New engine for the old girl

[megaladon6]

speaking of head gaskets; you should measure the distance from the piston stop to the top of the deck (after you have the crank of course). then you should use a head gasket that will give you a total distance around .035in. this will give you good quench which adds power and reduces the possibility of knock.

 

[custom442]

Thanks, all good advice.

I've tried to find a combo kit to fit the top end, but can't for what I'm looking for. I don't want to fool around with a roller cam, so I decided to go with a 284/296 (adv) 240/246 (@.050) hydraulic flat tappet (.507/.510 lift). I just don't trust myself with too much engine rebuilding and the flat tappet is what the engine is set up for stock anyway.

Anyone know a good proven head combo for a 284 cam like this? Or should I just measure it at .035 as suggested before? (I'd hate to buy heads and have less compression than I could by mixing and matching random stuff.)

Edit: I should have simplified it - what is the best size heads (cc) for a 284 cam?

 

[megaladon6]

that's a pretty big cam for the street. quite possibly too big. for the strip it'll be good though. for some good performance and idle i'd stay smaller than the xe-274, a xe-268 would be real nice.
again for the street, i'd go with about a 180 or 190cc runner, 2.00in intake/1.6in exhaust valves. you could go with 170cc runners but that may be too small for your power requirements, and definately too small for a 280 cam. but there are a lot of choices http://store.summitracing.com/egnse...1+4294867079+115+4294867028&Ntk=KeywordSearch

the quench distance i mentioned does not depend on what heads you use. it's just the distance from the top of the piston at TDC to the top of the head gasket/base of the head.
oh and the roller cams do not require any block modifications, that's why they're expensive. but they are more reliable. flat tappets have MAJOR problems with todays oil and will be destroyed if you do not run a high ZDDP content oil/additive.

 

[HFX]

that's a pretty big cam for the street. quite possibly too big. for the strip it'll be good though. for some good performance and idle i'd stay smaller than the xe-274, a xe-268 would be real nice.
again for the street, i'd go with about a 180 or 190cc runner, 2.00in intake/1.6in exhaust valves. you could go with 170cc runners but that may be too small for your power requirements, and definately too small for a 280 cam. but there are a lot of choices http://store.summitracing.com/egnse...1+4294867079+115+4294867028&Ntk=KeywordSearch

the quench distance i mentioned does not depend on what heads you use. it's just the distance from the top of the piston at TDC to the top of the head gasket/base of the head.
oh and the roller cams do not require any block modifications, that's why they're expensive. but they are more reliable. flat tappets have MAJOR problems with todays oil and will be destroyed if you do not run a high ZDDP content oil/additive.

Rollers also allow steeper smoother ramps to max lift.

OP, you will want to run Shell's Rotella oil or some other additive. Bonus points in that high ZDDP is good for the valves, the rings, and the bearings too.

 

[custom442]

Another question -

Why are the assembled 64cc chamber 180cc runner Dart (Pro 1) heads 4/500$ less than the Brodix (IK180) ones? Is there that much difference in performance?
Thanks

http://store.summitracing.com/egnsearch ... wordSearch

 

[megaladon6]

the darts are priced per head, the brodix are priced per pair. i really don't understand why companies sell individual heads, it's pretty rare (outside of racing) that you only need one, but that's the way it is.

 

[jae]

the quench distance i mentioned does not depend on what heads you use. it's just the distance from the top of the piston at TDC to the top of the head gasket/base of the head.
oh and the roller cams do not require any block modifications, that's why they're expensive. but they are more reliable. flat tappets have MAJOR problems with todays oil and will be destroyed if you do not run a high ZDDP content oil/additive.Rollers also allow steeper smoother ramps to max lift.

OP, you will want to run Shell's Rotella oil or some other additive. Bonus points in that high ZDDP is good for the valves, the rings, and the bearings too.

Don't mean to jack the thread:
HFX, I've read about the newer oils and the ZDDP content lacking in these. I've got an oil change coming up and was thinking about that. Do you run the Rotella oil and if so what success / issues have you seen? I'm running a 70 Olds 350 block and bottom end components with 72 7a heads on it so was wondering if I need to run the higher content ZDDP oil or can I use say Vavoline. Your thoughts, anyone else's thoughts? [/quote]

 

[HFX]

Don't mean to jack the thread:
HFX, I've read about the newer oils and the ZDDP content lacking in these. I've got an oil change coming up and was thinking about that. Do you run the Rotella oil and if so what success / issues have you seen? I'm running a 70 Olds 350 block and bottom end components with 72 7a heads on it so was wondering if I need to run the higher content ZDDP oil or can I use say Vavoline. Your thoughts, anyone else's thoughts?

My family has run Rotella in the Cutlass ever since Havoline reduced the ZDDP in their oil years ago. We've run Rotella in a 1938, 1947, and 1955 tractor pretty much forever. All are still going strong. A friend of mine used to run it in his '57 Chevy and 90 Camaro. Last I talked to him, his '57 has 50K on it since he bought it (we don't know about the engine before that), and the Camaro just hit the 280K mark on the original engine. He pulled the valve covers and said it was the cleanest he's ever seen then.

It seems it does keep dirt more suspended rather then letting it sludge to the bottom of the pan. I've also noticed less of the oil varnish then it previously had when I opened up my 307 to change the timing chain.

Most of the guys on Olds power swear by it also.

 

[megaladon6]

i seem to recall that one rotella formulation is low ZDDP and another is high so look carefully. you could also use valvolive VR-1 oil or most race oils.