Thread: 500 caddy cam questions ?

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entertaining thoughts on a couple of different cams for my my caddy 500
comp ratio is 10-1 1971 engine dual ex no headers 3.55 rear gear stock convertor for now 3100 lb car
i would not want to spin the engine much more than about 5200 to 5400 while racing
i think the smaller one may be better in my case but not shure

here are the specs
This is a Comp Cams 94-000-5 Custom Grind hydraulic lifter cam for 368 - 425 - 472 - 500 Cadillac engines. Power Band is 1800 - 5800 RPM. The grind number is CAD 288-9/ 292-2 H112. The lifts are .499 In and .517 Ex. The durations at .050 are 237 In and 244 Ex. Lobe separtion angle is 112 degrees. Timing event specs at .050 tappet lift are as follows; Int opens at 10 deg BTDC and closes at 46 deg ABDC, Exh opens at 58 deg BBDC and closes at 6 deg ATDC. These specs are for a 108 deg intake center line

This is a Comp Cams 94-302-5 High Energy 260H hydraulic lifter cam The grind number is CAD 260H-10. The lifts are .481 In and .481 Ex. The durations at .050 are 212 In and 212 Ex. Lobe separtion angle is 110 degrees. Timing event specs at .006 tappet lift are as follows; Int opens at 24 deg BTDC and closes at 56 deg ABDC, Exh opens at 64 deg BBDC and closes at 16 deg ATDC. These specs are for a 106 deg intake center line.


what to the cam gurus out there think?

I'm no expert, but with the Cad cubes you shouldn't need a whole lot of cam. In a street engine, given a choice, I always say go milder. Depends on what you want, I guess. Are you after the sound, or the fury? In your T, is spinning the tires a few more RPM gonna make all that much difference?

I studied the big caddies quite a bit when I was considering one for the Studebaker. My personal suggestion is to check out the guys at Maximum Torque Specialties. Big Cadillacs is all they do and they really know their stuff. Also great people to work with when you have questions. Here is a link to their Cam page, sounds like a #10 or #15 would work for you. As stated in the #15 spec, 5200-5400 is the limit with stock rods on these motors. IMO 5800 is way too much. Ask questions on their forum too, lots of guys with lots of experience with these motors.

http://www.mtscadparts.com/Elknet%20files/page29.html

Here is another Caddy forum that gets quite a bit of traffic:

http://www.cowboyseven.us/forum/index.php

Hope that helps

Pat

hey stu i kind of agree re the bigger cam is too much but am trying to find the factory cam specs to compare the 260 cam to. I want this motor to live so i am looking at a max of 5200 to 5300 and no more.
i would lke to get a little more bite out of the engine but am unshure of it will give me what i want.

i know that the rockers are garbage i had the heads off and had the valves done and looked at these things and said to myself , what monkey designed these, used to chev rocker and dodge rocker rails that kind of make sense. the things are also really heavy
i am not shue what size heads re cc,the pistons are the bino top which i think are 10 to 1.
i am looking into the theory that the stock cam is terribly retarded and that some gain can be had by advancing the cam 6 t0 8 degrees.
the chain and gears are original so it would be smart to change anyways and advance it a bunch.
i am not very camshaft smart re duration degrees but am looking at some ideas.