[1969GTO]

I would like to get some feed back on the SDPERFORMANCE Old Faithfull cam
I am considering running it in a 69 GTO.
400/462 engine,9.5comp,cast intake modified as per Cliff Ruggles,an 800 Cliff Q-Jet, 3.90 or 3.55 gears,Ram Air manifolds with X-Pypes, 10" Continental convertor,MSD Inition,MSD Ready to run distributor,1.6 Scorpion rollor rockers.Heads are #16 ported to flow @ 240-250cfm.
Car will be street/strip,mostly street.

[Cliff R]

Excellent camshaft, but it will like more compression. We've used it in several 455 builds, including my own. In 455's with less than about 10 to 1 compression it starts becoming a "lot" of camshaft.

Idle quality and vacuum at idle is considerbly less in low compression builds, than engines with 10 to 10.5 to 1 compression. Nothing to be overly concerned about, but it really shines with over 10 to 1 compression in those engines, and starts to get a bit "soggy" in lower compression builds.

If you emphisis in on street, might want to get the smaller "Stump-Puller" cam. They fair better at 9.5 to 1 compression that the "Old Faithful" grind.....IMHO.....Cliff

[gearbanger]

I have it in a 461 with 10.75/1 compression. It is extremely powerful on the street. For the duration numbers, it idles with a nice chop. It is super torquey and pulls hard to 6000+. I have have power brakes and have no issues ever with vaccum. I think it holds about 10-11 inhg in my combination. The car has a 5-speed and it is very happy at 1500+ cruising down the road. I had another hyd roller that was 242-250 duration and it wasn't happy below 2000. This one seems more powerful and it is smoother at lower RPM. I think it is the perfect cam for a pump gas 455-461 street deal.

[455GRIN]

I plan to run a similar set up, 462 with 260cfm SD 6X heads, same intake, carb and convertor. Since I will running a 3:23 gear, I’m going with the stump puller cam. Also I want to shift under 5500RPMs.
If you have good rods and with your rear gear, the Old faithful might be a good choice.
Are you running A/C?

[ta man]

With your heads I would suggest the Stump Puller cam,Old Faithful really shines with more head flow and valvetrain setup to run over .600 lift.I run Old Faithful with SD's KRE 290 cfm heads with 1.65 Harland Sharpes..car runs super smooth on the street,idles at 850 rpm runs on 87 octane,never overheats..and runs mid 11's at 118mph.

[ponjohn]

Originally Posted by gearbanger

The car has a 5-speed and it is very happy at 1500+ cruising down the road. I had another hyd roller that was 242-250 duration and it wasn't happy below 2000.

Great info.

Do you know what lobes the 242/250 cam used?

[1969GTO]

Originally Posted by 455GRIN

I plan to run a similar set up, 462 with 260cfm SD 6X heads, same intake, carb and convertor. Since I will running a 3:23 gear, I’m going with the stump puller cam. Also I want to shift under 5500RPMs.
If you have good rods and with your rear gear, the Old faithful might be a good choice.
Are you running A/C?

I have 4-100 air [ac] 4 windows down 100mph, my rods are great,they are from the rotating assembly I bought from Butler [stroker kit] several years ago.

[TCSGTO]

I agree with the others that the Stump Puller might be a better match for you now especially with the iron exhaust manifolds. I doubt it looses much performance, and might just make more average power than the OF under 5000 RPM anyway. It will probably have an idle similar to a 068 in a 400 so you could tell your Chevy buddies it's a stock 400 but it will make about 100HP more!

[77 TRASHCAN]

Originally Posted by gearbanger

I have it in a 461 with 10.75/1 compression. It is extremely powerful on the street. For the duration numbers, it idles with a nice chop. It is super torquey and pulls hard to 6000+. I have have power brakes and have no issues ever with vaccum. I think it holds about 10-11 inhg in my combination. The car has a 5-speed and it is very happy at 1500+ cruising down the road. I had another hyd roller that was 242-250 duration and it wasn't happy below 2000. This one seems more powerful and it is smoother at lower RPM. I think it is the perfect cam for a pump gas 455-461 street deal.

What do you run for gas, octane wise???

[1969GTO]

Originally Posted by 77 TRASHCAN

What do you run for gas, octane wise???

Super Unleded....93

[455GRIN]

I have to roll down my windows for A/C too. lol

With R.A. exhaust manifolds, I would look hard at the dyno results from SD. Then discuss with Dave about your combo then go with his suggestions.

[GTOLou]

Yeah, others have covered it - your heads need the stump puller. 230-236/112. Heck, I'd email Dave at SD. He might recommend lsa of 113 or 114 because of the ram air manifolds. It is kinda neat to have a custom cam tweaked for your build.

I just ordered a cam (HR) from him. It is like 339.00$$ shipped. Not bad.

[rohrt]

My brother has the OF in two cars and I run the stump puller. Here is a little info on them,

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...d.php?t=704365

My brothers 68 GTO was built with the same recipe as Cliff's car with the same results. Its an animal to say the least. As the others have said the cam likes to breath and likes the higher compression.

[Cliff R]

Here's a clip from Norwalk two years ago. You can hear how smooth the idle quality is with the Old Faithful cam at 11 to 1 compression. I see 13.5" of vacuum at 750rpms.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zVdoLR-VzM

I also use a steady diet of 87 octane fuel in my engine, and only add 92 or 93 octane for track outings, about half a tank to half a tank of 87. Probably doesn't need it, but it can't hurt anything.

I would also comment that I degreed my cam is closer to 109.5 centerline, not 108. Cam position is critical with these things, and I do NOT recommend advancing them to "pick up some more low end power". In most cases, it can hurt power everywhere, and be the deal breaker for effectively managing pump fuel or not.....Cliff

[ponjohn]

Cliff-

Appears to have a slight chop, no?

[Cliff R]

Just barely noticable at idle speed. Making 13.5" vacuum at 750rpm's is pretty good for a cam sporting that much duration. It's around 292/308 seat to seat timing from what I can remember from the cam card.

I can tell you this for certain, we installed one for a customer who had us assemble his engine (he picked all the parts), who used dished pistons and lower compression, and his engine idles pretty "rough" at 1000rpm's, and the rpm's drop quite a bit when the trans is placed in gear. He's fought idle quality issues from day one, and why I recommended the smaller Stumpuller cam for the engine in question here.....Cliff

[Michael G]

Some more food for thought on your cam choice
We chose the O.F. cam in our 70 GTO, 94 cc 6X headed 463 with 9.5:1 CR. to an upgrade from the Crower RAIV. Also have the Continental 10".
ET's with Crower were low 11.8's and dropped to high 11.5's with good air.
First time out no real change do to a major loss in 60 ft times with a 3.42 gear.
Installed 3.73's and got the 60's back to the original 1.68's
All gains with the OF were achieved with 114 to 117 MPH incease.
With 260 cfm of head flow (wish we had that much) why would even think about running RA manifolds? Used to run them and 1 5/8" headers and couldn't get past the 12.50's. The real change came with 1 3/4" header and a full 3" exhaust with x pipe.
My opinion if your set to stay with the RA manifolds, the OF would not be your best choice.

[ponjohn]

Michael-

What did the car et / mph before and after?

[Michael G]

Originally Posted by ponjohn

Michael-

What did the car et / mph before and after?

John, I could have been a liittle clearer when stated above.
Going by memory I believe 11.78@114 to 11.58@117 same 1.68 60ft were bests
Both were down hill at Cecil County with good air
Only change was a little more gear

[Cliff R]

The gear change corrupts the testing, and would be needed for going to that much bigger cam with no other changes in an engine with 9.5 to 1 compression. The increased MPH still shows more power, even if the gear change helped the ET.

I did a similiar test a few years ago, swapped out the RAIV grind in my old 455 to a 230/242/112 custom ground hydraulic roller camshaft. It didn't show much on the dyno, but we went from 11.64 @ 115 to 11.52 @ 118 at the track, best runs with both cams in good air, no other changes......Cliff