camshaft advice

[dieseldr4]

just wanted to get a shout out to say all of you guys rock, thanks for all the help, all of your guys input has been very helpful..


now on to bigger and better things, as most of you know (or have read), i am tryin to put together a street stock for the 2009 season at V.A.R. here in southern california.. well i need some advice and input on what cam is best for this (3/8 mile dirt) track? my combo is pretty simple, 355 cubic inch small chevy, 10:1 compression, no frills engine, #4412 holley with a torker 2 manifold..


obviously we have a .485 lift rule , but what about duration ? i have seen alot of cams ranging from 220 @ .050 to 250 @ .050 .. my question is,what is the best choice??

and also, thoughts and input on lobe seperation?? ive seen 106 degrees to 112 degrees on alot of these cams.. any advice??

i'm pretty sure this will be a dead thread, just off of the fact that no one wants to share the cam secrets in their engine, but i thought i would try...
if you would rather pm me then that would be great too.. i thank all of you in advance..

thanks,tom

[FWMOD01]

We ran some different cams then most racer at v.v. All the cams we ran had 98 to 102 l/c and 234to238@50 they were all 480 lift but we ran 9to1 motors(witch no one believed until they pump us). We ran 650to683 final at v.v and at Paris we ran 600to633 all the cams we ran were made by Bullet that is what i put in all my motors but comp is very good too as well as isky. Just do your self a favor do not buy lifters from a company other than the cam company, in today's market Therese alot of off shore junk out and it will cost you more in the long run. If you need any help just let me know and i we help as much as i can. We have alot of street stock parts hell I will even sell you the whole car just so i don't have to work on it anymore, the driver or owner has moved to a mod.

[Kdawg33A]

I have heard my brother say the edlebrock performer cam works wonders with the matched intake.
When I get the guy's phone number and business name, I will let you know who does our cams. I only know him as Joey over in Victorville, and have never met him. (could be americam) cams are 4 years old and still run strong.

[6sally6]

I don't know alot....but wouldn't the LSA be a little wide for 3/8 dirt? My thoughts would be ...it would just be making good power as you ENTER the next turn. 104-107LSA would seem better to me.
Anybody ever use Delta Cams on the west coast? Wash. I think. I talked with Scott a couple of times and he sounds pretty knowledgable. A pal from another site reccommended them to me. Sez he wouldn't use anybody else. Prices are good too!
I'm just say'in!
6sally6

[Bobby Kimbrough]

Originally Posted by dieseldr4

i'm pretty sure this will be a dead thread, just off of the fact that no one wants to share the cam secrets in their engine, but i thought i would try...
if you would rather pm me then that would be great too.. i thank all of you in advance..

thanks,tom

Tom,
Not a dead thread. I'll get you hooked up with one of the best in the business. How is the guy that sets up for or who has trained the crews on about 80 percent of the NASCAR teams? I'll call him tomorrow and see if he will answer the thread.
There is another option, you can go to www.compcams.com and download their free cam selection software and plug in the info that you have. The program will make a couple of recommendations to you. From there, you can hone it in to exactly what you want.
The tech lines at COMP and Lunati are both very good. I haven't tried Isky yet but I heard that they are also very good in the dirt track cam recommendations.

Also, check out this article: Guide to Dirt Track Flat Tappet Camshafts

[Rowdy Burns]

Maybe if you would have posted a link for the track for which you are trying to race at and a link for their rules, it would be easier for us to try to give you some advice. Without knowing if there was a flat tappet rule in place, there is no use trying to recommend a roller camshaft.

The basis for any engine is to open the valves as quickly as possible, keep them open for as long as possible and then close them as quickly as possible.
Flat tappet camshafts are limited by ramp speed - how aggressive you can get.

Then there is the over sized (mushroom) lifter which can help with ramp speeds, but is more expensive and isn't always allowed.

The goal isn't always just opening and closing the valves as quickly as possible, it is also valve control. At what point do they flutter or float and stay open when you want them closed? How much are you willing to spend to accomplish this and what are the rules for that division.

Light weight, under cut titanium valves with smaller stems and light weight components and larger push rods will accomplish this - but at a higher cost.

The bottom end of a motor has to be stout, but the horsepower is made in the heads - not the crank and pistons. People spends thousands of dollars on the bottom end, only to find out that the engine lays down on them when they get out on the track in real world conditions. It's better to buy a good set of heads and valves then it is to blow your whole budget on the bottom end.

[Nerd49]

Originally Posted by dieseldr4

now on to bigger and better things, as most of you know (or have read), i am tryin to put together a street stock for the 2009 season at V.A.R. here in southern california..

V.A.R. stands for Victorville Auto Raceway. Route 66 Raceway

[Rowdy Burns]

What is it with these Victorville people? Half of you are putting VV beside everything and the other half something else or just thinking that everyone naturally assumes that you know what they are talking about.

I will go one step further and tell you that any track that has a lift rule - should be avoided like the plague. If they want to have rules, you people should get together and not race there until they remove the rules. Go someplace else for a couple of weeks and petition them to get rid of all the rules and just race.

Ain't nothing worse then a bunch of cry babies who walks around worrying about who is cheating and how they are doing it, as opposed to people who are protesting other people because they think that they are cheating or people going on 4M asking for advice on how to get around the rules to get a competitive edge.

A stock block Gen I engine will hold up to about 500 HP in a stock configuration and that is about it. Once you start twisting the block, it either cracks or throws the crank in the pan. The 351 Ford Cleveland Block wasn't any better. With the stock heads, you can't get much more than .600 lift out of a camshaft anyways because the roof is too low in the factory original heads and you can't get them to flow.

[Rowdy Burns]

If they took the lift rule away from you, it won't matter because most 350 / 400 type small block Chevy engines doesn't like much more than .540 lift or else it kills the bottom end - with a stock block and heads and flat top pistons.

[Dietzsch_Racing25]

This is what I have used for the last three years:

Isky Cam 201281-6. 280 advertised duration, .485 lift, 232 @ .050. 106 lobe separation.

I have used comp and crane with no issues as well. I don't remember part numbers or exact specs but they were similar to the isky cam.

I have had the best luck with crane's tech support.

I totally agree with FWMOD01. I have used cheap cam/lifters twice and both times had a lobe go flat.

CD