Help me pick a cam
Thread Starter
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 360
Likes: 0
From: Katy, TX
Help me pick a cam for a 422 I just got my heads and intake on my 422 that was built 2 years ago (yeah, I'm lazy). The real nightmare was when we pulled the old heads off. They were black as hell in the intake runners on a 28,000 mile car. The worst part was that you could have taken a 6" handle wrench to get the headbolts out. 
Some of the outside bolts were sticking out by as much as a quarter inch. I'm not sure if the heads were lifting or what exactly the deal was. Anyway, back to my question. I now have the 6.0L heads on the car with the Fast 90/90 setup. Once ironing out a couple of problems, the car now runs pretty much as it should. I have the stock cam in there, which still manages to to wrap the motor up pretty quickly. The tach says 4,000 while it's actually bouncing off the rev limiter. 
It's very torqey down low but it sucks in the midrange. Would one of you with some expertise spec me out a pretty good cam? The flow on the heads is:
.200 151.5 119.9
.300 218.3 168.4
.400 261.9 206.8
.500 292.7 219.8
.600 320.0 225.8
I don't necessarily need a monster cam as I have to daily drive it 55 miles everyday. Any input you guys could give me would be appreciated. I was getting 9 miles to the gallon before because it ran like **** (not to mention I just replaced an O2 sensor that went bad 8 months ago) so I'm not too terribly worried about the gas mileage.
Some of the outside bolts were sticking out by as much as a quarter inch. I'm not sure if the heads were lifting or what exactly the deal was. Anyway, back to my question. I now have the 6.0L heads on the car with the Fast 90/90 setup. Once ironing out a couple of problems, the car now runs pretty much as it should. I have the stock cam in there, which still manages to to wrap the motor up pretty quickly. The tach says 4,000 while it's actually bouncing off the rev limiter. It's very torqey down low but it sucks in the midrange. Would one of you with some expertise spec me out a pretty good cam? The flow on the heads is:.200 151.5 119.9
.300 218.3 168.4
.400 261.9 206.8
.500 292.7 219.8
.600 320.0 225.8
I don't necessarily need a monster cam as I have to daily drive it 55 miles everyday. Any input you guys could give me would be appreciated. I was getting 9 miles to the gallon before because it ran like **** (not to mention I just replaced an O2 sensor that went bad 8 months ago) so I'm not too terribly worried about the gas mileage.
Last edited by DramaFoYoMama; Jul 18, 2005 at 11:01 PM.
Thread Starter
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 360
Likes: 0
From: Katy, TX
I forgot to mention that it has never really been tuned except for REALLY fattening it up to keep it from pinging until I got the compression lowered. I dynoed 417/384 before the heads and intake. This was still on the stock cam. What do you guys think I would make on the stock cam if I got it tuned. Would I get some healthy midrange back?
Nobody replies, cuz you smelly funny... 
If you want it to be pretty tame, stick in the 240's somewhere. If you want it to be a sleeper, stay in the 230's. You've got great head flow in the upper lift range, might as well take advantage and run some decent lift -- as long as you're not still running those stock pushrods I gave you
Try hitting up some of our sponsors who build big motors all the time, I'm sure they'll have some good recommendations.
If you want it to be pretty tame, stick in the 240's somewhere. If you want it to be a sleeper, stay in the 230's. You've got great head flow in the upper lift range, might as well take advantage and run some decent lift -- as long as you're not still running those stock pushrods I gave you
Try hitting up some of our sponsors who build big motors all the time, I'm sure they'll have some good recommendations. Thread Starter
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 360
Likes: 0
From: Katy, TX
Ok, Mr. Smartass. 
Since you decided to jump into this topic, help me answer something which makes NO sense whatever to me. I'm having major idling issues. I believe this to be a vacuum issue, but now it just sounds weird. When I take it out of gear, the rpm's jump up to between 2,000 and 2,500. I just discovered on the way home that if I push in the clutch pedal, the rpm's go down. This is while I'm in neutral. Now if I let the pedal back out, the rpm's jump back up. Also, it doesn't come back down to a complete idle unless I brake. I can come to a stop from just coasting, and the rpm's stay way up. It is not until I hold the brake in that it comes back down. THat's what sounds like the vacuum leak to me. Also, it does not come back down instantaneously. I have to have my foot on the brake for a couple seconds after I come to a stop to get the rpm's down. I can't figure it out as as far as I can tell, there is NO vacuum leak. Do you have any ideas? I'm stumped, and the part about pushing in the clutch pedal defies me. Maybe my car doesn't like me because I'm black. 
Since you decided to jump into this topic, help me answer something which makes NO sense whatever to me. I'm having major idling issues. I believe this to be a vacuum issue, but now it just sounds weird. When I take it out of gear, the rpm's jump up to between 2,000 and 2,500. I just discovered on the way home that if I push in the clutch pedal, the rpm's go down. This is while I'm in neutral. Now if I let the pedal back out, the rpm's jump back up. Also, it doesn't come back down to a complete idle unless I brake. I can come to a stop from just coasting, and the rpm's stay way up. It is not until I hold the brake in that it comes back down. THat's what sounds like the vacuum leak to me. Also, it does not come back down instantaneously. I have to have my foot on the brake for a couple seconds after I come to a stop to get the rpm's down. I can't figure it out as as far as I can tell, there is NO vacuum leak. Do you have any ideas? I'm stumped, and the part about pushing in the clutch pedal defies me. Maybe my car doesn't like me because I'm black. 
