What Does A Cam Do And Whats The Advantage?

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Guest G 66 coupe 200 I6 C-4... someone told me it might be a good idea to put a cam in the engine. What does a cam do? #1 · Oct 27, 2001 66 coupe 200 I6 C-4... someone told me it might be a good idea to put a cam in the engine. What does a cam do? Sort by Oldest first Oldest first Newest first Most reactions #2 · Oct 27, 2001 It's a shaft with lobes that determines how high the valves lift off their seats to allow air/fuel in and out of the engine, and for how long they stay off their seats. Look at this picture below. The camshaft is the shaft up top, with the egg-shaped lobes that are pushing the valves open. http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/civilawyer/Camshaft.gif The longer a valve stays open, the higher RPM an engine can achieve, or it will make more power at a higher RPM (speed). The higher a valve lifts off its seat, the more air flows into the cylinder. These are just general rules. I suggest getting a Comp Cams catalog http://www.compcams.com and reading it a few times over. It will teach you everything. #3 · Oct 27, 2001 some advice, don't over cam!!!!! Seriously consider replacing your valve springs and rocker arms. Most things on cars bigger is better, this is not true with cams. They run in ranges from mild to full race. If your running an otherwise stock engine for a street driver you probably should just get a mild one. the farther you go up to a race cam the worse your idle becomes and you actually start loosing low end power. The higher the lift the more energy is transfered through to the valve. so the stock springs and rocker arms may not be up to the job. After a certain point the there replacement becomes manditory. #4 · Oct 27, 2001 Ifyou want some good ideas that will help make your 6 run better and faster go here. http://fordsix.com/ I don't think putting a better cam in is going to do you a whole lot of good unless you do some other modifications. #5 · Oct 27, 2001 Take a look at this site....chock-full of inline performance info and parts... And the intro page is a ton of fun...*G* Also, you could PM Fordinliner...he's a treasure trove of inline Ford info... #6 · Oct 28, 2001 I'm in agreement with all of the foregoing posts, but I add one point to clarify. Your initial post said that you were told to put a cam in your engine. Your engine already has one. What they probably meant was to replace the current one with one that allows for more horsepower to be produced. My advice would be to wait until you need to do a rebuild and then do it at that time in conjunction with many other changes (carb, muffler, headers, etc.) necessary to gain the full benefit of the upgrade. Doing just one improvement will not bring marked gains and will be expensive if done one at a time instead of as part of an overall plan. Check ouf www.fordsix.com and you will find many ideas for upgrades for your six cylinder. Hope this helps. Insert Quotes Post Reply

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