Camshaft advice needed please

[mikey]

Need your wisdom guys.

I haven't posted this on the UK Cobra Club site of which I am a member as my motor is slightly unusual in specification.

I have a Motown 415 cu in (Chevy Small Block style) with Victor Junior air gap manifold, Victor Junior ally heads (215 runners) and Barry Grant 825 cfm Annular discharge Race Demon carb (to help compensate for low vacuum sygnal).

My present cam is a Crower Roller camshaft No 00427 with the following specs.

Duration @ 0.050 Intake – 260 deg; Exhaust – 266 deg.

Lift @ 1.5 ratio Intake – 0.585” ; Exhaust – 0.597”.

Lobe Centre – 112 degrees.

The cam is a level 4 grind and has a power band of 3250 to 7250 Redline at 7750. At present I have the cam advanced 8 degrees which has helped bring the power band down, such thats its not the monster you would think with the spec.

My issue is that whilst the cam is unbelievable on the open road, it is somewhat tiring in the stop and start department and age dictates that I need something a bit less wild. This is compounded by the street twin clutch I have and not being built like a gorilla it all adds up to very hard work.

What I want is to get a cam that allows it to be a bit more civil to drive in traffic whilst still getting the good BHP as well as torque. Ideally a cam that will live with 9.75 to 1 CR would be good as I don’t want to deck etc at this stage and I have had no real problems with squish issues to date.

The advice I ask for is your experience with a cam that is by no means mild, but is not quite the race application I have been using. The engine is built to take 7000 RPM happily although I don’t want a screamer. I did hear in the past somebody talk about an Isky cam, but cant remember what the grind was. The extra cubes should help to quieten down a cam that would be OTT in a 350 and I am pretty good with tuning the Barry Grant now via the bleeds and restrictors to get a reasonable fuel curve.

As the car has only done around 300 miles from new, I would prefer to use the existing roller rockers as I would think there would be zero profile wear at present and as such my preference would be a roller cam to go with the solid lifters as it was not a cheap set up.

So any cams out there you can highly recommend in my set up.

The last bit of advice is about the clutch. The street twin is a pain in the but in traffic, especially when you have a trembling leg after a bur out with somebody. Has anybody used the centerforce item and if so which one should I go for. The engine should be giving around 450 to 475 BHP I guess, but hopefully the weight of the car should mean I don’t need the street twin.

I have had some great advice off club cobra in the past and look forward to any guidance you may have now.

All the best & thanks
Mike

[Clois Harlan]

Scott Johnson of this site might be able to help you but most of us here are running Ford engines in our Cobra. But, from my best guess with what you have I would think if you went down to a 565 lift and a 245 duration you would be a little more civilized in city driving and still maintain the torque and mid range you.


Good luck with your mods.


Clois Harlan

[mikey]

Originally Posted by Clois Harlan

Scott Johnson of this site might be able to help you but most of us here are running Ford engines in our Cobra. But, from my best guess with what you have I would think if you went down to a 565 lift and a 245 duration you would be a little more civilized in city driving and still maintain the torque and mid range you.


Good luck with your mods.


Clois Harlan

Scott, if you're about your opinion would be appreciated,

Thanks for the info Clois, I am of the same opinion, but I am looking for a cam suggestion that somebody has tried or had strong recommendations on. I still recall a topic on here about an Isky cam, but I cant find the post. Thanks for your reply.
Mike