cam selection

[170-3tree]

I know what you are thinkin.. another idiot asking about which cam to use in his engine, BUT I already had my cam picked out. On my 170 I planned on raising the static compression to about 9.4 and running a 264/264 cam with an aluminium head, but I enrolled in an engine performanceclass this fall, reading through the cam section in the book kinda threw me into a bit of second gursses.
I usually wouldn't pay attention as some of the books for the coursehave been a bit off, but this one is penned entirely by David vizard who I have high respect for.
He outlines that durration is the least of my worries and I should pay most attention to love centers and overlap.
If anyone is interested and read the book it is "David Vizards, how to build horse power" I just want to confirm my cam before pulling the trigger and making any mistakes. As far as lobe centers I had planned on going 108* as I plan on running strictly manual trans. And only 264, as I am looking for econ and power, while knowing that a smaller engine should use less cam.

Any info or suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Thanks all,
Gerald

 

[rbohm]

8) david vizard is a brilliant man, i know he was one of my college instructors years ago. but cam selection is actually quite simple for the vast majority of people building engines. you start by deciding what rpm range your engine will spend 80% of its life in, and select a cam accordingly.

as for the lobe separation angle issue, i suggest using a 110 degree angle rather than the 108. you will get a smoother idle, and better low end power, and still be able to use 87 octane fuel. in the end dont second guess yourself too much based on what others say. if you take a systems approach to building an engine, and just want confirmation of your parts selection, overall i approve.

 

[170-3tree]

Thank you ringmaster, you always give a solid explanation, I guess I just freaked out seeing that there was a whole chapter on lobe centers.

 

[FalconSedanDelivery]

Cam selection based on lobe centers , I agree thats part of it , BUT , You don't drive a Dyno , pick a goal , then make sure all the parts match / help you achieve it , and sorry dissagree on the 87 octane with that compression , the chamber design on the Falcon 6 is Old Tech to be sure if you use a head that has the bath tub chamber as opposed to the open style , you may get away with it as long as the gearing /converter choice , AND proper timing curve is used , the later head design is detonation prone ( no squish ) getting the pistons to Zero Deck would help , way more to this than lobe centers.

 

[170-3tree]

I'm pretty sire my math has me doing a zero or better deck to the block. I was hoping to keep running mid grade at the most but am having a rough time corrolating the chart on ci about static verse dynamic and fuel octain. I plan on going over all of my plans with my instructor on top of whatever I find out here.