question about a cam

podboy3

Well-known member
i have a friend that has a cam and the specs are as follows
288 duration, 447 lift, and 110 Center Line

now the question is, what is this cam good for as far as power or usability since when it comes to cams i do not have a clue.

thanks
dan
 
It depends what he's using it on.

If its a six, the duration is too big unless he has a 5-speed gearbox or 4-speed auto with a demon diff ratio of between 4 and 3.5:1. If the lift is lift at the valve, and the intake valve is bigger than 1.7" in diameter, then it may not have enough lift for good performance. The lobe centre line is okay, although people are starting to run wide lobe separations of up to 116 degrees for street cars. Tighter lobe centres are for light perfomance cars. Nitrous , turbo, EFI or propane cars have different needs.

The rule is, unless its on a car that doesn't mind using lots of revs and is geared for performance, stay below 280 degrees duration on the street.


There is a guy on the 240-300 forum who is excellent on cam specs. Keep on line and check this post.
 
It probibly is the same cam. A photo of the cam card would tell all a whole lot more than what they put on the ad. advertised duration figures are very tricky. one company may have a 280' degree cam with a lower rpm rang than a 272' degree cam.
Example: two cams part numbers #114802, #100052 both of these are crane part numbers. first one listed is called a H-290. second one is called a energizer 272 H10. These are EXACTLY the same cam. what is the difference? part #, box, and advertised duration.

Specs. H-290 adv dur 290' dur at .050 lifter lift 216' lift .454 cl 110'
Specs. 272H10 adv dur 272' dur at .050 lifter lift 216' lift .454 cl 110'

The difference in duration is this 290 cam duration is measured at .001
while the 272 cam is measured at .004.
Why would a cam company do this? to sell more cams and make more money. I hope I havent confused you. most all cam card have specs listed
at duration at .050, they are the only duration numbers to really compare
to othe cams with.
Jim
 
That's why I pay more attention to duration @ .050, as most cam makers use that figure as well as 'advertised duration'.
 
damn,
i think that is the same cam and everything but i don't think he has it on e bay and that is not a user name of his that i know.

oh yeah and the one on ebay is half the price, and it also only has 3 hours left so i do not know if that will be enough time to get the info.


thanks for the help guys.

dan
 
It's a solid cam, too. Would be a hit with the Cyclone headers Doug found.
 
I should have mentioned dur at .050 can be reduced by about 8 degrees if you are looking at a solid tappet cam compared to a hyd cam.
The lash takes up some of the duration.
Jim
 
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