[scott mills]

I have been doing a lot of reading on the cam advice that people have been posting on the forum. I too am in the market for a new cam. It will be going in my .060 over 400 block that will also be zero decked. I am going with a flat top forged piston and will look for some ported heads to get my comp ratio around 9.3 to 1 or I may go with the KRE 74cc's and try for around 10.5 to 1. I am not decided on the heads yet, but the lower expense of the iron heads is more appealing. Now about the cam selection:
1. this car will not see the track, its strictly a street car.
2. I rarely spin the motor past 5000 and if I do never past 5500.
3. I am fine with a hydraulic flat tappet.
4. Its a 4 speed, and tomorrow I am getting either 3.08's or 3.31's installed. I havent decided which one yet, so give me your 2 cents while your at it.
5. I plan on using 1.65 rockers as well.

Now I have a Ultradyne .231/.239 in the car now, but I am not crazy about it because all its power is in the upper RPM band. I have been looking at the comp XE274, XE268, Crower 60242, 60916, and Ultra grinds. When I use the desk top Dyno 2000 program to look at the cams it seems that the XE268 performs the best with the most torque in the lower rpm range. I am asuming that when I get the taller gears installed I will need a little more torque to get the car movin. So is the dyno program inaccurate? I have heard a lot of good things about the XE274 grind, but the numbers on the XE 268 look better.

Thanks

[ronj1977]

i would go with the summit 2801 if it's tourqe your after and the stock valvetrain will work maybe even the 2802

[Mr. P-Body]

Go with XE262H. That's the cam we use as a "stock relpacement" in 400s with compression modified to be under 10:1. This cam is great where an 068 or 744 would have been called for in olden times. It would be well within your performance requirements. Bigger is not ALWAYS better...(:-

Jim

[scott mills]

I went with the 3.08 geras in the rear. I also plugged the numbers for the XE262 cam into DD2000, but it seemed that the XE268 looked better overall. The Summit 2801 cam showed almost identical numbers to the Comp Cam. The best thing amout the summit setup is that out the door it is $128 for cam, lifters, and new timing chain. Any other input out there?

[71 Ventura II]

Degree the cam, degree the cam, did I mention....LOL Good luck! JD

[scott mills]

Set it straight up? or 2 or 4 degrees Ret?

[71 Ventura II]

Originally Posted by scott mills

Set it straight up? or 2 or 4 degrees Ret?

Where ever the cam manufacturer recommends. With the production variances of each individual component degreeing the cam should be sop. Comp generally grinds cams on a LSA 110 and recommends degreeing to a ICL 106 which is 4 degrees advanced. But without checking you have no idea what you have. JD

[Cliff R]

Did you ask KRE about what cam to use with the 74cc heads?

They dyno'd three different cam and found that the 228/235/112 (60243) Crower cam was a very good choice. They only saw 5 more hp moving up to the 231/240/113 (60919)Cam. They also made excellent power with the 221/229/112 (60916) cam.

If you use iron heads at 9.5 to 1 SCR, the 221/229/112 cam would be a good choice. The XE274 also has a good following with lower compression 400 engines. At 9.5 to 1 SCR, 400 cid and a manual transmission either cam mentioned would be fine. They would be even better with a tad more rear gearing, at least 3.42's, if not 3.73's.

3.08 gearing and what heads and compression ratio? The final compression ratio must be considered for the cam choice. The 2801 would be fine with the iron heads, but not enough cam for the KRE heads at 10.5 to 1 SCR........Cliff

[Rugratman]

Cliff, with the Crower 60919 cam that KRE dyno'd. While it makes good power, it's a almost match to a RAIV cam....Should that cam with the KRE's only be used with a bigger gear? Say a 3.73, minimum?

3.08 gear might be a tad small?
Did I follow correctly?

Also, with the desktop dyno program's are the KRE heads a variable? I was thinking of getting that program, but I have KRE heads.

[Cliff R]

Keep in mind they were dynoing a 406 cid engine. Jeff showed me the dyno charts, the 228/235/112 made better numbers across most of the rpm range vs the 231/240/113 (only making 5 less peak HP), and it idled a LOT better as well.

With the 60919 cam in a 400 engine, it's just too much camshaft, unless you have at least 3.73 gearing, up near 11 to 1 compression, and plenty of stall speed for an auto transmission car.....IMHO.....Cliff

[scott mills]

I ended up with the 3.31 gears in the back. I will more that likely use some ported iron heads and keep the compression ratio around 9.3 to 1. The Desktop Dyno doesnt have the KRE heads preloaded into the database, but you can manually enter the numbers or find someone that created a file for the heads already.

[Rugratman]

The reason I ask, is I am also running KRE's, and the 60919 cam. With a 3.42 gear.
TH400 and a 10 inch Continental Converter, and my times are nowhere near your times.
Engine is a stroked 400 = 461. 10.5 compression

I got to thinking, maybe the gearing was too low. I was thinking a gear change. Maybe not......

[Cliff R]

We ran that cam and unported KRE heads for several years. Managed a best of 11.64 with it, around 116mph. It made 494hp on KRE's dyno. We ran the 10" Continental converter, 3.42's, and raced at 3750lbs.

You should have no trouble running into the 11's with that engine combo up to about 4000lbs vehicle weight. How fast are you running?....Cliff

[Rugratman]

12.5
Working on traction issues, But I did not think I was giving up that much.
I was wondering if my gear was not right for that cam.
Something to aim for.
I just installed a tripower from Mike Wasson, so that should be a big plus.