[uneasyrider]

I am looking for a new cam for the following setup:

1974 TA
467cid
10.25:1
RPM man.
1.5:1 rockers
4-spd (stock org.)
Hooker Super Comp headers
750cfm Q-jet (stock, stuck with it for now, will upgrade to Cliff's 850)
2.73 rear gears
26" Tire dia.
Current cam: @0.050 228/235, 0.479.0.494 (w/1.5) hyd. flat tappet, worked well with the above set up

I just had an issue with my current cam (bad lifter) and I'm a bit worried about the trend with the flat tappet lifters and cams having problems and I think I want to go with a roller (hyd. or solid) that will give me similar spec's to the above cam. If anyone feels like they have a "sure thing" in a solid lifter flat tappet cam I might do that too. I drive the car hard on twisty back roads with nice long straights mixed in.

Thanks,

[Larry Navarro]

use oil with acceptable zinc content, i.e Valvoline racing or Rotella-T and you won't be plagued with flat tappet problems.
With that gearset, a cam recommendation is going to be tricky. However, you do run a 4speed so that will help.
If the current cam ran well, why not stay with it?
"Lloyd-Tx" runs a small solid in his '72 Formula and really likes it. Maybe he will chime in with suggestions.

[superdutybob]

That short tire turns that 2.73 into more like a stock tired 3.08.

I agree with Larry in that using the correct oil or using additive should alleviate all concerns about flat tappet failures.

For road racing a big inch motor like yours I would tend to want to kill a little of the bottom end so you can control exit acceleration easily which would lead me to a little bigger cam and install it retarded 2-4 degrees. I run a Comp roller that is 236/242 @.050 with .520/.540 lift and it is installed straight up on 106 centerline. It has a lot of low end even with factory headers and would be a handful to control out of corners.

As with all cam inquiries, there are only about 1 million variables.

[uneasyrider]

Thanks for the input guys. I realize it's all opinion on the cam but I appreciate the input. It gives me a place to start at the least. I've been hearing about the Rotella oil and that is what I plan on running.

The whole story is that I had a problem with the cam/lifters from the start. I had a lifter that would never come in. We could never get it to adjust so I was going to have to pull the thing apart and fix that when I burnt the low end out of it. I was using the stock pan and windage tray and the oil control was poor at best. That modern rubber made a good handleing car much better. It had had problems with oil starvation in corners when it was "stock" but now with more power and better rubber it's compounded. On top of that, the way we had to route the dip stick tube through the headers was giving me fits trying to get a good oil reading on the dipstick. It tended to leave "drip" of oil on the stick above the full mark all the time and made it hard to read. So to make a long story short I checked the oil and it was hard to read the stick, dipped it several times checking and felt it was ok (about a 1/4 qt low I thought), added said amount, checked and couldn't tell what it was but assumed it must be ok, went for a long haul asp drive (1hr +), didn't check the oil in that time, new engine not broken in and using a little oil (not anything over the norm), taking corners that dropped the oil pressure so far the lifters would start ticking, got home checked and looked like a qt low after dipping several times, added qt, checked oil next day looked like it was 1/2 qt low after dipping several times (made me wonder at that point), added qt, went on a drive and it seemed that the lifters would tick in a corner at the drop of a hat, then... KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!! CRAP! (Vomit) Turns out it was two qts low! Burnt the freaking low end out of it because I was too hot to drive my new toy and too willing to lie to myself to stop and fix things. I got a Canton 6qt Road Race pan for it now and I might as well get a roller hyd. cam I'm thinking since it's apart but I'm low in cash and I'm hoping my RAIII heads and man. bring me enough money on E-bay to get the cam. On top of that the poor old RAIII block is bored as far as she'll go and I don't want to lose her! Was that a long short story or what?

[uneasyrider]

I found this Crane 289621 hyd. roller cam that seems to be in the same range as the old flat tappet:

@0.050
222 Int.
230 Ext.

Lift w/1.5 rockers
0.509 Int.
0.528 Ext.

lobe sep. 112

What do you guys think?

Thanks,

[superdutybob]

Looks like a cam that would make a lot of low end torque in a 467 CI engine. I would install it a couple degrees retarded to kill a little of the bottom end.

[uneasyrider]

Thx for the advise SD. Yep, the low end torque with the old cam gave me a couple of eye openers coming out of a corner or two:
Tooling along, into the corner, through the corner, out of the corner, after the corner (Thank you Lord!)