Hi all
I am in the middle of a 390 rebuild. My original plan was to do the Edel package, heads, Rpm manifold, Rpm cam, and a 750 Edel carb. I am now re-thinking cams. I have the Edelbrock rpm cam but...Your 343801 is now on my list, but in playing with Desktop Dyno I see a Lunati 30507 FE that produces 400 ft-lbs at 2000. Has anyone run this one? Where's the difference in this and the 343801 you all are so high on? Anyway I have lot's of other details to deal with.......body, interior, drive train, etc. So I am looking to get on the road this spring.
I am looking for hard acceleration, and a reasonable street/drivabilty, and very strong off road ability. Again I must say well done Rat sounds like you got a good one.
Tom

 

I happen to have had the lunati cam specs already on file in desktop dyno. That cam is quite a bit hotter than the Crane. On top of a larger duration you are going from a 114LCA to a 108LCA. This equals much more overlap. On my motor it idles pretty rough at 700rpm but smooths out to about a little better than fair at 900. The lunati cam would give a much rougher idle and less low end power. With the flow specs from ebrock on Dyno the Lunati cam only produces 376ft lbs at 2000. You have to remember also that part throttle response really takes a dive when you get into cams in the lunati's range. You won't be driving around with your foot flat on the floor everywhere you go. If you have a manual or 2500rpm stall or higher and you feel safe at 6500+ rpm you might give it a try. I do like the design of it but it is pretty big. I just reread and you said "off-road". So I'll assume you have a 4X4. I really think you would be happier with something a little milder than the lunati. Some of the guys here are really big on the crowers so you might look them over a bit too. Either way you seem like you are too on the path to a well built engine. When you get it running please let us know how the cam you chose runs.

 

Tom, refresh our memory on whether you have an auto or manual tranny, what rear gears do you have, and how tall are your tires. Can you give us the specs on your Lunati cam ? That would help us compare- DF

 

Gears... 4.10 rear and 4.09 front. C6, NP 203. Right now open differentials both ends, looking at the "no-slips" from Power-trax. Tires to be......35's probably, still looking and figuring. It's a work in progress, if you know what I mean. L2291f30 pistons, deck machined to achieve 0 deck, about .020" removed. .010 under on crank and rod journals. Line honed. Balanced, Harland Sharpe roller tip rockers with "rocker Arm Specialties" stands with end supports. ARP everything. Stans tri-Y headers, the balance of the exhaust to be determined..... probably 2-1/2", maybe with X/H pipe equalizers. Windage tray, HV oil pump, and the Oil mods on everything except oil to the rockers, at this point. About the cam the Lunati is darn close to 400 ft-lbs at 2000 which puts it about 50 above the Edelbrock and a bit above the 343801 (?) so it looked good on th e desktop dyno. Like I said still figuring. I have to check valve to piston clearance with the edel cam to see if I have more room or not with the deck clearance I have.
Looking forward to hearing from you all.
Tom

 

Definately go for the X pipe,
I've used H pipes before but a well constructed X is better.
Well if you like noise and cackle then maybe not.
They make the whole system sound so smooth and reserved but it goes better.

Dont beleive all the bad stories about close lobe separation.
As I've mentioned before in my experience if it is bigger than 110 it is too much of a compromise to be worth the effort.

108 may give a choppr idle but they come on fast and hang on long.
110 a good compromise

112+ for blowers or other special purposes

 

How can anybody say that LCA makes or breaks a cam. If you have a cam with a 190 duration at .050 with a 108 LCA it won't have near the above 2500 rpm power as a cam with a 230 duration and a 114LCA. As for holding on longer you are correct but how long do you need it to? Generally if you have two cams of the same duration with different LCAs then the one with the higher number will peak at a lower rpm than the one with the lower one. Not a lower peak HP but a lower rpm peak. Ford has always been real big on 114LCA cams in the FE's. The 427 and the 428CJ both had it. I'm not stuck on 114LCA cams or the crane 801 cam but when you are moving a heavy vehicle (especially a 4X4) you need some off the line responsiveness or you can set there and slip the clutch all day or get a big hot converter. If you build a motor for all WOT performance than it belongs on the track and would become a headache on the street.

 

Ford 30507 'FE' V8 Hyd Seat-To-Seat 0.563 0.600 36.0 64.0 77.0 33.0 0.0 280.0 290.0 Ford V8 352-428 'FE' 1963-76 Street HP and off-road use 30507 Fair idle. Street performance and off road use. Good mid range and top end power. Power range 2600-6200. Lunati 30507 Hyd 'FE' V8 Lobe center = 108 This is a "paste" from the Dynocam disk for the Lunati You have to kind of interpet... basiclly inlet numbers are followed by exhaust.
Guess I am going to have to go do some reading on cam design to understand what you guys are talking about with the LCA business. I am new to the Desktop Dyno software also. Hey Rat, how'd you post the graph on FE427's post? That was pretty cool. Has anyone compared the DesktopDyno numbers with a real world dyno?
Could you explain why you say part throttle response takes a dive? Bear with me I am just trying to understand. Seems to me if you have almost 400 ft-lbs at 2000 RPM, then it will acclerate harder (better) than if you have 350 at 2000. Seems to me I read somewhere that horsepower is derived from the torque at a given RPM. HP= ft-lbs/min.
Again, seems to me with the 4.10 gears I'll get to 2000 RPM pretty quick. I am using my daily driver as my yardstick. It is a 70 F250 2 WD with 3.73 gears. About, 8 months ago I did the mild Edelbrock package. Performer cam and manifold with the 600 cfm carb. It made such a great difference from the stock 2 barrel that for the new build on the 75 I made the decisions I did. I know you all advised against the Performer package way back then, but compared to the 2V I was more than satisfied.
Thanks again for any opinions.
Tom

 

>How can anybody say that LCA makes or breaks a cam.

It was easy I just typed it.
I'm just relating my experiences

>If you
>have a cam with a 190 duration at .050 with a 108 LCA it
>won't have near the above 2500 rpm power as a cam with a 230
>duration and a 114LCA.

I'd look at it this way:If you cant get the idle/off idle performance you need with 108 or 110 lobe cetres pick smaller durations.

>If you build a motor
>for all WOT performance than it belongs on the track and
>would become a headache on the street.

Hmmmmmmmm maybe some truth in that - depends on what sort of track and what sort of WOT performance. My main experience has been with circuit or dirt oval track where the main focus was torque to get you "out of this corner and then to the next stop turn and do it again" and also be fuel efficient. The same stategy made some great street engins too.

Drag strip tends to be a little more HP/RPM focused.