heh, MAV beat me to it. Very good cam for low compression engines. Torque is your friend. Doesn't make bad horsepower either. BUT, you would make just as much power with the stock cam and headers. This cam plus headers is a nice combo The headers help more than you think. Another little bit of info, with HK6901 or Hooker Super Comps the plugs are easier to change... I had a huge improvement with headers. My cousin got that camshaft, and on a stock engine, it was decent, but it was not as much of a seat of the pants improvement as the headers.
Ordered the Summitt cam this morning. Can't beat the price, and it HAS to be better than the stock cam. This is my first cam swap. Any suggestions? I have the ford engine rebuild manual to guide me. I am pretty good with fixing stuff, so I am not your typical idiot trying to get in over my head. So, any hints, common mistakes, etc would be appreciated.
if you havent done a cam before, its not that bad. when removing old lifters & cam, it helps to remove cam gear, remove retaining plate, and reinstall cam gear to use as a handle while removing the cam. remove cam gently to avoid nicking any cam bearings. might be a little sticky or tight, just twist while pulling it out gently. maybe spray some WD-40 down on cam to help things along. there is usually a dried film of oil on the cam and lifters that can make things tight. if the lifters refuse to come out & start breaking from trying vise grips or something, dont panic. pull them up as high as possible, remove the cam, push them down thru into the oil pan, remove the pan and count lifters. dont turn crank until ALL lifters are accounted for and not hung up between rods. try not to break edges off lifters; dont want pieces of metal in engine. (your going to have to change the oil anyway.) lube the new cam up and put the cam gear on it to help you lift it as you install it while turning it in. no such thing as too much assembly lube. new timing chain set would be advised. degreeing in the cam would be a plus, but most cam makers have gotten better at accurate cams. a 3 keyway timing set is nice. installing advanced helps bottom end power a little. retarded helps top end. DONT FORGET TO THREADLOCK THE CAM PLATE BOLTS AND THE CAM RETAINING BOLT. did that once. made it about 25 miles before requiring a tow when cam bolt backed out. while cover is off, pour some kerosene or light oil thru the oil pan to take any debris & water out of the pan. if cam maker doesnt have break in procedure, start engine and keep rpms about 2000 for about 15 minutes. change oil & filter to get out breakin lube. do another oil change in a few days. yes i left out a few basic things. im assuming you know how to adjust valves & install distributor & timing cover & all that. im sure i forgot something, but that should help. have fun with you new improved toy.
Dave, thanks for the help. These are the kinds of things most manuals won't tell you, that I knew other mav forum members would know. Just the kinds of things I needed to hear before doing the swap.
This is a copy of what I wrote on another thread: OK, got it running, thanks to all the help from you guys. I got it timed to within 2' and primed the oil 3 times. The first time just to see if it worked, the second time I ran it until oil came out of the tops of the rockers, then one last time after installing all parts and ready to run. It started within 2 turns (ruhh-ruhh-VROOOM!). Ran it at 1500-2500 for 30 minutes, adjusted the idle down to about 1000, and took it for a spin for another half hour, but taking it easy. The only thing I messed up on was I put wads of papertowel in each of the intake ports on the heads, and must have forgot to take them out before putting on the manifold. For the first 30 seconds, I had flaming bits of paper coming out of the exhaust, and flying all around the garage and surrounding neighborhood. Scary, but after it all burned out, it ran fine. Hopefully, no permanent damage. PS-I turned in the priming tool I got from Hi-Lo ($40), it was 5/16". Went to the local hardware and bought 3 magnetized screwdriver extensions for $2 each (that use the plug in screwdriver bits) put them together, put it on the drill, worked perfectly.
