which cam shaft
 

I am building a 427 top oiler .030 over ('63 solid lifter engine) with arias forged pistons, lemans rods, steel crank, low rise heads. I have an offie 360 intake (not sure if I will use it).

I would like some opinions on which cam to use. I probably will not be racing, mostly street driving. I would like something that sounds good, makes good horsepower, but will stay runnung at idle and make some vacuum.

Also has anyone had any good/bad experiences with a solid lifter roller cam?

Paul

Paul, I've got about the same specs you have, 10.7:1 compression, real pleased with my Comp Cams #33-245-4...I get a nice lope with 10+ inches of vacuum at a 750-775 rpm idle, probably making 475+ HP. Very streetable, will pull strong from 1800 through 6000 rpm. My gas mileage, heh heh heh, she's in the toilet...12 mpg wide open, 12.5 cruising, 13 coasting downhill with the motor off...

Hills around Corpus Christi:confused: :confused: :confused: How did they get there?????:D :D :D

mr0077

Thanks for the reply. Is your cam a roller cam? I have been thinking about a roller cam, but I am not sure of their durability. Do the last a while or do they need servicing every so often (eg. pulling motor apart to check on wear. You won't want one of those little rollers to wear out and fall into the engine.)

Paul

For your intended use and RPM range, a hydraulic roller cam would be just the ticket. Not sure about Comp, but Crane makes hydraulic rollers for many older motors like FE's not originally equipped.

I used a CompCams retrofit hydraulic roller in a 351 Windsor and it is Awsome! This is a 224/224 duration, .533/.533 lift cam. It gets 16" vacuum at idle, pulls like a diesel from 1100 RPM up. Very streetable.

Paul, my cam is a flat tappet mechanical. I compared it on Desktop Dyno with a roller mechanical from Comp Cams and lost power all the way up to 5500 rpm in street trim. No experience with solid rollers...and I confess, I was fibbin about hills in Corpus Christi, just wishful thinking on the 13 mpg

Ken, I seem to remember on a trip from Houston to Corpus, both of us had to fill up at about the same time and I was getting 13. You underestimate your "Thrifty" 427! (Or maybe my 351C is awful thirsty!)

for a street 427 it is very hard to beat an original ford grind,,the AA or B I belive it is,,these are worth checking out,,
I have roller rockers,,but flat tappets,,it seems to workout good,,the wickedest motors I have even driven were 427's with ford flat tappet cams,,solid {hollow}lifters with extra long push rods,,this is an inexpensive and bullet proof set up, I understand if you like the best,,or high tech,but truth is unless your squeezing hp,,rollers arent worth the out lay,,racing engines are a different story,,BTW,,in a center oil engine,you have lots of choices,,428cj stuff,,etc,,but in a side oiler,must use side oiler cam,427s are hard to mis cam,,as long as you stay in the shorter duration numbers with pump gas compression {10.5} or below.this puts BIG torque near the bottom end,,versus mid to high,
hope this helps,,tk

mr0077,
Knew that you were fibbin, just couldn't pass up an opportunity to take a poke!:D

I'm a salt-grasser just like you and just up the coast a bit.:)

misfit41
Sounds like camming a 427 is a lot like camming a cleveland.

Hey Jack21!!!
You missed the part about it being a (63 solid lift engine). You can't put a hydraulic cam in one of those.

Paul,

I run the original AA cam from ford, not real lumpy, but great torque and more horses than I know what to do with.

roller cams in solid lifter blocks require special modifications for oiling, as the lifters are splash oiled ,and that wont help a roller.....Imho, a big waste of $ and will probably put you in the shop eventually......

12 mpg????? try 4.....6 hiway..

KK

Thanks for all the helpful advise. I have decided to ditch the Crower roller cam that came with the engine for an original Holman-Moody cam and solid mech tappets that Ford use to use . I would have had to buy the roller lifters (read expensive) for the roller cam, so instead, I will spend the money on the NOS Holman-Moody cam.

Paul

sounds like a good choice,I have a 294 comp in my engine,,makes tons of high rpm hp,and sounds wicked,,,but I miss the low end pull of the fords { Holman Moodys}
Good Luck,,,Tk

I also have the 294 Comp Cam . It has excellent street manors but comes to life after 3500 RPM on plain 92 octane.

Good luck!

Crower...
 

Paul,
before you decide, you might want to give Crower a call on a solid flat-tappet cam based on current technology grinds/profiles. If you are considering one of the old school cam grinds, they are cool, but to me today's cams and profiles seem to offer more across the board. I went back to Crower for a revised custom grind, and like it a lot. Just my .02 after running three different profile cams in 428s, in identical car/drivetrain configurations.

I'm going with a Lunati grind#H230-240...my engine builder and Desktop Dyno indicate a BUTTLOAD of torque. It's going in a 428scj

Roller cams
 

Roller cams seem to be frought with much controversy and misguided rumors. All late model V8s are running hyd roller cams today. Why? They are far more reliable and make more torque and horsepower with the same specs as a flat tappet cam. Thats why the majors have all gone to them.
All roller cams, whether they are hydraulic or solid, are splash oiled. There is no orifice on a hyd roller that oils the roller, they are splash oiled too. The variable that determines reliabillity is spring pressure. Depending on how radical the grind, determines how much spring pressure you will need to run.
I highly recommend roller cams in all applications. All you have to do is grind the cam to your application, and the reliabillity will follow.
In a FE street Cobra, I would grind something on the lines of .605 gross lift, 282 advertised duration, 246 .050 duration on a 110 lob separation. You would need about 140 closed pressure, and 390 open pressure to run this cam up to 6800 rpm. Peak HP would be about 6200, so you really would be shifting at about 6300 so you would never get to redline.
This cam will make about 35 more HP and 55 more ft/lbs of torque than the same flat tappet cam, and with this low of spring pressure, you are not going to destroy the rollers. The reason for the rumor of roller cams lifters going bad is that guys were putting full race rollers in their street cars with over .700 inch lift with #600 of open pressure. This wont last over a couple of thousand miles if that. But a street roller with a lot less open pressure will last as long if not longer than a flat tappet cam due to the friction reduction from the roller lifter.
It's time to get modern in the Cobra world. The 30 year old way of building motors is over., Step up to the new tecnology that's available today. To many people build motors for Cobras like we were still in the 70's.
Tom

FE Specialties

The FE that I bought has all the machinig done. It just needs to be put together. Below are the specs for cam, heads, springs etc. I received these numbers just as they are from the owner. I sort of understand them but not as well as you probably. Could you please advise me on the cam. Is this cam streetable with a reasonable horsepower rpm range. Will it make some vacuum? etc.

Any input from you would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Paul


427 L/R heads:C3AE #0609, 219/177 stainless valves, k-motion
triple roller springs,titanium retainers

427 steel crank: C5AE, ground 10/10

427 lemans rods: C6AE, bronze bushed,shot peened,arp bolts

Arias forged 10-1 comp pistons with file fit rings
Crower solid roller 640/654 lift, 254/260 dur @ 50,114 lobe sep
Ati balancer/Sealed power flexplate

Tom

Would the a 427 top oiler with the cam listed in the previous post be considered a mid performance engine for a cobra or would it be too much cam for street driving?

Paul