Ok, I've done a search here and it seems nobody either has or knows of where a solid lift cam with a firing order change can be had! Just taked with a rep from TA perf. and they said " it's not something we're working on right now". ou: Would also be interested in a custom ground shaft. :Brow:
They did this on a BBC in some recent magazine. If I remember right (not sure), I think they only got a gain of like 7 horsepower. Someone chime in if they read this article.
And if I remember correctly, they weren't 100% sure where the gain came from. A lot of theories, but none really provable.
Just got off the phone with Scott Brown~ Awesome Dude! He spent almost a half hour talking to me about my combination and steered me in the right direction. 274@ .050" / 288@ .050" , .630" lift 133/109 solid- regular (normal) firing order Should be here next week sometime!!!!
Just one more thing, he said that nobody offers the cam blanks to do the switch. Hard enough to find them even for a chevy.
http://www.straightline-perf.com/ 517-381-8801, Scott answered the phone when I called!!!! Tell him your on this board and that Kelly sent you. Kelly Eckelmeyer.
It was explaned to me it was more to help the lean condition for the #5 and #7 cylinders and the power increase was a bonus.
That I didn't ask him, besides, I was after a custom ground cam anyway. From the looks of it, he is into the Mopars, but also likes the Buicks. Guess you can only stock so many cams for so many cars.
Buicks and Straightline Scott does lots of work with Bobb Makley and Geoff Ketchum at Finishline on Buick motors. Jim Burek at PAE also loves Scott's cams. There are stiking similarities between the 440 Mopar and the 400/430/455 Buick - wedge type motors, similar oiling system, heck the hot trick is to use Mopar manifolds on the Buick with Charlie Evan's adapter plates. I think you will find that the grinds that Scott shows for the Mopars are very similar if not identical to the Buick cams he sells. I think Scott used to do a lot with racecar mufflers, maybe he still does.
I need that CAM!!! Cranking compression is over 300psi The calculated compression ratio is 13.871:1 and on a 494 ci Buick, the TA 608 hyd. was not enough.
The firing order swaps may provide more hp in certain applications.The true gain comes in crank shaft life.The pontiac guys have found the the 4-7 swap cams increases #2 and #3 main bearing life on stock block combos due to less crank flex and harmonics.I feel this is something that can benefit us but its getting someone to make a core for a flat tappet cam.A roller is easy I have a guy that will do it but we would need to see a demand for them. Scott Brown is a good guy and his cams make power.Some may say different but numbers don't lie Bobb makley has gone 9.80 in a 3800lb car with a slp flat tappet and a 470cid motor.
I think there is a "demand", there has been over 280 members that have looked at this post. Myself included, would still like to get the most out of any combination and a cam ground that would help, that would sell. Now Scott Brown... As I mentioned earlier, the man is a cam guru, and there is a reason others are using him and going fast. Proven performance and personal service. Thus I am following that path. Now the reason I ( and most likely others ) stick with a solid flat tappet is the money. The cost of a roller and the associated parts cost many times what a flat tappet does and since we like to switch our combo's ( heads, headers, intakes, carbs etc...) so often, one cam pattern will not work and at $500+ a pop for a roller, that is a big pill to swallow. I do realize that a roller does offer ' a bigger window' and thus can add more power. Yes I have my lifter valley filled with titanium putty. Yes it has cracked and I am just running a Hyd. cam! I can see a roller lifter being pushed out through the lifter valley. I NEED A AFTER MARKET BLOCK!!!!! Then the sky is the limit ( I mean heads ) :grin:
Been there done that, cam firing order swap. We can do a billet and even have cores made but is cost prohibitive as you are looking at a 1% gain in power for most of our applications. Mike @ T/A and I talked in detail a long time ago about the validity of making the cores available. The swap is much more responsive to the tunnel ram specific style Pro Stock engines we were building. There are many other uncommonly taped areas to see HP gains.
