stroked small blocks in the race cars?

[olddog]

Originally Posted by blykins

The thing about camshafts is that cam companies spit them out and most guys are happy with them because they have never tried anything else.

I've been testing and dyno'ing camshafts in Fords for quite a while, back-to-back, many times doing cam swaps the same day on the dyno.

Here's a couple of scenarios, tell me how much hp you think is different between the two camshafts, given that all other engine specs are exactly the same:

Scenario 1, 445 ci Ford FE:

Camshaft 1: 286/294, 231/239 @ .050", 114 LSA, 108 ICL, .630"

Camshaft 2: 286/290, 231/235 @ .050", 113 LSA, 108 ICL, .630"

(If you'll notice, the overlap is exactly the same on these two cams)

Scenario 2, 354 ci Ford Cleveland

Camshaft 1: 289/297, 259/267 @ .050", 108 LSA, 106 ICL, .700"/.660"

Camshaft 2: 287/315, 257/277 @ .050", 112 LSA, 108 ICL, .700"/.700"

(Overlap the same on these two cams as well)

I believe the FE exhaust ports are decent, so I would guess Camshaft 2 gave 25 Hp more. I would have said less but that big of an engine is likely above 500 Hp.

If the Cleveland has the factory 4 V heads with too big on the intake and a constipated exhaust port, then I'm thinking Camshaft 1 will make more Hp because it needs the overlap, but I think it could use more duration on the exhaust. Therefore I'm not certain, as Camshaft 2 may do better. It should give much better low end torque. I only expect 20 Hp difference.

As you said, this is hard to do not knowing what the heads are.