I'm new here, but I've run a slant for a couple years in a '35 Plymouth, the engine mildly built,(not by me). It had headers, Clifford four barrel manifold,
Holley carb, mild unknown cam.
I wanted a little more out of it, so I had a reputable shop do all the machine work,and assemble with all new parts. Bored .060 over,milled.070 off head, decked .020,etc. The builder, took it upon himself to install a Clifford cam,(his first slant) and just kind of went with what Clifford suggested. Well I reinstalled the engine, broke in the cam and drove the car. Went about seven miles and loud pop and nothing stopped dead. Pulled the distributor and all the teeth on the nylon gear were gone. Called Clifford and asked if he had heard of the problem before, he said no and couldn't help with any suggestions. Pulled the engine, took it back to the builder, found what we thought was the problem, a burr in the dist. hole that wouldn't let the dist. to set right. Didn't help. Same happened five times now, and the farthest I've driven is 15 miles. Cam is out of warranty now, but that is my next move, put in different cam. HELP, anybody got any solutions or advice

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Eyeball the distributer drive gear teeth on the cam.

Some of the off-the-shelf cams (notably CompCams) have gone out the door with those teeth not finish machined. They'll eat both the distributer and the oil pump gears alive, typically destroying themselves in the process.

If that's your problem, I've had success with hand polishing the teeth on one that I bought that showed up that way.
Three daily driver years on it so far.

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As specified some cams had issues with the cam drive grooving.

Did your machinist/builder give you your final static compression ratio?
(.070+.020 off a stocker cast crank engine and .060 over doesn't sounds like "enough" IMHO).

I have a couple of cams that I may not use, but it depends on what you had "built".


-D.Idiot

First, thanks for replies. Old 6, I didn't look close, but the cam gear looks good to me(its still in engine) and it is not wearing at all on the oil pump gear.
D. Idiot, I asked the builder about comp. ratio and he said "about 10.5 to 1", I wish I hadn't used this guy but he was suggested by a trusted friend. What have you got as far as cams?
What is a good cam manufacturer, because this cam is coming out soon?

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Yeah, I hear you, "about 10.5:1" kind of sounds like he didn't really measure anything. I estimate that if he did this to a mid-late 60's block and stock head (assume no upsized valves and exhaust seats not replaced) you're at 8.98:1 (given the chamber stock is about 58 cc, and the deck height was .185 with no prior cuts)... or at best 9.47:1 (1973-1974 head at 54cc, and similar on the deck).

If it were 10.5:1 truly I have an Erson AM cam and matching lifters that might do the trick. ( 286/294 adv. duration cam with .510 lift @1.5). I also have an OCG 791 regrind on an original blank that has not been run, I have mocked it up into a block I was going to build, but have gone a different direction (this would be a good cam for 9.5:1-10.5:1 SCR).

PM me if interested, I can give you some details.

-D.Idiot

Do you have the part number for the cam?

CJ

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Ceej, the paperwork I have just says Clifford 268 mech, Mopar, model 170 225. Lift 447 on both .

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Hmmm. Still, eating the distributor gear, I'd be concerned about the OP drive gear. Did the mechanic replace the oil pump? If so, do you know what he replaced it with?

If your going after the cam, the engine has to come out anyway. While possible to replace cams in some chassis, it's way more hassle than it's worth. If your shredding gears, and you've verified the distributor shaft is true, you need to replace the cam, the oil pump and the dizzy gear. Any trouble on the Oil Pump gear or cam gear will eat all the others. It can also put unwanted thrust into the cam shaft, causing it to walk. If it's been walking, the lifters are probably slag.

While you have it out, pull the head, and measure everything. Then you will know how much cam you need. (Or adjust the cut or valve position for the level of radical you want.) The AM is a great cam, but your going to need some converter, or run a manual trans.

What year is the engine/trans? Running a 68+ allows better availability for a converter. If your running short gears, and an appropriate converter, these engines can leave like a ton of bricks at the hit.

What size is the Holley? Are you street strip, or street, or strip?

It's all a delight. I'm going to search for pics of your car! You did post some, right?

CJ

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Ceej, the oil pump is new fm-66c. Have tried two different dizzies, no change, still collecting stripped gears. I can't find any no.s on the block so I don't know the year of engine or trans, but I do know the guy that I bought it from, ran it in a '76 Duster. Auto trans w/ manual valvebody.
The carb setup I have been trying to use, is a three deuce carb adapter, Stromberg 97's. When the car is running, it seems to work fairly well, but I can't keep it running long enough.
Yeah, I'm pulling the engine out. I would post some pics, but being new here, I haven't figured out how yet. Can any body help with pics.?

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So far just trying to go good on the street. Strip later

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How many shake out, (Freeze plugs) does the block have on the driver's side? What is the block casting number?
When you have the engine out, measure the crank shaft register. It's the surface the nose of the converter goes into. Look for stamped numbers on the transmission.

CJ

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The 791 from OCG is the same cam I went with for my mild racer.

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I appreciate the message but truthfully this issue is beyond my skill level. I do have a question though. I is it possible the cam was degreed incorrectly causing a torque issue within the motor itself?

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Ceej, I'm not able to answer your ?,s today but I'll find out tomorrow, I have to act like a father and husband today, it's all fun.

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jhdeval, yes a lot of this is a little intimidating for me also, but I'm trying. He told me, he set it up with a degree wheel, but that's all I got from him on the subject.
I would think that if something was causing a problem with one of the gears driven off of the cam, the other gear would be affected also, and the oil pump gear looks to be ok. I don't know.

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