Thread: ebay

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now that it seems I need valve springs how does everyone feel about buying internal engine parts off ebay? I've bought radiators, intakes, etc but never anything internal. Even bought a motor once, but ended up selling that.

I wouldn't buy things like valve springs from an individual on ebay. Summit has some very good prices on cam and kit. I strongly suggest that you buy the cam with the kit as it is engineered to work together by the cam grinder. Get the cam, springs, retainers and keepers all from one source so they will work together. Single valve springs will be ok to leave in the heads to break the motor in, but if you purchase double springs, you'll have to disassemble them and just use the outer springs to break in, then take the springs off, reassemble them and re-install. Now you can see why I said buy the spring compressor. We all need one of those sooner or later.
www.summitracing.com

ok what would be a good camshaft? my intake produces power from idle to something like 5200 rpms. Not looking to spin this motor too fast, now that I'm buying this the holley 600cfm carb will be on hold. I'm thinking maybe the comp cams CCA-K12-206-2, but I don't really need the timing chain I have a new double roller chain now. would a 212/212 duration with .440 lift have a good sound? I don't really care how it sounds I just want it to perform well, but dad's saying if I'm going to tear it all apart to do it, I might as well get some good sound with it. The cam in that kit produces power between 1200 and 5200 rpm

If I replace the valve springs am I also going to have to get new rockers and pushrods too?

firebird, match the cam to your static compression ratio. If you don't know what pistons are in the motor and what the deck is (piston crown to block surface at top dead center), wait until you get the heads off to measure it. You also don't know whether the pistons are flat top or dished, so wait to order the cam until you can figure the compression ratio.

I assume that by "good sound", you mean a lope at idle. Having a lope does not necessarily mean that you know what you're doing when choosing a cam. There are a lot of posers out there who install a cam that is too wild for their otherwise stock motor just to impress the geeks down at the burger joint. This usually results in very low manifold vacuum which will not support power brakes and a loss of low-rpm power. You already have a good understanding of power range.

Many motors have been rebuilt using the old rockers and pushrods. I don't do it anymore because these parts are relatively cheap and I'd rather use new parts that can lap-in together and be happy with each other. You'll be using new lifters on the new cam, so I recommend new pushrods. You might get by with the rockers if you inspect them closely for wear and cracks. Don't re-use them if the valve stem has worn a trough in the tip of the rocker.

Any cam you purchase will have a "window" of operating range of about 3,500 rpm's, so they're fudging a little on the description you posted, using a 4,000 rpm window. Depending on how your compression ratio turns out, that cam may be a little too mild.