. comp cam 268 hi energy good cam, .494 lift. several other good one out their. something in the 260 to 270 duration advertised is where you need to be give or take depending on agressiveness..
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From: Centerpoint, IN
I love my COMP 252H, my truck is pretty heavy and it's got so much torque compared to the stock cam that it isn't even funny, a lot more horsepower than stock too. Mine is in a 400 though. I would definitely do a 400 conversion if I were you. At one point my friend had a 78 F150 with a 351m c6 and I had my 400 c6 in my F350 that weighed a lot more, both had 4.10 gears, we drag raced and I beat him by a good bit even though he had a bigger cam. I think it was like a 218 duration @.050(equal to about 268 advertised duration) and I had the stock emission cam, other than that the motors were set up the same, headers, intake, 4bbl carb. Also, I got 12mpg at that point and he got 8mpg. He sold that truck haha. IMHO if you want mpg(maybe not since you didn't say anything about it), get something smaller like the 252H, if you want a little more horsepower(and a little torque) and a little less mpg, then get something a little bigger(260-270) like wyoming said. Either way you'll still get beat by a guy with a similar 400 haha
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From: Wingo, Ky
I've looked at the 252H but I have been wondering if I should go a tad bigger. Don't want to sacrifice much gas milage, low end to mid range power is all I want. I'm gonna be raising the compression some with different pistons and I do have a 1000 stall converter in the tranny. I have everything to make it a 400 also.
Not looking for a lumpy idle either I already have a 302 that does all that lol.
I had a 400 in my 79 Bronco and the 351M in my current 78 Bronco seems like a beast compared to it. The 400 ran good but it was getting tired with low compression I guess.
Not looking for a lumpy idle either I already have a 302 that does all that lol.
I had a 400 in my 79 Bronco and the 351M in my current 78 Bronco seems like a beast compared to it. The 400 ran good but it was getting tired with low compression I guess.
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From: Centerpoint, IN
I would say it depends if you want to change your valves/springs/retainers, if you are going to leave it stock I would go 252H for more low end and mileage, also it has an operating range of 800-4800 and I've heard that you don't want to push the stock springs and retainers past around 4200. But if you are replacing the valves/springs/retainers I would get something bigger like the 260H or 268H where you could have more horsepower/torque and a few more rpms before the redline. But then again even the 260H is going to give up some low end because the operating range on it is 1200-5200. Just depends what the truck is going to be used for IMHO.
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From: Wingo, Ky
Its gonna be driven on the road, towing, ocassional mudding. Not looking to win any races or rev it very high. Just a high in torque reliable engine. The 252H is looking better and better lol.
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From: Centerpoint, IN
Yeah, you probably won't win drag races with it but I know my 400 pulls like a hoss with it. It's a good mild cam for reliability and efficiency without having to modify the valvetrain at all. The other day I pulled the big trailer(around 10k horse trailer) and it pulled almost as easy as on my dad's 5.9 cummins. That's saying something when you get close to the torque of a diesel lol.
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From: Centerpoint, IN
No the springs don't usually coil bind until you go over .500 lift and the 252H is .468 lift. If you have a tired motor(over around 100k) it would probably be a good idea to change springs but other than that they SHOULD be fine. No guarantees though because the stock valve retainers and springs are one of these motor's weak points. But from what you said you will use it for you should be just fine. Revving and rpms are what make them prone to go boom.
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From: wyoming
mileage and torque converters/
what converter did you use. said 1000stall if i'm correct. yes keep the cam in the 260 duration range for low stall. should be a nice truck with some skills. torque converter is the trick to mileage. C6 good tranny and can do some cool stuff to upgrade on next upgrades to help on internal friction, torrington rollers internal upgrades. 
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From: Centerpoint, IN
Wyoming, won't the 252H have more low end torque and be better for mileage if the carb and ignition timing are right? I guess it kind of depends on gearing too but 260 duration seems aggressive to me for 1000 stall and stock springs. But you're the expert you've been doing this stuff longer
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From: On the Edge of the Desert
What about summit's 5200 cam? They mark it as a tow/torque cam.
http://m.summitracing.com/parts/sum-5200
I bought one for my 351C. And was going to use it, but took it back out when I ran into some engine problems. Eventually I might put it back in.
http://m.summitracing.com/parts/sum-5200
I bought one for my 351C. And was going to use it, but took it back out when I ran into some engine problems. Eventually I might put it back in.
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From: Wingo, Ky
This thing already gets around great with the 1000 stall considering how it did with stock converter. Plus the builder did some things to help the shifts. Upshifts and downshifts great. It can only get better when the junk cam is replaced.
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From: Centerpoint, IN
I've heard good things about the Summit cams but exhaust lift is .512, so I would be very worried about trying to use stock springs... And COMP is the king in the camshaft world IMO, never heard of anyone having problems with them not being degreed right, the right grind, etc. I degreed mine and it was exactly to specs, you would definitely need to degree a Summit cam.