cam swap....
- Thread starter vadim
- Start date
I really think it depends on the miles on the engine, if it's a high mileage motor then replace them, if it has recently been build I wouldn't worry about it, it's only a little bit more money and a whole lot more insurance so I would just go ahead and change them. and at .531 lift you do know you need new springs.
Maryland Stang
Active Member
If the engine has good oil pressure then I wouldn't worry about it. Oil pressure is dependant on healthy main bearings. If the mains are good then the cam bearings are good.
the engine seems not to have any oil pressure issues, i'll be doing this with the engine in the car as well, should be a real PITA. i have never changed cam or cam bearings before. so this should be interesting. the engine has 238,000klm on the clock as far as i know, i don't know if it has ever been rebuilt.
Yeah you can change cams with the engine in the car but if you have AC it's a bit more of a problem as the condenser needs to move out of the way.
As far as the cam bearings go look at them. If they look worn then you are best to replace them but you have to take the motor out to do it. In many cases you are ok with the old bearings.
As dcurtis posted you'll need new valve springs but not just because of the lift. The pressures need to be correct for the cam. If you have stock heads it's my experiance that the springs will be quite pricey since the installed height is pretty short and there are not that many choices for a 1.6 I/H.
As far as the cam bearings go look at them. If they look worn then you are best to replace them but you have to take the motor out to do it. In many cases you are ok with the old bearings.
As dcurtis posted you'll need new valve springs but not just because of the lift. The pressures need to be correct for the cam. If you have stock heads it's my experiance that the springs will be quite pricey since the installed height is pretty short and there are not that many choices for a 1.6 I/H.
I plan on buying a set of edlbrock performer pedestal mount heads and go with those. a cobra intake and a crower cam, just havn't decided totally on which one to go with, the 15510 or the 15511, probably the first one. car already has bbk short tube equal lenght headers. and a new cloyes double roller timing chain set. just wish i had a idea of what my HP might jump up to.
Mike.....Vadim.
hehe Brian@PAR yeah it's a 5 speed, in my previous post i stated that i was going with the performer heads, we must have been posting at the same time! as far as i can figure seems to be the best way to go so far. just waiting on the money at the moment. pretty tapped out right now. one more month and income tax time!!
Mike............Vadim
Ok well like I said I would not recommend the performer heads but that is up to you. You can get 1.4-1.6 HP per CID with a bigger head and custom cam. 1.4 in a 302 makes a very streetable car and you can even have a lumpy or smooth idle, you choose. The only trade off is the power doesn't really come in until 3K but a stock rotating assembly, properly balanced, with a good valve train will rev to 7K no problem. When I say good valve train I'm not talking shaft rockers just the right springs, right pushrods, good lifters (HR is fine), and roller rockers.
The other advantage of the bigger head is you can upgrade the CID and keep the same head. So they will work on a 347 or even a 408. You start to loose street manners as the CID goes up if you try and keep the HP to CID ratio but you can easily make 525 out of a 383 and be street friendly. It's kind of nice to dump 1300 bucks into heads only once.
The other advantage of the bigger head is you can upgrade the CID and keep the same head. So they will work on a 347 or even a 408. You start to loose street manners as the CID goes up if you try and keep the HP to CID ratio but you can easily make 525 out of a 383 and be street friendly. It's kind of nice to dump 1300 bucks into heads only once.
No need to change the cam bearings.
I personally did the H/C/I swap on my only car (daily driver), with 142,000 miles and put 25,000 more miles on it, before I did a rebuild on it for piece of mind.
It ran great before and after.
I personally did the H/C/I swap on my only car (daily driver), with 142,000 miles and put 25,000 more miles on it, before I did a rebuild on it for piece of mind.
It ran great before and after.
cenok is family
15 Year Member
i don't need to add any further about whether you should change the cam bearings or not. what's already been said is enough.
as far as changing the cam with the engine still in the car, you can definitely do it. i just did a heads/cam swap on my car a few months back with the engine still in the car. like someone said earlier, you just gotta pull the radiator and condenser.
as far as changing the cam with the engine still in the car, you can definitely do it. i just did a heads/cam swap on my car a few months back with the engine still in the car. like someone said earlier, you just gotta pull the radiator and condenser.
yeah a lot to think about. I like to look at what my goals are then pick a head to get me there. If I'm building a 306 then I think about what I may do down the road and make sure the head fits into that. People say you are crazy for putting a 200 or 210 cc head on a 306. Well 435 HP at 6400 and 16" of vaccum at idle with a 200cc head doesn't sound crazy to me. Oh yeah and a pretty darn flat torque curve from about 3K up.
Oh but that was on a little 289 so I guess that doesn't compare
Oh but that was on a little 289 so I guess that doesn't compare
