Cam lobe mystery......

[Turbo Zach]

Years ogo I built a ford 390 with a kit I bought off line. The engine only ran for a couple hours and developed a tick. Took the valve covers off to find bent push rods, and metal shavings. Found the cam they sent me was a regrind and cheep lifters. Cam ate the lifters. Had to return the crank and have the block honed. Cheep parts cost me a lot of money! Hard lessons learned. Hope the rest of your engine is ok and this is a good excuse to up grade parts.

 

[-83MONTESS-]

Well just got news back from my buddy who cut the filter apart. He says there were very few shavings in the filter, but from what he saw it's definately the cam/lifters. He gave me his "professional" suggestion which was a total tear down but he told me if it was his he would do a cam/lifter swap and be done.

With the little miles this thing has and the very small amount of shavings found he says I shouldn't have any issues because I caught it before it got bad. Obviously I'm going to inspect everything when I tear it apart and if I see anything that's worse than expected it will be torn all the way down.

He can get me scorpion roller rockers discounted so I'm going that route. Now my next delimma is choosing a cam. I called Howards and the guy seemed like he had better things to do than help me out. Anybody here have any suggestions? I'm new to rollers.

496 cubes
10.5:1 CR
049 casting heads
115cc chambers 2.25-1.88 valves
Single plain air gap intake
3000 stall and gears are gonna change.
Would like to be as close to 600hp if not over as possible. Any input is appreciated...

 

[-83MONTESS-]

I should add I'm torn between a hydraulic roller and a solid roller. Yes I know the differences but not sure what would suit me better.

 

[Garrett1982]

http://www.lunatipower.com/Product.aspx?id=4542&gid=289

 

[565bbchevy]

I would get a hydraulic roller with specs close to what you currently have, though 049's are decent factory oval ports they don't really compare with the technology and designs of Today's heads and that will be the limiting factor on your build.
What are your current specs?

 

[-83MONTESS-]

I would get a hydraulic roller with specs close to what you currently have, though 049's are decent factory oval ports they don't really compare with the technology and designs of Today's heads and that will be the limiting factor on your build.
What are your current specs?

Current cam is on the small side. .576/.579 lift. Can't remember the duration. Definately going bigger. I have seen these 049 heads do awesome with bigger cams.

 

[565bbchevy]

I would try and get at least a few recommendations from different cam manufacturers and compare those to each other they will get in the ballpark of at least around what size you should be looking for.
What size carb are you running?

 

[-83MONTESS-]

I would try and get at least a few recommendations from different cam manufacturers and compare those to each other they will get in the ballpark of at least around what size you should be looking for.
What size carb are you running?

Was wondering who disliked your post then realized it was me! Lol my bad.

I have contacted Lunati-never heard back, Comp gives me a different suggestion everytime, Howards was cool until today. Gonna try them again hopefully I can get someone that isn't a dick. I might just go big and contact Chris Straub. He seems like a cool dude on the other boards I'm on. The only reservations I had with him was the prices.

 

[565bbchevy]

Those were the three I was going to suggest (Lunati, Comp and Howards) you could also try LSM and Cam Motion.

 

[tmaher11]

I use Bullet cams. Those guys are awesome to deal with.