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Hi everybody I have a 63 350 that I’ve been building an engine for and I’ve run into a delimma about the cam. It’s a .060 over 292 with flat top pistons, heads off a early 292, offenhauser 2x3 intake (three Holley 94s), it will have exhaust headers eventually. Other than that it’s stock 4:10 gears 4 speed. I was looking at a cam comp sold split duration 268/287 lift 479/470 it has an advertised rpm range of 2-5800. But I’m no cam/y block expert. Any suggestions or recommendations is greatly appreciated!
IMHO, Considering the cam has such critical importance to the engines performance and life, to me it makes sense to use a cam grinder who will talk with you directly- even modify the cam grind to fit your needs even better and to address the possibility of cam lobe failure with the new oils. With regards to price...the difference is nil- especially considering its cheap insurance to know exactly who is machining such a critical part for your engine. And remember, advertised lift/duration/lobe separation is just that- advertised and not the specific grind including ramp profile that is used on the cam.
That is why I highly recommend Iskenderian & Crower & Chet Herbert & Lunati...all are family owned, been grinding cams for decades, and both will even re-grind your oem cam if possible- saving you even more $.
IMHO- I would avoid Comp Cams like the plague...…Comp is a mass production (McDonald's type) company which - seems to have experience more cam lobe failures than most and places the blame on the low ZDDP in the oils...then experiences valve spring failure, and it just does a cycle. I'm not going to say that no one has failures, but, as an example, Isky is yone of the few that inspects and tests every valve spring before it leaves the shop...…. mass production companies like Comp can't do this because it "cuts" into their profits and with them, every penny counts.
This is a not so unusual posting about Comp and their components…..
If the cam is cut on Comps 8620 core and has a copper colored base to it, you should be OK. If it looks like a standard silver / metal camshaft all throughout that is one of their cheaper 5150 cores that won't last 20K miles before wiping out and failing. The 8620 cores run $400+.
I'm no cam expert either. What I did find was that the cam & valve springs work together, the springs have to be selected, installed (height/shimming/seat pressure) and run in correctly. The lifters of course are solid, should be US made, either NOS or a trusted supplier. No white box generic crap. Isky still makes good stuff as far as I know. You might look into new rockers? Maybe you know this stuff already.
Dang I had no idea about comp, had several guys I know that used to drag praise them; but I guess that was from engines they built 10-20 years ago. I have heard good things about isky I’ll give them more of a look. Appreciate the help.
The only issues I've heard of with Comp in regard to Y-Blocks is lifter failure.
Specs at .050 and overlap will be useful but going by the other specs, it's looking like a cam that will not work very well with flat tops. Compression will be too low, resulting in sluggish low end performance. It will also be a mid to high rpm performer which means you can forget all but light duty truck work. If you want to haul or tow, it's simply the wrong cam. Like others have suggested, I also recommend talking to your favorite cam grinder, answering their questions honestly and taking what they give you.
The 4.10 gears are good. Think about upgrading to a 5 speed from the stock 4 speed. The stock 4 speed is for towing and is effectively a 3 speed if all you do is put around town. Also seriously think about some form of limited slip and traction bars. They really are needed for safety and longevity, even on the street. There's not much worse than trying to pull out into traffic and not going anywhere because the right rear is spinning because of the torque of your new engine.
What I did find was that the cam & valve springs work together, the springs have to be selected, installed (height/shimming/seat pressure) and run in correctly. The lifters of course are solid, should be US made, either NOS or a trusted supplier. No white box generic crap. Isky still makes good stuff as far as I know. You might look into new rockers? Maybe you know this stuff already.
Excellent point as well!!!!!! Always buy a cam/lifter kit from the same cam grider!
Excellent point as well!!!!!! Always buy a cam/lifter kit from the same cam grider!
I see that some kits available online and look tempting based on price, but they are made you-know-where. There's no way to tell if they are first run parts or ... from the tail end. And warranty? Pfft. I agree Isky is trustworthy. Some of the cam failures are due to crappy materials and/or non existent hardening and get blamed on the oil I betcha.
I agree Isky is trustworthy. Some of the cam failures are due to crappy materials and/or non existent hardening and get blamed on the oil I betcha.
I didn't mention this before but I too have a little bit of lean towards Isky…….the 3rd cam that Ed Eskenderian ground in his garage went in my dad's engine...… although the other cam grinders I mentioned are very good, Ron his son has had the shop now for ….15+ years? He is a really nice guy and that is shared by everyone I have every spoken with (in person) in the shop....it's far from fancy.....a true machine shop- only a couple of desks and most everyones hands are "dirty". Ron is the one person I trusted to get the straight skinny on with regards to ZDDP levels in the oil years ago when the reduction 1st happened.....he clearly gave me recommendations and good reason for additives in both our old school and new stuff...….. not an engine failure to date either!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I didn't mention this before but I too have a little bit of lean towards Isky…….the 3rd cam that Ed Eskenderian ground in his garage went in my dad's engine ......!
Those are cool stories. Ed is still alive, too. I always saw "Isky Cam" stickers on hot rods when I was a little kid. Didn't know what it meant, but I knew it made them sound pissed off. LOL
Those are cool stories. Ed is still alive, too. I always saw "Isky Cam" stickers on hot rods when I was a little kid. Didn't know what it meant, but I knew it made them sound pissed off. LOL
His brother lives/lived in central calif.....it's been 15+ years now since the last time I saw him but he was also a very nice guy and when we visited his home, he was building/rebuilding the old mini-bikes, tricking them out and selling them on ebay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You California fellas really had it goin' on there! There's no point in hopping up the cam in a Y-block without an increase in compression ratio, correct?
That I'm not sure about that and it always depends on what you are going to use the engine for. I don't use wild cams on street or work type engines. I run an Isky E4 cam ( low to mid range rpm ) with stock compression with G heads on my 292 and all I can say is it runs great for what I use it for. Many years ago, like in the 60's I was at a car show and one of the cam manufactures was explaining how different cams worked and I remember him stating that a cam actually fools the engine into believing it has more compression. That statement always stuck in my head and I don't know if its true or just part of a sales pitch ..
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