The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 261 cam selection

i was just wondering what cam some of you would think would be best to use in my newest build.. i have a 56 261 block bored .030 i modified the block for full flow..i have a 848 head that i drilled the steam holes. i will be using a tri power offy intake and tube headers and 3 weber progressive 2bbl carbs.. i was thinking i should maybe mill the head some ans add a higher lift longer duration cam.. have any of you built a similar engine if so what grind did you have on the cam.. this is for a street engine but would like a good rumpty cam but still retain some low end power.. thanks

Not sure if this helps you but Tom Langdon sells the "Bulldog" street cam.

www.stoveboltengineco.com

Not gonna happen. . . . .people in the Sahara desert would like icewater and air conditioning, too. You're massively over-carbureted, and the cam timing that makes for a lumpy idle also destroys low-end torque. The setup you're describing won't have enough torque to pull away from a stop sign without doing a lot of clutch slipping, and the engine won't have enough torque to pull itself around in high gear below about 60 MPH. Good luck trying to repeal the laws of physics!
Jerry

lincoln is correct. I listened to his advise about my two double barrel carbs that im running currently. I had a dead spot when using full pedal and would get a bit of a blip of acceleration when starting to let off the pedal because they would just open too much for what the engine could take in. What i did is actually limit the travel of the throttle arms so the carbs only open to about 80%. I no longer get that dead spot and that blip in power is now gone. He said " Opening up too much venturi area slows down the air velocity so much the vacuum in the venturi drops, and it can't develop enough vacuum to draw sufficient fuel into the airstream"

As for cams im leaning towards the 254 grind from Delta. Talking to Scott he suggests that because i want to keep as much low end as possible and gain in the mid while having no rump its the way to go. I think the bulldog is a 254 / 264 and if im correct will work better at the higher rpms. Lincoln correct me if I am wrong.

Hey- - - -it seems some folks actually listen to an opinionated old geezer with 50 years' experience at tuning these old tractor engines! You're right on target. I like the limited throttle opening approach- - - -whatever gets the job done! The Delta cam is a very good choice, also. 264 duration on the exhaust is getting a little on the high-RPM side and will limit low end torque a little.
Jerry

How much you going to mill the head? You thinking of taking off enough to have to recess the valves? Can you not zero the deck instead and save a fair chunk of additional head work?