cams

[quicksilver]

i need to know a good cam to put in my 318 i have some picked out but i wnat to know if any body has a suggestion

[rumblefish360]

Sure...read "Cam duration??" by TGO112.

I'd give you a suggestion, but, you gave NO perameters on what your doin. Slight upgrade/..street/strip. race ???

So I'll be a funny guy and say use the purple p4529317. Use it with a tunnel ram and a pair of 650's.

[quicksilver]

sorry forgot mild street

[rumblefish360]

LOL No problem.

Try a look at Tony's page. He has a couple of dynoed 318 build ups. I would recomend the same cams he used.
The purple 260/268 or the replacement 340 cam.
http://www.geocities.com/alwest_83/index.html

Other similar cams from Comp, Crane or hughes would be right.

[Jims451]

I like the cams from Hughes engines (Engle) and Crower, but the Mopar Performance cams are pretty good for the price.

Selecting the correct size one that meets your requirements is the hard part.

You first and largest concern it what the application and RPM range the engine will be used for.

To get a better idea of cam size needed, you will be asked about your compression ratio, gearing, transmission stall speed, type of intake and exhaust system, cylinder head airflow (or type, valve size, and degree of porting?)

You don't need to get a really big cam to get a good performance improvement in a 318. You need to realize that the stock 318 cam was very small to start with. My 1971 Factory Service Manual shows the 318 cam as 240/248 duration and 0.373"/0.399" lift.

The Mopar P4452759 is fairly mild with 260/268 duration and 0.430"/0.450" lift and it will work with a mild (mostly stock) 318.
The Mopar P4452761 is a bit larger at 268/272 duration and 0.450"/0.455" lift. I would recommend at least 9:1 compression with the cam, and it will work better with 3.55:1 gears and a higher stall (2,500?) converter.
With either one you will want to upgrade the valve springs.
Note: Mopar does not rate their cams at 0.050" duration and the 85% rule noted in one of the catalogs does not seem correct for the mild hydraulic cams.

The Hughes (Engle) cams have faster ramp rates and make a bit more power, but they are a bit more expensive and require fairly stiff valve springs.
The HE0914AL is 208/214 duration @ 0.050" and 0.458"/0.470" lift. This would make a good cam for a mild 318 with about 9:1 compression. I did not list the "advertised duration" of the Hughes cams because they are rated at 0.008" which makes them "look" smaller than a comparable cam, when they are not.
The HE1423AL at 214/223 duration @ 0.050", 0.470"/0.504" lift would be a good performance type cam with 9.2:1+ compression and the higher stall converter and gears. Also, at this lift the heads will benifit with some mild port work.
The HE2430 cam 223/230 duration, 0.504"/0.515" would be OK with 9.5:1 compression, some port work or the larger 360 heads.

Cams like the Mopar 284 duration, 0.484" lift and the Hughes HE3038Al are up in duration where torque really suffers (on a 318) under 3,000 RPM unless you run over 9.5:1 compression, a 3,000+ stall converter, and 3.91:1 gears.