Would this make for a good low-end to mid-range cam.
Duration @.050: 204-214 Lift: .451-.475 110 degrees lobe sep.

This will be used in a motor with
-.040 overbore
-9.5:1 comp.
-Mildly ported head
-EFI manifolds
-Offy Dual Port
Put into a 85 F150 4X4 with 33" tires, NP208, C-6, and a 350 rear gear (411's to come just dont know when).

 

As a suggestion get the gears first then make a cam selection, as well as make any other modifications you would like. Then give a manufacturer of camshafts a call and let them pick. I bet that is a paw ssi camshaft? If it is, the rpm range is 1500+ it would do fine probably better with a little higher stall speed or somewhat better with the lower gears you mentioned. If your asking will it make a difference? Yeah. Is it gonna do what you want? I think you could do better, if you have the desire to spend a little more then give comp or crane a call and go from there. Just saying the cam you listed is a fairly older cam grind so you would see improvement going with comp or crane as the design would be a little more up dated. Good luck, let everyone know what you chose to do and the seat of the pants feel you got from it, later

 

Sounds pretty good to me. The comp/crane idea is a good one, too. If you are gonna get a cam, bumped compression, and ported heads, get headers. All this EFI manifold crap is BS. They may flow adequate, but it is all in the exhaust pulses that the header maximizes. The more you do, the better the gain from headers. This project is DEFINATELY enough to warrant header/headers.

 

This is a PAW grind. The other cam I was considering was the Crane Truck Power 204/216 .458/.487 112 LC. These two cams are pretty close. The PAW is 204/214 .451/.475 110 LC. Crane claims Idle-4500 rpm where as PAW claims 1500-4000 somebodys wrong. The only major difference here is the Crane has a little more timing 112 compared to 110 I dont see where that would make a difference in the rpm range. I would like to use a little less duration maybe around 194 but the problem I have found is when I step down in durration I loose a considerable amount of lift. What I have also found by simulating my engine on my desktop dyno is that the loss of duration and lift combined drop about 20 horse off of the peak with a minimal gain in lowend torque usually around 5-10 lbft. I don't feel that this is a fair trade off.

 

No, 194 is probably not enough over stock. And yes, the 112 vs. 110 makes quite a bit of difference. Along with MANY other specs of the cam. One mistake people make is to pick a cam based ONLY on duration and lift. There are several other numbers that are important.

 

Duration is fine, here is something to consider take the advertised duration of each cam and then subtract the advertised duration from the duration at .050 of each int and exhaust of each cam then compare the two the one with the smallest number is the more aggressive cam, which in newer cam designs usually equates to a little more tq and hp.

In all truth your probably talking a 10-15 hp difference between the two but if the 10-15 starts low and stays consistant then it would make a noticable difference. Given you have a c6 with probably a stock converter you want the tq to come on quicker as I believe you would find with the powermax cam. Good luck, Later

 

My somewhat limited search on cam posts has found the Crane Powermax to be most common cam of choice for those who have upgraded - and all seemed happy - 'though I don't recall anyone who tried out a variety of others - wouldn't it be nice...

I'm thinkin' of runnin' with the pack - Crane... or Isky or Crower or...hmmm...

 

Here is my experience with cams: Spend the money and get one from Comp Cams. I've run the SSI cams and they are cheap copies of other manufacturers cams. If you take an SSI cam and a Comp cam with equal lift, duration and LCA the Comp will make noticably more power. There is much more to a cam then the specs printed in the catalog and Comp is one of the few companies that go the extra mile to optimize their cams. This extra development is why Crane says their cam works from idle-4500 and SSI says theirs works from 1500-4000. The Crane more than likely is a much better design and the powerband it produces reflects this. I don't remember ever running a Crane cam in anything, but I might have at some point. I know I have installed a lot of cams in my cars and my customer's cars and I've never been disappointed with a Comp. You get what you pay for. If I was picking a cam for your engine I would install a Comp Cams 260H. It's a single pattern cam with 214 degrees duration @0.050 and 0.447 lift on a 110 LCA. The usable rpm range is 1000-5000. You might also get away with the 268H, but you might lose some low end. If the 260 costs you 15 hp at 4000 rpm compared to the 268 you'll never miss it. The 268 might cost you 20 ft-lbs at 1500 rpm, which you will miss. If you really want the perfect cam they can also do a custom grind for you, but you probably won't get you money's worth out of it. It would be in your best interest to give them a call and see what they have to say. 1-800-999-0853

 

I just replied to an earlier posting on cams but regarding the last response I installed a Comp 260H in my 300 . It has a mildly ported head ,.040 over and EFI intake and exhausts on a 83 block running propane. It really starts to make power at a bout 2800 rpm and then goes from there BUT I've had terrible valve train noise and have tried 2 sets of Comp lifters and new dual springs and now a head with adjustable rockers and I'm confident the noise is not the lifters but the valves slamming back on their seats -so- today a stock cam goes in. I have talked to Comp and they have been no help!!!

 

replaced the COMP 260H with a stock cam today and the noise is gone - anyone want a cheap 260H ?

 

Valvetrain noise is part of having a performance cam. You should hear one of GM's gen 3 small blocks with a cam in it.

 

I was thinking about the noise you had today when I had some free time. One of the earlier cams I tried in my Cougar made a horrible racket and didn't start pulling as early as I thought it should. It was an SSI single pattern that measured 304/224@0.050 and 0.465 lift. The noise was caused by the rockers hitting the studs because the slots weren't long enough. If your rockers are hitting that might be why it sounds like the valves slamming shut.

 

I checked that 2 heads ago and it wasn't a problem but I'll check it again on a spare head - good thought

 

I checked mine too, but there was never any evidence of contact. After a while it started breaking rocker studs and I figured it out. Oddly enough, they didn't hit when the valve was opened, they hit when it closed. That slowed the closing down enough to kill the low end. By the time the stud flexed enough for the valve to close it was like adding duration.

 

how much for the cam and where about do you live? i might be interested.