cam swap update great success

[0X01B8]

So here's the update on the K56 cam swap project.  It fired up fine and I ran it for 20 minutes @2000 rpm, except for the 2 minutes I had to stop it.  Uhh, seems I left the radiator cap off and had a small water explosion when the thermostat opened.  whoops.  There was a small amount of valvetrain noise but it got quiet after a few minutes.  Oil pressure was steady @ 70.  It looks like the cam is going to survive - I took all the precautions everybody talks about.

The Engle doesn't sound as angry as the purpleshaft, but it's so smooth.  There's vast improvements everywhere so far.  It pulls 17-18 inches of vacuum so maybe I can finally get the Carter tuned well.  The purpleshaft pulled a wildly crazy 9-12 inches.

My biggest concern was the #1 cam bearing which I replaced cause I ruined the old one taking out the cam.  Oil pressure before would run 80 on cold startup and eventually fluctuate from around 20 at idle to maybe 45 at speed.  I never liked that.  Now it's a steady 60 at hot idle and 70-80 driving.  That puts the needle right in the center of the factory gauge which is nice.

Anyway so far I'm thrilled with the results.  Now I just need to get it tuned - it's at least in the ballpark now and drives & starts so much better.  I'll prolly have some more questions soon.  Thanks to everybody (Ron) for help, mostly from older threads.

-john

[Chryco Psycho]

that is why I like using the Engle grinds

[firefighter3931]

Good work John....once you get it dialed in you will be very happy. Not only will it idle better and be easier to tune....but the bottem end power will be much stronger. 

Start with the timing first then fine tune the fuel delivery. Start at 16-18* at idle and shoot for 36-38* @ 2500-2800 rpm.



Ron