Yet Another Question About Cams

Finally cracked open the last coupla engines I had on stick back. Been moth balled for 20+ years. Looking to build a MILD to MED street able engine that will eventually find it's way into a Torino, Ranchero or truck. I don't want to choke the thread down with a lot of detail but the compression ratio is approx. 9.5:1 (D20E's) and will include all the usual trimmings needed for street use (3.50 ~ 3.73 gear ratio).

Anywho - The question about which cam to use is here and I'm not as up to speed on the new techniques and technologies as I should be. So, who better to ask than those of you who are.
These are the cams I've narrowed it down to and I'm asking for your educated opinion on which will give the best performance for a street application. When I was doing this you had two or three choices tops, but now.... geez...the choices are endless.

Crane 354552 - Lift (In .522, Ex .53) Duration (In 288, Ex 292) Separation 112
Comp 34-330-4 - Lift (In .515, Ex .541) Duration (In 275, Ex 285) Separation 110
Lunati 10340702LK - Lift (In .54, Ex .552) Duration (In 262, Ex 268) Separation 112
Isky 311271 - Lift (In .542, Ex. .542) Duration (In 270, Ex 270) Separation 108

Back in the day, I would have chosen the Crane because of the increased exhaust valve lift and overall longer durations but I read somewhere (here?) that too much duration on the 385 is problematic in the lower compression applications. The Comp Cams model seems to me like the intake lift and duration combination maybe a little low? The Lunati exhaust duration seems a little short even with the higher lift?
The Isky? I added it simply because I can't understand this one at all and am hoping to learn something by adding it.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions. Meaning: Yes, I have browsed the engine photo pages!

I'd wait on the cam until you figure out the rest of the combo.

X2 lotta cam info on here.

dfree383 wrote:I'd wait on the cam until you figure out the rest of the combo.

X3 ... a camshaft is the last thing you should be choosing.

Choose the correct camshaft to compliment the rest of the combination; don't build the engine around the camshaft.

COMP 34-235-4

With a SCJ intake and the 72 PI heads and 9.5 compression  and 1 3/4 long tube headers I can promise you the Isky will run good. Will the newer grinds with dual patterns run better , I donot know yet but will soon. I am going to try an Comp 270 Extreme Energy 4x4 cam next. The Isky 270 ran good with my regular D2 heads and 8-8.5 compression, with SCJ portmatched, anyway, and the higher comp and bigger exhaust of your heads may even be better.

supervel45 wrote:With a SCJ intake and the 72 PI heads and 9.5 compression  and 1 3/4 long tube headers I can promise you the Isky will run good. Will the newer grinds with dual patterns run better , I donot know yet but will soon. I am going to try an Comp 270 Extreme Energy 4x4 cam next. The Isky 270 ran good with my regular D2 heads and 8-8.5 compression, with SCJ portmatched, anyway, and the higher comp and bigger exhaust of your heads may even be better.

I am surmising that people have different definitions of "run good" covering all facets of what priorities are wanted or expected.

Aboslutly Randy.

supervel45 wrote:Aboslutly Randy.

To further explain what I meant by that is that I think they would ALL "run good" just a little bit different.

rmcomprandy wrote:

supervel45 wrote:Aboslutly Randy.

To further explain what I meant by that is that I think they would ALL "run good" just a little bit different.

First - Many thanks to everyone who contributed to the question(s) I asked earlier.

One of the two engines was a bust, a good bone stock '74 460. But the other was a pristine 4 bolt '72 429 police interceptor.
By the time the dust settled I wound up with the following components.

30 over 21 cc dish hypereutectic pistons
4.150 Scat crank w/ original DOOE rods
Lunati 10340703 - Lift(In .552, Ex .564) Duration (In 268, Ex 276) Separation 110
ported D20E's w/roller rockers and three angle valve job

I'm guessing a 1050 dominator w/victor intake (not sure....gonna wait for clearance measurements)

Thanks for all the catch up info posted here!

Looks like a nice cam, what where the .050" spec.s? Please let us know how it turn's out when you get it running.

Never mind the .050" question, I looked up the cam. That Voodoo cam is almost the same as the Extreme Emergy 4x4 comp 270 I am going to try. 1 degree, or so difference on the .050", and your's is a 110 and the Comp. is on a 111LS. The lifts, are almost the same to. I believe Lunati rated their cam to 6,200rpm where as Comp. only rates theirs to 5,800rpm? In a 500 inch plus engine it should go to around 5,500rpm I would guess? I am hopeing for 6,000 plus or so in a 429, with the Comp.

As has been stated many times on this forum....why not get a custom cam ground for your engine??? Call Randy, Lem, Scotty or one of the many other people on here that can get you a cam that will do what you want. With all of the knowledge on this forum I would never buy an off the shelf cam, just like I would never buy an off the shelf converter. It's just too easy to have the right cam and not some compromise that is listed in some catalog. Just my 2 cents.

jeffgfg wrote:As has been stated many times on this forum....why not get a custom cam ground for your engine???

Jeffgfg - You are correct! This is not a serious performance driven build. No disrespect intended but ET's aren't really my thing anymore. I just want it to haul my bike around and do occasional donuts with. More of a tire burner than anything else. For some reason these days I enjoy (really, really enjoy) that more than a day at the track.
Rest assured that I will be contacting a coupla guys that I read about here in the future to purchase some of their "expertise". One in particular comes to mind but I forget his name at the moment (the legend that does the oil pumps and the oiling system block mods).

supervel45 wrote:I am hopeing for 6,000 plus or so in a 429, with the Comp.

Supervel45 - You should be able to get 6K+ with the 429. What application are you planning?

jeffgfg wrote:As has been stated many times on this forum....why not get a custom cam ground for your engine??? Call Randy, Lem, Scotty or one of the many other people on here that can get you a cam that will do what you want. With all of the knowledge on this forum I would never buy an off the shelf cam, just like I would never buy an off the shelf converter. It's just too easy to have the right cam and not some compromise that is listed in some catalog. Just my 2 cents.

I believe you may thinking of Paul Kane, but I am not positive, for the oil pumps? I have read alot of his writing, and he has been around the BBF for a long time, and no less in race boats, which is a very hard enviroment on engines. I hold his oponion in the highest regard from all that I have read on the subject thus far. This is not to be takin as any disrespect, what so ever to any of the other builders, in any shape, form, or fashion. We need all the help we can get, as we are outcasts, in the Chevy and Windsor word. I am like you on the camshafts, I am not racing in a professional bracket, and There are alot more choices today than 30 years ago, it is more fun picking your own, than letter a computor do it for you, old school I guess. I hope you share your results with everyone, as real world experence, is what counts, for the majority of us. As far as your choice of the Victor intake, and the Dominator carb, I think you need more cam. Try it and let us know the results, I may well be wrong, thats what it's all about, learning from other's.

supervel45 wrote:I am hopeing for 6,000 plus or so in a 429, with the Comp.

Supervel45 - You should be able to get 6K+ with the 429. What application are you planning?[/quote] 1978 F150 Street Truck. On your D20E heads, what are you going to do for headers, and what size exhaust are you planning to run? Are the PI heads not a CJ/SCJ exhaust flange. This has been my hold up on using them. I think you have a good combination, and maybe the Victor and the big cube engine might get along, with the right gearing and stall. If and when I step up to something like your combo, I am also planning to go with a mech. roller, but I am looking at a higher RPM ceiling than you are.

supervel45 wrote: On your D20E heads, what are you going to do for headers, and what size exhaust are you planning to run? Are the PI heads not a CJ/SCJ exhaust flange. This has been my hold up on using them.

They are CJ flanged. I'll probably take everything up to KOOKS and have a set custom made. Those guys can work magic and they're not too far from my house. I've never been happy with the over the counter headers available for the Mustang's and Torino's. I can get a set of stubby's made for about a gran and save myself the problems that always come with the long tube stuff.

The 70's Ford Trucks are really nice and have lots of room under the hood.

Stric9 wrote:

rmcomprandy wrote:

supervel45 wrote:Aboslutly Randy.

To further explain what I meant by that is that I think they would ALL "run good" just a little bit different.

First - Many thanks to everyone who contributed to the question(s) I asked earlier.

One of the two engines was a bust, a good bone stock '74 460. But the other was a pristine 4 bolt '72 429 police interceptor.
By the time the dust settled I wound up with the following components.

30 over 21 cc dish hypereutectic pistons
4.150 Scat crank w/ original DOOE rods
Lunati 10340703 - Lift(In .552, Ex .564) Duration (In 268, Ex 276) Separation 110
ported D20E's w/roller rockers and three angle valve job

I'm guessing a 1050 dominator w/victor intake (not sure....gonna wait for clearance measurements)

Thanks for all the catch up info posted here!

If you work in and around the OEM automotive industry long enough you will come to the realization that almost nothing is the BEST for that application; sometimes not even GOOD.
The atmosphere of the thinking around and through that industry for the past 50 years or so has been merely "ADEQUATE" to perform the task it is required to do.

Stric9 wrote:

rmcomprandy wrote:

supervel45 wrote:Aboslutly Randy.

To further explain what I meant by that is that I think they would ALL "run good" just a little bit different.

First - Many thanks to everyone who contributed to the question(s) I asked earlier.

One of the two engines was a bust, a good bone stock '74 460. But the other was a pristine 4 bolt '72 429 police interceptor.
By the time the dust settled I wound up with the following components.

30 over 21 cc dish hypereutectic pistons
4.150 Scat crank w/ original DOOE rods
Lunati 10340703 - Lift(In .552, Ex .564) Duration (In 268, Ex 276) Separation 110
ported D20E's w/roller rockers and three angle valve job

I'm guessing a 1050 dominator w/victor intake (not sure....gonna wait for clearance measurements)

Thanks for all the catch up info posted here!

a 1050 is to much for the application...... a 850 4150 would be great IMO or even a 950.