I hear guys talking about them all the time. I can't figure it out. Are they idiots that know nothing? I just want proof so I can filter out the posers from the good guys to listen to.

it's what people call a cam that know nothing about cams

LOL
Thats what I thought!

...what does it refer to anyway? 3/4 race, 1/4 street ?
I think it's one step hotter then an RV cam.... which would be like a 1/2 cam.

It is a cam with only 3 quarters of the lobe

Want to impress these people... Tell them you have a full race cam and pop-up pistons

I asked one guy what a 3/4 cam was and he said "its a cam that only turns 3/4 of a revolution, I don't know how they do it but thats what I was told." ....................Umm, some people need to be slapped with the back of your hand ya know

No, no, no, no....

It's a cam that has all the lobe height, but is made for a 6-cylinder.... Ususally found at McDonald's Speed and Performance.

Anyone else wanna take a stab?

It opens the valve 3/4 of the time. 270 crank degrees. A full race lobe is open all the time.

Most people that use the phrase "3/4 cam" are talking monkey spank and don't know much about cams. The original reference way back when was indicating the duration of a racing / high-performance cam was 270 degrees,, or three-quarters of 360 degrees. Cam Dynamics marketed a line of "3/4 cams" about 20 years or so ago,,, I guess to play on the phrase so many people associate with a "racing cam". Be carefull though,,, some people (I wouldn't know who ) might say stuff like they're running a 3/4 cam and rollin' rockers just to goat you into a race.

let me tell ya what the melba toast here is running
we got a 3/4 race cam
11 and a half to one pop up pistons
hahaha

I have to listen to guys talk like that constantly cause I work at a parts store! I just listen and nod...

It is even worse working in a performance orientedshop.

vader aren't you old enough that you can actually answer the question?

I mean it is an old term from the hotrod days right?

Pop up pistons. I forgot about that one. Does that mean they're flat most of the time and at the top of the cylinder, they pop up? My car has a "huge dome" piston.

Too many old sayings that don't mean anything now. Normally they're just an indication of ignorance.

3/4 race cam - A V8 cam with 2 cylinders cut off it

How about Cheater Slicks?
I have a "Stall Converter". All torque converters stall. You should be saying I have a converter that stall higher than stock since not all aftermarket converters can really be called a high stall converter.

Why is it that whenever I say I have some straight through race mufflers on my car that everyone thinks I have Cherry Bombs?

Last night every time I mentioned I had a gear drive on the car and the noise was annoying, most people, including a few racers, assumed I was talking about the diff and not timing gears.

There's a few more but I can't think of them right now.

the term "stall converter" or "stall" drives me nuts.. massive pet pieve of mine.

Umm, yeah. Thank for bringing that up. I needed a reminder of my age.

That's just one of those things that has always made me cringe. Even the "original" definition is erroneous. Cam duration is usually measured in crankshaft rotational degrees. A crankshaft rotates 720° every cycle, so a "3/4 cam" would have to have an open valve duration of more like 540°.

It's about as grating as the "motor" versus "engine" confusion. A motor uses electromagnetism and relative motion between two or more parts of opposing magnetic polarity, whether AC or DC, since the magnetic polarities are at opposition even it they are constantly reversing. An engine uses a fuel source to create energy or work. Electricity isn't a fuel - It is already a form of energy.

Or "bearing" versus "bushing". A bushing, sleeve, linear slide IS a form of a bearing. I've been told that I can't use a bearing, I need a bushing. And the term "billet" is grossly overused, and usually flippantly or errantly. Even "billets" or mill slugs are CAST. Almost all metals are cast, at least originally. They may be roller milled, extruded, or drawn into something with a different structure, but they started their existance as a cast metal. Don't even start with me on cranks or connecting rods and "cast" versus "forged" - They don't put ore-bearing rocks in the die sets and end up with finished parts. Ditto on "billet" rods or cranks.

Yeah, can you tell I'm old?

since my nephew had to ask my g-ma the question and she didn't know figured you might.

what was jesus like?
----------
what else RV cams.

or a limited slip. I have always heard that you should replace your lsd for a posi since a posi will spin both wheels.

don't forget guys I stock nos. it's made by NX but trust me man it's nos.

remember guys you can only be so smart but stupidity knows no bounds

Vader: How about sensors (oil, fuel, coolant, cam etc). To me they're all sensors but to a parts person they can be a sensor, transducer or gauge plus who knows how many other names they call them.

Technically a sensor has one wire. Gauge has 2. Transducer gets a ref signal then sends back a variable reading.

Quote from the movie Corvette Summer. "And it's got Gabrial shocks!"

All you young guys like Vader just crack me up.

What it actually is, is a cam that costs $0.75. I thought everybody knew that.

True leave my mass air flow transducer alone.. honestly why does anyone care?

<sofakingdom's best Mr Spock voice>

Scanning all sen-SORES captain. Approximately one hundred seventy two point three zero four eight Klingon personnel found on board the alien vessel. No life forms present sir. On forward screen.

</Spock voice>

Who you callin' "geek" anyway?

So, it applies mostly to Edelbrock cams?

now if only I could use a cam in my car I would be set. 75 cents would be nice

If you guys keep it up, I'm going to turn up my stall converter, slap on my cheater slicks, put some hi test in, so my 3/4 race cam, and popup pistons, dont collide, turn on the NOSS jets, and burn rubber all the way down the track, while doing a wheelie, on another 8 sec. run.

Another term that irks me is every time I hear something described as "built"... as in a "built engine" or "built transmission".

I certainly hope that someone built the engine at some point rather than just stuffing a box of loose parts under the hood.

It makes me want to get out the clue stick sometimes.

Or "balanced, and bluprinted"?

"Balanced and blueprinted" actually mean something though, even if not all engines thus described are actually blueprinted.

Haha, oh god the 3/4 cam has come back.....

I've seen enough morons in the past 2 weeks to last for years... "Yeah Ive got a 347 in my mustang..." I ask about the mods, "uh I dont know but the guy said it was a 347".... I look at it, and it has all stock components minus an intake and exhaust (and not intake MANIFOLD either), and the exhaust note has obviously no cam to it, not even one of the mildest Ford Motorsport cams.....

Then the kid who said his old Mustang ran high 10's at like, 150-something, he can't remember. He doesn't know what's in the motor either.

Somebody just shoot me now

Usually when someone claims an ET, or MPH, that seems to be a "tall tale", I ask them, what was the sixty? That usually ends the conversation.

He probably poop his drawrs if he even drove a 13 second car!

i thought everybody knew this,.. a full race cam is the biggest cam that a certain motor can handle, any bigger & its too big,.... a 3/4 race cam is 3 quarters of the biggest cam that a motor can handle, & so on.

a pop-up piston is a piston that has popped up out of the block,.... usually not a good thing ,... unless your taking the motor apart when it happens.

on the cheater slick part,... they cheat the law man out of writing you a ticket.

those terms are too funny

Drives me nuts when people say they have a "cam" in the car. Its like yeah...dont all cars

So many guys said they had dual exhaust put on their car when I was shopping for a 3rd gen. I would ask "true duals?" He would say yup. Then, just to clarify with the guy, I would state "You have two completely seperate pipes that never join running from the heads all the way to the rear of the car?"
.............
"Well, I dont think there are two all the way back, but they split and there are two coming out of the back of the car, one for each side."

And of course the 91-92 ground effects that help cool the brakes.

And my favorite, "Its an RS and it has a V8, thats an uncommon combo, not to mention it has T Tops."

I had one guy tell me he changed his oil every 50,000 miles.

is that a rotary? yup.
does it burn oil? nope she runs in good tip top shape no burning oil or anything.
See ya.

Rotary----> <---small block chevy

Just looking in your sig,rx7, is that jealousy, envy or a combination of both.just kidding.


You guys should know that a 3/4 cam has had 1/4 of the base circle drilled out for weight reduction, idiots......

It's actually a "stage 3" "upgraded" cam type R, fully modded.

It's the 3rd one down the list of 4 race cams in summit.

It's fast for the first 990 ft of the quarter mile, and wins 75% of the races.

do you guys have to run 3/4 race heads with this cam or can you stock heads or maybe even full race heads?

what happens if I put full race heads on a car with a RV cam?

I always thought the old timers clled a 300 duration and 450 lift cam a 3/4. Before my time though

Oh, SURE! Go ahead - Get all technical on us...

O.K. Smart Guy - What is the calculation for final output if a builder uses a 3/4 cam, RV lifters, stock heads, full-race intake valves with half-race exhaust valves, and inverted pop-up pistons? There's gotta be a formula for that in your handbook.

Oh, and the engine is painted aluminum, with full-race chromed timing and valve covers. I know that matters.

What do you know? Go back to Florida....

Welcome Back Pete!

An RV cam is still a viable description for a slightly better then stock cam. Quite a few camshaft manufactures still use the term RV, stage 1, 2 and 3 granted it's meaninless without specs.

Theres a guy that comes into the shop despite my best efforts who claims he special ordered his truck with a Corvette LS1 engine and ¾ race cam. It does have an LS1 engine that predates the switch by two full years and even has the correct LS1 sticker under the hood but I still wanna smack the crap out of him every time I hear ¾ race cam or race cam for that matter.

Thanks. Thanks to the horrible,cold, wet, windy weather, I have lots of internet time. I miss Florida already

how is RV cam viable? all the term really means is a cam from a recreational vehicle. that doesn't really mean a whole lot.

and slightly better then stock? that doesn't mean much either as stock cam can change depending on the car very much. so in that case a "RV" cam for a 400 would be a RV cam for a 305?