cam specs?

[jensenracing77]

does anyone have the factory cam specs for the 62 jetfire. i am guessing the jetfire cam is the same as the Cutlass cam? i was just wanting to compare it to the cam i got from D&D.

[62oldsf85]

I thought I read somewhere that the Jetfire had a slightly higher lift cam than the Cutlass. I’ve got every ’62 manual out there, so I’ll look it up and let you know. I am running a Crower 260 degree lift cam that I love in this engine. Very street friendly with just a touch of lope. Good power curve.

[62oldsf85]

I’ve just been looking and don’t see a lift spec in the manuals. I’m sure you can find one. I’m guessing you went with the CS-364 camshaft that D&D sells. They’re really knowledgeable. Whatever they told you on it is likely accurate. Mine is the 50230 (D&D part number) – Crower 260 degree 446 lift. I have had noise issues I finally pinpointed (I think) to my Crower lifters, so write if any questions.
Scott

[62oldsf85]

I saw a Crower box in the picture you posted with the heads, so I’m wondering what cam you chose? Like I said, very satisfied with mine, but check with me before you install those lifters.
Scott

[62oldsf85]

Oh yeah, and talk to me if you used the heavy duty valve springs and push rods with the Crower cam.
Scott

[jensenracing77]

the end of the new cam box has.. 50228 Buick 215-340 compu-pro hydraulic cam (250-HDP). my invoice has.. Perf, cam kit – level 1. i just told them i wanted the closest thing to stock as i could get. he said he couldn’t get the exact thing but this cam would be close. my stock springs check out good so they reused them. what can you tell me about this cam? should i use something else? i didn’t talk about other cam options with him.

[62oldsf85]

Right. That cam sounds like the closest to stock that you could get. I thought maybe you had decided to use a higher lift cam. I can’t say I know much about it, but I compared a Buick 215 cam with my Olds Cutlass 215 cam I have and they look very close. Have you asked Jim Noel? I’m sure he knows. Or looked it up on the Crower site? I think that was really helpful to me when I picked my cam. My two cents: with that cam the stock springs and push rods should be just fine.

I went with a stiffer valve spring (due to the more aggressive lift of the 260 degree cam and concern about bottoming out the springs), and thicker push rods D&D offers to go with the heavy duty valve springs. I had some trouble aligning my rocker arm with the thicker push rods b/c the holes in the head become really tight. In retrospect, I should have machined out the push rod holes a little to accommodate the thicker push rods – too late now and they seem to be fine now that I worked on the rocker arm.

I will say that the cam I used is very street worthy – it gives a good power boost without affecting idling too much – probably bottom of the top third of the road in terms of the cams that D&D is offering. I wanted to do some mild modification to the internals (I also ported and polished the heads, back cut the valves, and had to bore it out .030 b/c of cylinder damage) to up the power output of the engine – but my understanding is the cam had the most impact of all of that on the power. On the desktop dyno I used to calculate the power/torque of what I did, it showed approximately 290-300 hp. I’m not sure it’s quite all that, but it’s nasty when I get into the turbo. Of course, I completely understand and respect the desire to restore it as close to stock as possible, and it’ll still be very strong.

[62oldsf85]

Here’s what it says on the Crower.com site about the cam you got:

Performance level 1 – Mileage Compu-Pro – Enhances throttle response and low end torque while delivering fuel efficient drivability.
INT/EXH – Dur @ .050” Lift: 192°/196° RR: 1.6/1.6 Gross Lift: .424”/.430” LSA: 112° RPM: Idle to 3500 Redline: 4000

It also has a pull down paragraph about what “Performance Level 1” means. I couldn’t copy it, but you can go read it.

[jensenracing77]

62oldsf85 post=335 wrote: I saw a Crower box in the picture you posted with the heads, so I’m wondering what cam you chose? Like I said, very satisfied with mine, but check with me before you install those lifters.
Scott

did you have a problem with your lifters?

[62oldsf85]

Yes. I’m not sure it could have been prevented by double checking the lifters, but I have one that is intermittently noisy on start up (I get a tapping noise once it gets close to operating temperature). I’ve tried some things to manipulate it (lower weight oil, using Justice Brothers products, etc), but it persists. It’s more annoying now than anything, but I’ve resisted pulling the manifold due to the fact that it works so well otherwise. And I can get it to stop pretty quickly by just getting it up to speed. It’s one of the #8 cylinder lifters, so I don’t know if it’s the area that gets oil last, or what the deal is. So I’d suggest just a good visual inspection of each lifter, each bore, and each push rod (especially after you’ve torqued your rocker arms down, check to see that the push rods are aligned, I had to do some minor tweaking there as mine were a little off center on a few holes in the head), and then follow instructions carefully on installation and pre-lubricate well.

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