Forgive my pea-brain here !! I have been reading old posts about centerlining the cam. Since I'm installing another new one I just want to be sure its in right.
The M.P. Cam calls for an installed centerline of 102. The last cam was dead on at 102. I installed it as is. Was this correct? Or should I advance the cam more from this point. I have the offset bushing kit to do it if I need to. I'm using the instructions in the M.P. Engines Manual.
The cam is .528 / 284 lift

Thanks,
Rick

I usually advance it a degree or two to account for chain stretch. Since your chain has already stretched some in the 500 miles the engine was running, if this one dials in at 102 exactly, I'd leave it alone. After you get this one running again, let us know what kind of vacuum you end up with this cam.

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'66 Cuda 225/4spd
'66 Dart GT convertible 225/auto
'64 Dart GT 340/4spd

I would think about giving this cam a couple of degrees of advance just to help the low speed power and throttle responce. How did it feel when you first ran it, did it have decent low-end power and idle quality?

Sounds like you have the degree wheel, have you checked the actual cam events? How well is the overlap event centered over TDC?
DD

I did not check the cam events. Is there a link to those directions ? I would say that the car had decent low end, but I wasn't expecting it to be great. If advancing the cam a couple degrees will help this and not hurt the top end much I'll do it.
Idle seemed to be fine, it sounded a little mean which is what we expected. Once we get it back together again, I'll check the idle speed and vacuum readings and post them. Do you read the vacuum right off the intake runner port?
We were still running the 3.23 gears until everything was broken in, then we are switching to the 4.30, which should really wake things up.

Thanks,Rick

We installed the new cam. .528 / 284. and when I checked the cam it came in at 100 degrees. 102 is what is called for so this was 2 degrees advance. I'll let you know how it runs compared to the other one which was installed straight up.

Thanks,
Rick

Sounds like you are ready to go again.
Keep the oil pressure reasonable, 50-55 lbs max is all you need.
Let us know how it runs.
DD

Doug,
We'll keep the oil pressure at 50-55, but I had another question. While at Wal-Mart picking up some stuff, I looked at their oil filters. They had a Fram racing oil filter which said "low back pressure" or something to that affect. Is it possible that the oil filters themselves could have to much back pressure and be loading the oil pump gears more than they should. This would be magnified the higher the RPM. Just a thought.

Rick

Uhmmm....that is a good point. I have a pretty good oil pressure guage on my 65 Dart convert and know when the filter needs changing, running pressure drops. Put on a new filter and it gains about 4 psi.

I have never thought to check the pressure before the filter, guess I will have to drill and tap an extra hole into the pump housing in order to find out how much pressure an oil filter "soaks-up".
DD

Hey Guys,

I had always thought that the drop in oil pressure between oil changes was due to viscosity changes in the oil itself, from gas mixed in or breakdown of the hydrocarbons. Never occurred to me it could be the filter, but that's possible.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Well we have ignition !!!! She's running again. Funny it sounds just like the other one! Ha! Ha!
For those who are wondering; The oil pressure when idling hot is about 51 pounds, and about 4000 RPM it was 57. Idle speed is about 1000 RPM. It's not going to idle much lower than that with this size cam.
I don't have a vacuum gauge but I'm going to get one. Where do you take your vacuum readings at ?? Someone asked about the vacuum and I'll post it as soon as I find out.
Sad thing is we are in the middle of that North Eastern snow storm, so we are not going to get it out of the garage for a day or two.

Thanks again to Doug for the new gear. And thanks to the Cox brothers for getting me some other parts I needed quickly. John & Faith were a great help and seem like nice people.

Thanks,
Rick

Manifold vacuum is just that. I don't know about all sl/6 manifolds, but most have a hole in one of the runners, tapped for taper pipe threads. It might just have a pipe plug in it, now, or maybe a tree with some hose nipples on it.
Good to hear she's back on line. You got right on that puppy!

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'66 Cuda 225/4spd
'66 Dart GT convertible 225/auto
'64 Dart GT 340/4spd

Doug you said to let you know how the car runs with the new cam advanced 2 degrees compared to the other one. It seems to run great. My son said that it has a good bit more power at lower RPM, and seems about the same at High RPM.
I still didn't get a vacuum gauge yet.
We have probably close to 700 miles on this engine (except the cam which only has 200) Is it too early to switch to Synthetic oil? Should we wait a while longer. I'm thinking , slicker, better lubricant is one more plus to guard against an oil pump gear problem. What weight do you recommend. It's cold in PA. right now.

Rick

Nice to hear that the cam set-up / advance helped.

As for the oil change, I would go another 2 or 300 miles, to the point where you feel OK about doing some hard runs on it. Once you run engine WOT and everything is well, do the oil change-over.

As far as the grade of oil, I'm not the best person to ask, here in Sunnyvale, CA, I run 20-50 all year round.
You may want to start another thread on this topic to see what others in colder areas have used.
DD