Ford Windsor Forums

Building a 302 for my 1975 datsun but cant get a good answer from cam manufacturers about what cam to use. I have stock bore and stroke 1988 302, heads shaved, ported and polished, roller lifters (stock), running a jackson gear set instead of timing chain, converted to carb. 650 cfm, High rise edelbrock torker mainfold, AOD automatic, shift kit and 2500 rpm stall, 3.31: rear gears, 26" diameter tires. Someone with experience selecting a cam please help. So far (to me) the Lunati Part# 73815 seems the best choice.

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William Cunningham
slyhog22056@tx.rr.com
Grand Prairie, TX 75050

You may consider the E-303 cam from ford racing.

 

Are you using the E7TE-PA heads on this engine?

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1989 Firebird L03
1993 Thunderbird 5.0 HO
1995 F150

Gonna be building a 351 Boss this summer!
Summer's over, never got to it...
This is my current build though
http://www.302w.com/Forums/forums/thread/1100.aspx

The heads are stamped E6SE and 8014 on the spring side,

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William Cunningham
slyhog22056@tx.rr.com
Grand Prairie, TX 75050

i suggest comp cam 35-430-8 grind no.280hr

looks a bit beefier and better breathin than lunati cam

bear in mind i quite often over cam my engines lol

 

 

 

Well over cam isnt a bad thing, just didnt know if it would have too much lift for the .030 shaved heads or not

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William Cunningham
slyhog22056@tx.rr.com
Grand Prairie, TX 75050

should beok but you really need to check pushrod length they should be .030 shorter aswell. I suggest to ring comp on 1.800.999.0853 and talk to them ivealways found them very helpful. How much porting have the heads had ? depending on what you want out of engine you may need to change. Jonmark1985  is the man to talk to about that.

Will have to give them a call, the biggest problem i have with cam selection is they are all wanting to know more about the drivetrain that i have already planned out. The heads are shaved .030, fully port matched to the intake and exhaust gaskets,  polished by removing the egr hump and reshaping the valve guide boss the same as Ford Muscle's tech advice.,  3 angle regrind, unshrouded valve heads, and ended up with 64cc on the head side. I know these arent the best heads out there but have a friend that has the same year engine and head combination and he gets 350 hp out of his on engine dyno. He just wont go in deeper as to the cam selection.

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William Cunningham
slyhog22056@tx.rr.com
Grand Prairie, TX 75050

To really get the right camshaft your going to want to answer a couple questions.

 

At what RPM do you want peak horsepower?

You'll want to then pull the heads off and pop them on a flowbench.  Your going to want to see at what point does lift not gain any substantial flow.  That will be total lift.

 Duration numbers and ramp rates will be aquirred by estimating how much duration and lift will be needed as a whole in order to fill the cylinders with fuel completly at peak horsepower rpm.  Lower numbers and smoother lobes will lower the powerband.

Then there is Lobe Seperation Angle to consider, and cylinder vaccum and pressures.

 Personally I'd go around .500" lift and 230 degrees duration at .050 and 110 degrees with a wild convertor and good gears.  Call comp for a much more informed choice.  If you want the RIGHT cam get ahold of Dave Groh from illinois, he does custom cam work and he is by Chicago, he will want your heads, pistons, and rocker arm studs.

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1989 Firebird L03
1993 Thunderbird 5.0 HO
1995 F150

Gonna be building a 351 Boss this summer!
Summer's over, never got to it...
This is my current build though
http://www.302w.com/Forums/forums/thread/1100.aspx

Ok here goes, i want peak at or close to 4500 to 5000, wasnt sure about the lift because of the shaved heads, not sure what the stock lift is, will be checking with stock cam and degree wheel next weekend so i can go from there. I was looking seriously at the ford B303 which is .480, .480 with 112* lobes, only need enough vacuum for HEI distributor and brake booster. This car is only driven a few days a month and will mainly see 1/8 mile strip use and occasional autocrossing. Have had this car for  2 years and only put 4000 miles on it in that time period.

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William Cunningham
slyhog22056@tx.rr.com
Grand Prairie, TX 75050

Don't base peak lift off any sort of "heads shaved'' or any hocus pocus like that.

You can always have your pistons fly cut to clear the new lift.  Also if you have a good aftermarket piston valve clearance should be adequate for the 1.78" and 1.45" valves.

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1989 Firebird L03
1993 Thunderbird 5.0 HO
1995 F150

Gonna be building a 351 Boss this summer!
Summer's over, never got to it...
This is my current build though
http://www.302w.com/Forums/forums/thread/1100.aspx

I am using a dial indicator on the travel of the valve from total lift to hitting the piston at the point it is closest. (112*) or what ever it is, supposedly the stock cam has 266°/266° duration, 0.444"/0.444" lift so i dont know if the 303 cam at 282° 282° duration, 0.498" 0.498" lift would clear the head work. Or should i just use the stock cam and advance it with timing gear set and possibly get 1.7 : 1 rockers?? My son want the "cammer" sound from it. Not worried about low end this motor will spend most of it running between 3000 and 6000 rpm.

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William Cunningham
slyhog22056@tx.rr.com
Grand Prairie, TX 75050

If you want the "cammer" sound just pull of a vacuum hose.

JK

Personally if you want a lumpy sound forget the factory cam, go with something that has a some good lobe seperation angle.  Again, unless you have the exact specs of the lobe ramp of the camshafts your looking at picking a camshaft that will clear your pistons is pretty much a guess.

BTW how much clearance do you have with the factory camshaft?

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1989 Firebird L03
1993 Thunderbird 5.0 HO
1995 F150

Gonna be building a 351 Boss this summer!
Summer's over, never got to it...
This is my current build though
http://www.302w.com/Forums/forums/thread/1100.aspx

Ok i used the dial indicator and at 112* i have .168 clearance left with the stock cam. So I guess i need at least .068 lift and that leaves a total cleaarance  of .100 between the valve and piston. That means i can go up to .444 + .068 = .512 Not sure how much clearance i have to have between valve and piston though. I totally compresssed another valve spring on the other head and have .532 before it would be completely compresssed so that isnt an issue.

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William Cunningham
slyhog22056@tx.rr.com
Grand Prairie, TX 75050