Changing a cam - bigger job than I thought

[Kern Dog]

Those are the factory stock Poly manifolds. There were no high performance manifolds made for that engine.

 

[66 Sat]

The engine went in over 2 years ago. It was done properly, high compression 10.5:1, heads ported, forged crank etc. I've been considering TTI headers and I'll probably get them in the future but with shipping they'll be close to $2,000 AUD and then they have to be fitted. I also need a mini starter etc so it's a big outlay. The new cam is only an incremental size bigger than the original cam and has a power band of 2000-6000 instead of 1800-5200. Gary Pavlovich (poly guru) supplied me all the parts for the original build and this latest cam. He's very knowledgeable and a stand up guy. I have no reservations about it being the right cam for my combo, I'm only worried about it either wiping a lobe on break in or having leaks, as I can't bear the thought of doing all this work again.

 

[YY1]

Those exhaust manifolds look pretty efficient to me.

 

[fratzog lover]

Those exhaust manifolds look pretty efficient to me.

One of Chryslers more interesting designs, for sure.

 

[66 Sat]

Well, the cam is in, lifters etc. Intake went on yesterday afternoon and I put the timing cover/balancer on today. The cam actually went in a week last Friday but I had to wait until yesterday for the guy to come and degree the cam, but unfortunately due to family illnesses he can't do it, so 8 days waiting for nothing, although I don't blame him at all as family is way more important than degreeing my cam. Anyway, I installed it dot to dot so hopefully it will be ok.
Hoisting a 4 barrel cast iron intake on top of the engine is not something I want to do everyday! Trying to land it without the gaskets moving was a lot of fun but I got there in the end - hopefully won't leak.
Fingers crossed once it's all back together it breaks in ok and doesn't leak like a sieve. In future I think I'll stick to changing the oil and the plugs. I enjoy tinkering but not so much these bigger jobs to be honest.

 

[Ernie ingling]

Keep a fire extinguisher handy

 

[beanhead]

Dude you should seriously consider researching how to degree it yourself....after all the work you've done it would be a feather in your cap to learn how, and you'll be certain it's in where you want it.
I had a 440 that I put a cam in when I was younger and didn't know better, "dot-to-dot"....later found out it was retarded 7.5 degrees. I always thought that engine was weak, sounded weak too...until about 5000 rpm which it hardly ever saw. I'm lucky a piston didn't smash a valve. But...you might get lucky and be fine.

The advice of having a fire extinguisher standing by is excellent. I almost torched my garage doing a break-in because my oil pressure test hose had fallen against a header and I didn't notice, until it had a pinhole that was misting pressurized oil directly on the pipe......flame on. I did keep a running water hose handy for breaking in cams so luckily all that happened was melted wiring and cosmetic damage to the engine bay but it was about 10 seconds from being very bad. My Viking wife would have literally smashed my testicles if I'd caught the garage on fire 'playing with my car'...

 

[BDF6]

Well done 66 Sat! Won't be long now & worth the wait!

 

[66 Sat]

For anyone interested the cam is run-in and the car is back on the road! Longest cam change in history! Car runs great, not a huge change from the old cam in terms of bottom end (maybe just slightly softer), but much more free revving and less feel of inertia. I was 50/50 on whether this whole episode would be a disaster but it seems my mechanical skills are higher than my confidence. The only leak is a minor weep from the transmission cooler lines so I'll have a look at that tomorrow, but otherwise all good . P.S. please forgive the black engine bay, I painted it first when the whole car was planned to be re-painted black, but then ended up keeping it citron gold.

 

[Kern Dog]

Good to see that it worked out for you.

 

[moparedtn]

Ain't it great when something actually works out the way you planned?

 

[Rusty 72]

Nice job!
Yep those timing cover seals can be a bear sometimes. I've boogered them before and had to redo it. You're not alone.

 

[Mike67]

Those exhaust manifolds look pretty efficient to me.

They've always reminded me of inboard manifolds, not equal length but straight out and too the point! No clearance issues either!!!

 

[Trench]

Awesome job, I'm glad to hear you had fun and learned some new skills at the same time!