Flat Cam: What Now?

[turbohacker]

I have been having a really bad rocker tic for several moths now so i finally blew the motor apart to try and figure it out. The exhaust lifter in the number seven cylinder was at least a sixteenth of an inch shorter than all of the other lifters and it had a doming effect going on. So i pulled the cam and sure enough the same lobe was rounded and shot...

So Now I need a New Cam, What do ya'll recommend?

355ci small block, Muncie m21 four speed, flat top forged pistons 10.5:1, 202 double hump heads with screw in studs and guide plates, not sure on the valve springs, edelbrock performer intake, edelbrock 650 cfm carb. I would like a radical sounding solid lifter cam with some pretty respectable power figures, Mileage isn't a problem...
Thanks!

[masterbeavis]

What kind of cam did you have before? I assume you did not like it? Try calling up the two big cam companies, they can make very good recommendations.

[dwcsr]

Depends on what you want it to do. If you liked the performance before get the same cam. Most cams are trashed in the first 15 minutes of run time and slowly wear down from there. Use plenty of moly lube on the lobes and lifter bottoms during installation. Or go with a roller kit and not worry about the cam again.

[prostreetC-10]

roller.....roller......roller.........

[turbohacker]

I would love to get a roller, but i cannot afford it. The old cam was a cheap rv cam that did ok on the top end but lousy on the bottom, ive herd good things about the Comp Cams XE274, any ideas?

[Heavy Evy]

Comp cams's high energy 268 cam. I have it in my 383 stroker and love it!

[Bob 68327]

I put a Isky 292 in mine and Love it My motor is similar to yours but this is a hyd. cam 292 dur. 508 lift way radical sound and good performance . My 2 cents . Bob

[turbohacker]

I just looked up the isky and it looks good, do you have a stock valve train? Springs?

[Bob 68327]

No I'm running the springs that isky recommends for the cam don't have the part# off the top of my head but I can get them for you . I'm running Dart heads and 206/160 valves with 200cc intake runners and this cam works awesome . I'm running a 400th and a 3500 stall so it should work well with your 4 speed . I will dig up some part # tomorrow for you if I have time . Bob

[Pont406]

How many miles on that cam? What oil did you run? My local machine shop sees at least 1 a week. Scary.

[Bob 68327]

Oh yeah , Good point pont406 I'm running brad penn oil about 6 bucks a quart but been 1500 miles this summer with no problems . Bob

[heavy70]

XE274H run it you will be very happy with it!!!!

[pumpkin]

Big problem with running flat tappet cams is it is very hard to find oil that has the proper additives to lube the cam properly. With tighter emissions on new cars they have removed all the good stuff from the oil. About the only oils left are 20-50 racing oils. As expensive as retrofitting a roller cam into an old engine is, its a whole lot cheaper the wiping out the whole engine. All that metal that came of the cam, has now gone through the engine and started to grind bearings and crankshaft away.

[whatnow123]

Originally Posted by pumpkin

Big problem with running flat tappet cams is it is very hard to find oil that has the proper additives to lube the cam properly. With tighter emissions on new cars they have removed all the good stuff from the oil. About the only oils left are 20-50 racing oils.

You should use Mobil 15W 50 extended life as it still has the "good stuff" in it still. I use it in mine and have had no problems at all.

My engine is similar to yours, I'm running a Voodoo cam and think it's awesome. It's split pattern, 480/490 lift, or around that.

[turbohacker]

I ran rotella t because it still has some zinc in it and its good for breaking in a cam. The cam i had only had about 500 miles on it...

I talked to my local engine builder and ordered a comp cams 262, don't remember the lift, he recommended it because it still has some torque but has a really lopey idle.

Thanks for the help though!

[chevy29267truck]

call up northern auto parts at 18008310884 they are in iowa
i get a lot parts and other stuffel from them

[Rollie396]

I just went through a similar situation,but my cam had 2 lobes/lifters that looked like that.
I got nervous about all that metal going through the engine (there was a big chunk of metal stuck in the dizzy gear when I pulled it)so I flipped it over and pulled a main cap....the crank now has freshly ground mains and rod journals(-.010) with new bearings throughout (cam too)and rings with a fresh hone.
When I rebuilt this time I use AC Delco EOS (pt#992869) along with all the lube supplied with the cam and lifters.I followed "proper" break in procedure and things are good.
Might be a good idea to check things out if you haven't already done so.

[Super73]

You can order cams that go through an extra hardening process. Being I'm a roller guy, I don't have first hand experience, but have heard that it really helps the longevity of a flat tappet cam.

[bigfredtn]

I run the extreme energy in my truck. I run the XE-294 in my small block. It makes good power, but its very noisy.