Camshaft manufacturing

[Lyndon S.]

Re: Camshaft manufacturing

Years ago I had one re-ground for my 71 LS-5 when I rebuilt it. The cam had some lobes that were questionable and you could not are I could not find a NOS cam. So I sent that cam off and they redone it for me to factory specs. That has been over twenty years ago, and I do not remember who I sent it to. Sorry. When I went threw that 454 years ago the only part that was wore was the cam. The blocked still had the factory hone marks in it. So I just put in new rings and bearings, and my reground cam. To day I would just use one of the reproduction /NOS cams. I can tell you I have never had any trouble out of that cam.

[Duke W.]

Re: Camshaft manufacturing

I have seen the GM drawings for both the 143 and 362 cams. Trust me, the lobes and lobe indexing are identical. The ONLY difference is lack of the rear journal groove on the 362.

The specs from my Speed Pro catalog for the CS165R: .050" lifter rise durations 242/242 degrees and 114 LSA, which matches both the 143 and 362. The same lobe is used for both inlet and exhaust. (And it's also used on the inlet side of the LT-1 cam, abeit with a slightly smaller base circle.)

Once a CS165R is in the engine no one will know if it has a rear journal groove or not, and operating characteristics will be identical.

BTW, this is an EXCELLENT street high performance cam for a BB. I just received some chassis dyno test data for two nearly identical L-71s, one with an aftermarket cam of similar duration, but narrower LSA (more overlap) and the other with a 143 reproduction. The 143 repro made substantially more low end torque and a little more top end power.

On your 4" stroke engine it will really work nice with massaged heads and 4 to six degrees retard. A little low end will be lost, but it will be a monster on the top end.

Duke

[Clem Z.]

Re: Camshaft manufacturing

camcraft in maryland can dupe your factory cam. cost about $400/$500 if he has to have masters made.