So now that I found a timing cover and it's on it's way, what are your thoughts on throwing a cam in while I'm there? If so what cam? The car is a pretty much stock 1962 Wildcat. My biggest concern is what can the old dynaflow handle and would ya feel much of a difference through the slushbox and such a big car? I also have a dual quad setup I've been toying with putting on it. Could save it for a future project too. So I guess the question is keep it a stock-ish cruiser (wanna do some wheels and air ride, also thinking of/toying with building some lakepipes) or try to make it a little meaner haha. Here's a picture of her right after I got her home a week ago...
Put a good cam in it... just dont overcam it..... remember the power band.... the peak tork with a base cam is at 2800 rpm.... with your stock diff gear what will your rpm be at highway speed???? you want it to have the peak tork some where close to that figure.....
The gears are 3.42's (just counted them, btw didn't Wildcats have posi's?), that makes it ~3100 rpm @ 75 mph, add or subtract ~400 rpm for every 10 mph above or below... Love the way the Thumpr sounds! But scared that's probably too much cam for me. Are the dual quads a good way to go or should I stick to the single and modify the plenum area?
Honestly, the Thumpr is probably too much cam for a lot of folks. I think something like the TA 25 from TA Performance would suit you well. It will definitely wake it up, and you'll be able to tell it's got a cam, but it will still have very good street manners and wouldn't require as much tuning as the Thumpr. I think it would be a mistake to get that deep into the motor and leave the factory cam in place.
The ''thumper cams'' remind me of,,,, back in the days, right after the factories [forced by the government] detuned all of the engines and every body was ''racing'' their stereos... bigger speakers, more loud,,, more of this, more of that.......:Brow::laugh:
It should have a 3.42 posi, but it could have an open rear. Is the limited slip tag still on the filler plug? Otherwise just jack up the rear and spin one tire - if the opposite wheel spins in the same direction, it should be a posi.
Doc, what cam would you go with? Custom grind? So far I have a TA20 and TA25 suggestion. Does anyone else besides TA or CompCams make cams for the Nailhead? Cameo, when I was verifying that the gears were 3.42's (and not the optional 4.4X's?) I discovered it was a one legger, I was always under the impression that one of the things that made it a Wildcat was a posi. Was bummed when I discovered it wasn't cause it's not like you can just go buy one haha. Anyone know where to find one? Or are they like hens teeth?
Schneider makes cams. And both TA and Comp can custom grind one. Usually they came with a 3.42 posi, but you could order it anyway you wanted. A member on here parted out a '62 Wildcat a while back and it had a 3.23 open rear. I've seen them also with a 3.36 posi, as well as a 3.36 open. It is possible that the clutches are just wore out - the only way to know 100% is to remove the center section and have a look. And they are RARER then hens teeth. '63-'65 posi units are pretty plentiful, but sourcing a '61-'62 unit is practically impossible. There's actually one on eBay right now, but it has a 2.79 gear set.
I'll have to check out Schneider cams too... Posi could definitely be worn out, are the units rebuild-able? Also are the units different for different gear sets? Where's the split? Cause it seems one could just swap the gears over. I'll have to investigate more once I have better access back there, surprisingly that axle is pretty buried up in there.
I think you can get them rebuilt, I believe Monzaz here on V8 has done a few. And yes, there are different carriers. I forget where the split is - I know the 3.42 uses a different carrier than the 3.07 but I'm not sure which carrier the 3.23 uses.
Yep,,, a posi can be rebuilt, no doubt about that..... the gears might be a hassle to find.... and,,,,,, i prefer the 091 cam.... the one with the narrow spread.... but i would not rule out a good aftermarket one.... Isky , Crane, crower used to make them,,, also Clay Smith,,,, Selection is fairly easy,,,, TA also..... just pick one that has specs close to the o91,,,, then you will have a good cam , without over camming it.....as for the intake,,, I like the stock intake manifold with my Doc dual plane modification done to it... and a big holley ,,, but my 425 runs great with the little 600 holley ''shoebox'' on it and gets good mileage too..... Put in a good cam,,, mod the intake,,, recurve the dist... install a good dual exhaust system,,,, and put a good holley on it with a cold air intake system and heat in the intake manifold ,,,, then that nailhead will come alive like it has not done before.... it will be a happy little engine.....and will be very, very reliable....:Brow::Brow::idea2::idea2:
So does anyone know which cam specs are correct between online and the catalog from TA performance? I picked up the newest catalog when I was there the other day and noticed the specs are different than online, some its different lsa's and some it's lift... I'll prob have to call them when I get a minute and they are open... Good thing to know on the posi, wasn't sure if parts for it were still available... I guess one of my main concerns was if the dynaflow can handle the extra power? Should I not worry?
Schneider Cams has some nice grinds for the nail heads. I ran one in a 57 Chevy I had as a kid, put a 401 with 6 deuces in it and it ran really strong. On The Eighth Day God Created Buick
Ahh! Why is picking a cam so hard for me? haha. I always get headaches when researching and comparing this to that, my head tells me to be sinsible, but my heart says to go a little wild!! What's the word on valve springs? Don't see anything other than stock replacements on TA's website...
A new, set of stock springs will take a nailhead as far as it needs to go.... I have wound a 401 up to 6000 with stock springs and did not get valve toss.... it was the points that would fail first.... but I found a trick to stop that too... :Brow::laugh:but dont take a nailhead up that far... 5500 to 5800 is about tops....they are not rpm engines.... above 5500 they are just windmilling.....:spank:
