My friend races oval track cars and sometimes drag races and he wants to sell me the following

competition cam, duration 284/292, lift .706/.630, lobe separation 110deg.

Comp cams valve springs, part 986-16, set

Valve spring retainers, Titanium, set for above springs

I don't know that much yet about cams but looking on comp cams web site the cam duration and lobe separation seem all right for a modified car, with headers, converter, etc, but the lift seems off the scale. The only cams I see with that high of lift are for dragsters!. I can get these parts (NEW by the way) for a good price. I think I can use the springs and retainers but Im not sure about the cam. I guess I could sell the cam for what Im paying for all, and keep the springs and retainers. These springs list on summit for about $83 and the retainers for $133. What can you tell me about the cam?

 

too much for what?

 

Sorry
Too much for a 350 SBC in my 91 formula. I plan to modify it to a street/strip level of about 300HP with headers, exaust, intake, etc. Also at least cam and aluminum heads.

 

try to find something in the upper .4s or low .5s

 

thats what I thought, based on what I saw on the comp cam website. I guess my question is what happens if I try to use this one?

 

This is a full race cam. for high rpm drag racing.
This is not a street cam. If you bolt it into your motor
the valves may hit the pistons. It has that much overlap.
You can only use it in a fully prepared race motor.
Just pass on it.

 

Hmm, valve hitting the pistons, I guess not. I wonder how hard it would be to sell. Like I said, I could probably sell it for what I paid for the whole package with the valve springs and titanium retainers.

 

A motor with that cam and those springs won't survive starting up without breaking something or rolling cam lobes. They're not a set.

You have no use whatsoever for the cam, unless you are planning on starting a career with co-workers named Kinser, Earnhardt, etc. It has no place in any kind of street car.

The springs would be a good thing for you, however; they're the first upgrade from a stock-diameter spring. They're what I usually run in flat tappet motors with less than .550" lift, or roller motors with less than about .530" lift. They require opening up the spring pockets in the heads by about .200" of diameter.

If you know other serious racers besides your one friend, maybe one of them might buy the cam; or you might could sell it on some one of the classified BBSs for real racers. But I wouldn't recommend buying it on that hope, because people who would use such a cam would know most of the other people who also might use it, and wouldn't trust buying it from someone they've never heard of.

 

That is a lot of lift. WOW!

 

Are you sure he said (or you heard) those lift numbers right?

 

if you heard the numbers right, then those durations are @.050 lift and not advertised durations, which means you would need a 5000+ stall converter, so I probably don't have to talk to you out of not using since everyone else already did.

 

Yeah, something is screwy though. The numbers I got were written on the plain carboard box in felt pen. They say

284 deg/292 deg at .050"
.706"/.630" w/ 1.5 rockers
110 lobe separation
Small Base

So I guess you are right about the duration numbers being at .050. Also etched into the end of the cam are the numbers

324-6
332-2

These are apparently the "advertised duration. and a bunch of other stuff that I don't understand like

2AD
E RIO
B6461

I found a cam that appears to match this cam on the comp cam website, its on this page

http://compcams.com/catalog/068_069.html

The advertised duration, duration at 0.50, and the valve lift all match. However, the lobe separation says 106 degrees. I think the writing on the box must be wrong about 110 deg sep. This cam is for a "econo altered or dragster", holy sh**! You all are also right abouth the valve springs and retainers not matching. That same table in the above link says this cam needs 998-16 valve springs, not the 986-16 that he has with the cam. I appreciate all the help on this, Im really just learning about cams. I guess there is such a thing as a cam too hot, as opposed to a girl too pretty or a car too fast. I am going to try and just get the springs and retainers and keep them for my engine rebuild. Just those two items on Summit list for $83 and $133, or $216 not including shipping. This guy wants $150 for everything. Even if I could sell the cam cheap, Id come out ahead.

 

There's no such thing as too much cam, only not enough motor.

What you have is a custom cam. The wider lobe sep will decrease and broaden the torque peak. People typically use the narrower lobs separation in drag race applications, where you can make the engine turn the same RPM all the way down the strip by your choice of gearing and converter; but wider lobe separation on round tracks, so that the car will both come off the corner hard and go down the straights. "Small base" tells me it was ordered to go in a stroked application, probably something like an Outlaw sprint, with no CID limit. The 324-6 and 332-2 are the lobe numbers. The rest of them are misc production floor codes and what looks like an order #.