Need advice on new cam

[JDSfastGN]

Ok well my freshley rebuilt motor with 13,000 miles, cam took a dump, and I'm in the process of pulling it now. I need suggestions on a good cam, that won't wipe a lobe after a short time. I hadn't heard of ATRs having problems but it happened. I am probably going to port and polish the stock heads with the bigger valves as well. i don't like the idea of a comp cam after what happnened before, so any other ideas would be great. i don't want a big cam. Does anybody run a Lunati? Thanks a lot. by the way it is the 87 with its current mods below, and my goals are a low 12 sec street trim car. (mid 11s or so at track) Thanks

 

[Russ Merritt]

There are a lot of good cams out there. I have a roller now but before, and I've installed a few, I had good luck with K.B. cams. I think it was 208/208 464/464 at the time. drives nice, NEVER wiped a lobe, used his springs (104# seat press) Just some info.

 

[JDSfastGN]

Thanks Russ, anybody else got any other considerations

 

[gnx7]

I had a Kenne Bell 208/208 .464" cam myself. Good idle but louder than a sowing machine....

I would suggest getting a camshaft from Ramchargers. Mike Licht sold a 206 profile flat tappet to Geno and he went 9.90's@136mph with it. I'd say it is a good cam for 10's with excellent driveability.

I personnally have a PTE 218R and no driveability issues. The vacuum is about 3-4lbs lower than a smaller cam.... but the top end pull more than makes up for it.

GNX7

 

[Quickturbosix]

Hmm little off topic but why would a cam go away that fast, 13,000 miles? Was it not broke in correctly? That would leave me to think it would have wiped right away. Spring pressure to high? I'm getting ready to break mine in and scared as s#$t it wont work. Oh by the way its a Erson turbo grind 1 (214/208) let you know how it does in a day or so.

 

[JDSfastGN]

I'm not sure why it went so soon, it was broken it correctly having the motor at 2000 rpms or above varying the rpm for 20 minutes or so. I broke the motor in very carefully for 500 miles with 3 oil changes and then drove it normal after that. I haven't taken the motor out or apart yet. It doesn't seem like a blown head gasket. The oil and antifreeze were fine and the coolant was at the right level. I don't know, everything was great earlier that day and the springs are the race springs from ATR. I really have no clue, i will post why it went very soon. I have college orientation tuesday through thursday morning, so it should be out by thursday night or so. Thanks.

 

[87SFI]

You can always go roller. I know it's more money but it puts your mind at ease after you hear all these horror stories. That's what I did anyways after wiping 2 flat tappets because of a slow water leak from a bad headgasket! Most newer cars use roller anyways.
just my .02

George

 

[REDS HOT AIR]

dont matter who sells them a comp cam is a comp cam..

you can save money on name brand and get a cam i havent heard of anyone having trouble with...

speed pro 204-214

part # cs1016r

idles great pulls hard (see sig)

im running 105-110# seat pressure on mine with no problems but i had spring pressure at 85-90# to strt with but i upped it since i lan to run high boost and im know to turn the motor 6000+

also running sealed power lifters ht969's

any one that carry's sealed power ,speed pro,trw...etc can get the cam for you ...northern autoparts (1-800-831-0884) usually stocks it but have found you can get it even cheaper thru advance autozone kinda stores but they dont stock it.

 

[JDSfastGN]

ttt anybody?????????

 

[JDSfastGN]

How would a stock cam do, would it hurt my cars performance very much, I know it was a great design to begin with, but would ported and polished stock heads and a stock cam still give me a lot of performance. If I'm gonna lose 10 hp over a bigger cam, and still have peace of mind I may go with a stock cam. I am considering a speedpro 204/214 cam also. Thanks.

 

[KEVINS]

I prefer the stock cam ony because they seem to be mfr'd correctly for our cars, ie not going flat.. I hope I never have to change it out.. With enough boost it'll run fast anyway which is my motto..

ks

 

[gofstbuick]

I'm using a Poston 107 cam (202@0.050 and 0.430 lift). Spring seat pressure is 110@1.7. Engine currently as 15000 miles. I chose this cam because the LC closely matches the stock cam and was concerned about an increase in NOx by going with a cam with greater than 107 LC. The other choose I for me was a Lunati 200 cam. My stock cam was warn out, otherwise I would have used the stock cam.

 

[ACME RACING]

ATR

Doesn't ATR get their cams from Crane? alan

 

[MSDGN]

KEVINS...why do you think stock cams don't go flat...I took apart 2 local TR motors that had never been apart...stock valve springs...etc and both stock cams had flat lobes...many things can cause flat cams...too much preload...valve spring pressure too high..incorrect break-in...etc...but for a stock untouched motor it has to be the block...some blocks had lifter bores machined incorrectly so that the lifter is centered on the cam lobe and doesn't spin...one of the motors has had 3 different flat tappet cams in(including the stock cam) and everyone has had only the #3 exhaust lobe wiped...he's got one of those blocks...just as a note I took my stock cam out of my 87 T that has 149K miles and it looked fine...little worn but no wiped lobes...just luck of the draw...

 

[FJM568]

The cam the Ramchargers(MM) sells is a 208/208 cam and is the one that Geno ran some great times with...I HAD that cam in my car and wiped the #3 exh lobe on it after 13k miles as well...I was using CC981 valve springs and broke the cam in properly...

JDSfastGN, what kind of valve springs were you using and did you break the cam in with those same valve springs??? Whatever cam you put in there, as an added step in breaking in the cam, put in either an old, used set of stock valve springs, or some CC979's to break the cam in with...Then go back and change them to whatever spring you want to use later after you get a few miles on the motor...The lifters have to wear just right so that they spin properly on the lobe...The stock cams and valve springs didn't have as much lift and spring pressure as what a lot of people today try to run on their motors...The more lift the cam has, the higher the spring pressure will be when it's open...

I know when I used the CC981's on my motor, the #3 exh lobe was completely gone but the rest of the lobes looked fine...

To add to what MSDGN is saying about the stock motor's that have wiped stock cams is that if the stock cam was wiped, chances are extremely good that an aftermarket flat tappet cam will wipe as well...The problem is the #3 exh lifter is mis-located to a position almost directly on-center with the cam lobe...BUT if the stock cam looked good and never wiped a lobe in that motor, then you should be able to get an aftermarket cam to live without wiping lobes, but you have to watch springs pressures when breaking in the cam...Once the lifter gets seated properly to the cam, then you should be able to go to a stiffer valve spring without any problems...

 

[Spoolinup]

I have the stage 3 cam from ESP.
Its 280/290 and has a decent amount of lift
(have #'s somewhere)

Great top end and with the powerplate it idles and sounds great. Not to big blockish for the sleeper effect, but definitely not stock.

I only have about 14k on the car, so I hope it holds up. I
t was like $150 I believe 2 years ago.

 

[KEVINS]

MSDGN, mainly because I have never heard of one going flat that they could not figure out why. I have heard more aftermarket cams going flat where they could not figure out why it happened than I have stock cams. Also as mentioned above the #3 lobe seems go go bad on aftermarket cams more often than stock cams and this has been debated in the archives. One of the reasoning was suggested that that lifter hole is not properly located and maybe the factory compensated by moving the cam lobe.. I have little/no opinion either way on the bore position but anything is possible.. Naturally, just about any cam can go flat with improper procedures...

ks

 

[Quick6'n'-K.C.]

RUSS---- 208/208 464/464

are you sure that is the correct lift? wow-

so what is the most amount of lift that we can run without coil bind??

Q- who has the highest lift cam around a 206/206 - 208-208 ??
heck id get a 200-200 if the sucker had .470 lift!!

could someone help me out ?

 

[JToups386]

I have wiped a couple of cams in freshly rebuilt motors years ago, simply due to the initial startup and break in period. The key is to make sure the cam is pre-lubed well, and the oil pressure is up before cranking it, and then make sure it cranks up instantly upon turning the key. Every rotation of the assembly without it firing and building pressure and oil flow, will kill the cam quick. I've lost em' due to having the motor turn over, and over, and over, before it actually fired. I currently use a custom ground Comp cam, and have not flattened another lobe after ensuring it cranked immediately. Unlike the old days and thoughts of hot rodding, "bigger is not better" in Turbo Buicks.
Consider - Where do you want to make the power? It's all about "power under the curve", based on your particular setup. What's your head-flow, CC, stall, etc, etc. Don't just settle for a pre-determined grind like the old schoolers did. Call Comp Cams or a similar outfit, tell them what you have, and your goal. They'll be happy to advise you on what will work best, per your parameters. I ran 11.90's @ 112mph with a stock turbo @ 17psi and mildly self ported heads, and the car idled as if it were stock. I sold it to a friend, who now drives it 60 miles round trip daily. Just my opinion, for what it's worth...

 

[Russ Merritt]

Keep the lift under .500 and you'll be fine. I talked to Red A. and he said he was running short dur. high lift, said he was leaving the line with 6.5# of boost and in 6ths of a second he was at 28# I have the K.B. cam card right here, advertised duration/lift, 266/266-464/464 114 lobe center. At .050 lifter rise 208/208-290/290. Stay with short duration but get all the lift you can, keep it under .500. Like I said I had good luck with them, I know there are more popular cams and diff. manufactures. Thats what I used before I went roller.