[altfueler]

I am looking for advice on which QUALITY BRAND & # of hydraulic non roller cam & lifters & springs for my BIG, HEAVY 75' Grandville Convertible. This car has been in the family since new. When I was a foolish teenager I chucked the original 400 for a 70' Lemans 350. Recently I found & purchased a 75' 400 which allegedly has 1000 miles on a complete overhaul. Upon complete dissembly, though the engine looks freshly machined, I found many lifters are concaved & cracked on edges. Who knows if it was poor break in or NON Zinc oil??.... I am definately replacing the valvetrain.

It is a .030 400 with flat top pistons with 8 valve reliefs, stock 6x heads, a 69' cast iron intake ( after experimenting I found the Correct Edelbrock intake gaskets to seal the heat x-over ) a Cliffs Q-Jet, HEI with a Super Coil, dual exhaust with iron log manifolds & for now, the 2:56 rear gear, though I am planning a 3:23 or 3:42 posi upgrade very soon.

I want a QUALITY cam, lifters, springs & timing chain & gears. I am alarmed at the stories I read on hear of poor quality lifters failing prematurely. I don't mind spending more for quality.....I will keep this car forever. I am not totally against a solid cam either, adjusting valves is easy on this boat, there is room to stand in the engine compartment! Thanks!

[Tim Corcoran]

Good thing you tore it down sounds like your cam and lifters are toast. Do you know how far down in the whole those pistons are? It sounds like you got those el cheapo worst pistons known to man. Would you be willing to change out the pistons or just a cam change. If you can measure how far the pistons are in the hole and we can determine the cc's of the piston valve reliefs we can get an idea of your static compression. Before we can recommend a cam it would be best to have an idea of your compression. I think your compression may be way low.

[Blued and Painted]

X2 on the pistons. It was already a low compression engine to start.
http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...d.php?t=714097

Once you get it back up to 8 to 1 you might look at the comp xe262 for a smooth runner with a little extra gonads.

[paul s.]

NW Indiana? My old stomping grounds! We're practically neighbors.

X2 on the pistons... your compression is lower than you think! I suspect you will be like many other guys out there that have been fighting strange tuning issues if you keep those pistons.

I have seen where fuel was literally FUNNELED down to the top ring and detonated the ringland down to the point it pinched the top ring.

As far as the lifters; yes, it could have been poor oil, substandard lifters, tight lifter bores, or perhaps whoever rebuilt it put a thick lubricant along the sides of the lifters, preventing them from spinning easily... you get the point.

[2002Z4CSS]

I have a Melling Select cam and lifters in my 1975 low compression 400 that is in my GT-37. Makes nice power and a lot of torque. Nice idle too. MIght work well in your car.

Click here to watch a video of my car running and hear for yourself how the cam sounds through a Pypes Street Pro system

[t money]

I have a nice cam in the for sale part of this forum but let me tell a story first. I purchase a number of parts as a group had to take all of them one being the cam when I went to his home to pick up the part and to meet him he had a 73-75 red Grandville convertible an a 75 4 dr olds delta 88 both in mint shape he tell me the story he has had them from new and in that time he had 5 cams in the Pontiac and this was the best one he was so happy with the performance that he picked up a spare the one he sold me. I have it for sale for 150 plus shipping with a new camplate and gasket set

[Blued and Painted]

crane 105072 a single pattern cam needs 9+ to 1
http://www.cranecams.com/276-279.pdf
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/crn-105072/overview/