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CCC friendly aftermarket cam for N/A 231/252

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Sorry Mr Pontiac... But Charlie
It's not divided(has a wall but not solid), it is a single plane and Im not going back to school.
 
Sorry Mr Pontiac... But Charlie
It's not divided(has a wall but not solid), it is a single plane and Im not going back to school.
that small hole is for the EGR more than anything else Adam. Almost all of the old GM 4 barrel intakes from the late 60's had the same thing and were all designated as dual plane.:p
 
Well, since the wall is more like a gaping hole with a little material above and below it, it's now a single plane. A couple thin bits of aluminum does not a wall make. It's a single plane.
 
I have a question about heads. Are there any "bad" heads to avoid? I have 8445 heads on the 3.8 so I'm keeping them and while I was going to keep the entire long block after replacing it, I'm especially keeping the heads.

I'm asking since my plan is to get a long block from a parts store and in case it comes with heads that are not as good I can switch them out.
 
Parts store long blocks may or may not have mismatched heads, and no guess what the bore size may be. Get an engine out of a yard and have it rebuilt to your specs.;)
 
Parts store long blocks may or may not have mismatched heads, and no guess what the bore size may be. Get an engine out of a yard and have it rebuilt to your specs.;)

There's hardly any g-bodies in the yard around me and I'm always looking for vehicles that may have a 4.1 in them. I have a list written down of the cars that could have one and I check all the time but so far no luck. I'd rather find one than get one from a parts store. If I can't find one, I may settle for one from a parts store. Or I could stick with the 3.8 since mine is the original engine to the car. That leaves me with a few less cubic inches but with it being my engine, like you said, I could have it built to my specs.
 
Ok, so it's not that hard. Who makes a good CCC compatible roller cam and lifter kit?
 
Unless you have a 109 block, or a block that has an oil passage around the top of the front cam bearing, you may have a problem putting a roller cam in. On a flat tappet cam, the front bearing journal has a groove in it to let oil pass to the drivers side lifters. Roller cams do not have the groove, at least not the ones I have seen. You have to grind a passage into the block above the front cam bearing, use TA Performance rear groove cam bearings, or find someone to groove the cam journal. Full Throttle also now stocks rear groove bearings. Any roller cam that is off the shelf will be for a turbo engine. You would need a custom grind from Comp or another company for a N/A engine to get the best performance. A turbo cam will work, but they are designed for turbo engines, not N/A. The cost is not much more for a custom grind. Also, regarding 8445 heads, the only difference I can see in any high port heads is the bridged water passages at the front and rear of the heads. The bridge tends to keep the head gaskets from leaking coolant into the front and rear cylinders.
 
I wouldn't count on that since the 4.1 doesn't have the same passages as the 109 block.;)
 
Unless you have a 109 block, or a block that has an oil passage around the top of the front cam bearing, you may have a problem putting a roller cam in. On a flat tappet cam, the front bearing journal has a groove in it to let oil pass to the drivers side lifters. Roller cams do not have the groove, at least not the ones I have seen. You have to grind a passage into the block above the front cam bearing, use TA Performance rear groove cam bearings, or find someone to groove the cam journal. Full Throttle also now stocks rear groove bearings. Any roller cam that is off the shelf will be for a turbo engine. You would need a custom grind from Comp or another company for a N/A engine to get the best performance. A turbo cam will work, but they are designed for turbo engines, not N/A. The cost is not much more for a custom grind. Also, regarding 8445 heads, the only difference I can see in any high port heads is the bridged water passages at the front and rear of the heads. The bridge tends to keep the head gaskets from leaking coolant into the front and rear cylinders.

So, if I use the rear cam bearings with a groove, I'm OK to use a roller cam then? I did check out fullthrottle and a custom cam is 275, same as an off the shelf roller cam. I imagine I'll have to give them all kinds of info to get the right specs for the cam but what kind of lift would I be looking for? I don't need something wild, just something with more oomph and compatible with the CCC system. The compatibility being a priority over large lift. I don't know how much cam the CCC system can take, so I'm having to learn this as I go and I don't want to get the wrong specs for the cam. I just know the system works fine and I see no need to get rid of it.

When I'm ready to do all this, if I can't find a 4.1, I'll just stick with the 3.8 I have now, the loss of a few extra cubic inches isn't a huge deal. I see stroker kits and I'm not sure I want to go that route but it's not too expensive either.
 
I've used the rear groove cam bearings on 2 4.1's with roller cams so far and they worked fine. I may have some cam cards for some old Kenne Bell or Poston (same cam grinder as Kenne Bell) N/A grinds. I'll have to dig them out. I had my custom roller made using the specs for a flat tappet cam that I was running. Those KB cams were mostly designed for a 3.8 and will idle better and be a little milder in a 4.1.
 
I can't find the card for the cam specs that would work with your combo. It went with the engine the cam was in when I sold it. If I was going to have a custom N/A roller made, I would call Comp Cams and get their recommendation for your combo. They would need a lot of information such as: gear ratio, trans, converter stall speed, bore and stroke, carb size and manifold type, compression ratio, and the rpm range you want. The mildest cam I have a card for idles at 900 rpm and is 224 and 228 duration @ .050 with a 112 LSA. Probably would not work with CCC.
 
I contacted Comp Cams on their site and gave them all the information they needed. I can't wait to see what their recommendations are.
 
Don't be dissapointed if you don't hear from them. I did the on line rquest for a cam recommendation twice and never got an answer.
 
Well, I got an answer but clearly they don't know how to read. I specified hyd roller lifters, they gave me a PN to a flat tappet cam. (n) 69-234-4 is the cam they suggested.

I checked Summit and found this: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/cca-k69-300-8/overview/make/buick they have two kits, this one and another with slightly less lift. .494/.494 or .504/.504

The application says 86-87, any reason why they wouldn't work in my 85 block?

Full Throttle has this kit: http://www.fullthrottlespeed.com/customkititems.asp+kc+001BUROLLMOREL+eq+
I like this kit with this cam: 206/210 .516/.516 110 L/S
Good stock replacement and driver cam 2800 stall it might be a bit more cam than I need though but it's the smallest they offer in this kit.
 
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