I picked up a 66 F-250 with a 352 last week. It sit for four years and we got it runnin good then a few days later it was tappety tap tap pulled the valve covers and a lifter or the cam is bad so I'm going to put a little bigger cam in it. Wondering if a 530 lift cam may be to big?

 

Nearly all of Fords HP cams were limited to .500 lift so I would stick to either the 427 cam specs of 306* duration and .500 lift or the more radical 324* duration and .500 lift. Both are excellent cams for solid lifters. If you want to run a hydraulic lifter cam the stock 428 CJ/SCJs would be good but you need to remember that cams are engineered for the application and cid of the engine they are to be used in. Your best bet would likely be an OEM cam for a 390 Mustang GT/Fairlne GT application as the others may rob the engine of it's ability to make torque. Think it over and be careful in your selection. Remember, you must replace the lifters when changing cams.

 

**** Ford's old cams, they are terrible designs. With those stock heads you would want to keep the lift around .500 but .530 will not hurt, going to need valve springs. I assume this is comp cams magnum? They .050 duration is a better gauge than the lift hurting the motor.

 

Well for a terrible design they sure got the job done. Ford engines with ford cams won everything in sight, world wide, from the late '50s and into the '70s. They MUST have done something right.

 

Mel, I think the idea is that a cam designed by the aftermarket is probably one whole heck of a lot better than using a stock (or even hi-po) Ford bumpstick.

There's no comparison between what Ford ran in a race car, and what you would want to be able to do with an F250 pickup truck as a daily driver.

 

I mean they have slow lifter acceleration which is good for 200,000 longevity. All the manufactur used those style cams, they bleed off a lot of compression with all the overalp. Krewat is right, there are not the best choice for anything let alone a bigger truck.

 

A camshaft that has 0.530 lift, I would put it into at least a built up 390. That cam will compliment more of the aftermarket parts you put into the 390 than that factory 2v 352 with log exhaust manifolds. Don't get me wrong, your 352 is a wonderful motor, however, I think that there are more reasonable and wiser choices out there than an extreme high lift cam. A Comp 252H would be a "better than stock" choice if you were not to change anything else on that 352. This is also assuming that this motor is not completely tired and worn out.

 

Considering the circumstances, that it ran good for a while and then started the racket, I would look at the valves sticking in the guides as the source of your noise, or perhaps a sticky lifter- gotta get some lube/penetrant in there to get out the old oil/ gas and free things up, before it bends a pushrod. A little Marvel or a Seafoam treatment would go a long way to loosening it up before you resort to major surgery- with it idling slow you'd probably be able to see a valve assembly that's not coming all the way back up, and the noise coming from there. I'd bet she's just gummed up, and I'd definitely try the Seafoam treatment, following the directions on their website Cleaning Varnish and Carbon Deposits - Carburated Engines and change the oil, with fresh detergent oil including another can of Seafoam, changing the filter again when it shows color so the filter does not clog and bypass as the Seafoam cleans thing up, then the oil & filter again when it starts to show color again. While you have the covers off, clean out the oil drainback holes at the back of each head, you'll probably find a puddle of goo in each side. Give that 352 a chance, they're tough as nails- I'll bet you can get it back to purring with a little work

And there are many modern cams & springs available that run much better than those severely outdated factory cams, especially the 324/500 which nowadays is pretty much just a waste of a new set of lifters- and a very bad choice for a 3/4 ton pickup, as what power it does make is definitely not in the low & midrange. It sure sounds nice, granted, but put that stick in your pickup and try to tow your boat with it, and you'll be VERY unhappy And the 428 CJ/SCJ used the same juice cam that originally came in the 390GT- not a different cam. It would be better for your app than those antiquated solids, but there are still much better sticks available today, and you're working on, again, a 3/4 ton pickup, not a car. What you're going to use the truck for will also factor into a choice, if a replacement is needed- a 3/4 ton isn't really hotrod material

 

Thanks for the info guys and I will not be pulling anything with this truck as it is just another toy to me. I work out of town a lot and I am only home about 4 days out of a month. It is the magnun 280H kit with springs and all. If I do run the 530 will I need to do head work other than springs? I have a good 4v It will get headers and a intake. I may have some head work done on it idk yet. I will try the seafoam as I have some in the garage. Thanks guys.