WoofWagon

I've been doing some research through the receipts that the previous owners accumulated on the Vista.

One thing I found is the cam spec sheet from when the 455 was rebuilt.

I have a couple of questions. This cam was made by PAW, but they're all early Hemi only so getting info from them might be a bit of a task.

The specs of the cam are as follows:
Advertised duration : 294 intake 310 exhaust
Lift : .472 intake, .496 exhaust
Lift at 0.050: 214 intake 224 exhaust ( 107 degrees intake, 117 degrees
exhaust)

The cam has a noticeable chop to it at idle. Googling this cam grind has proven impossible.

Any one run a similar cam? What kind of rpm range is this cam for? It's certainly streetable but I'd like to know what to compare it to.

Thanks for the help.

ah64pilot

Something doesn't jive with those numbers. For one, the duration is what you are talking about when you said "Lift at 0.050". What you mean is Duration at 0.050" : 214 int / 224 exh

Second, if the advertised duration is 294 / 310 how on earth are they calculating only 214 / 224 @ .050"? More likely that 294 / 310 is the gross cam lift and when multiplied by 1.6 (Oldsmobile stock rocker ratio) it gives you 470.4 / 496.

Also, with only .472 / .496 lift and 214 / 224 @ .050" duration I can't see that cam having much lope to it, unless the lope is caused by the odd lobe separation of 107 / 117. Mark needs to chime in on this one.

Here are the cam specs as best as I can decipher from your original post:
Gross Cam Lift: .294" / .310"
Valve Lift : .472" / .496"
Running Duration: 243 / 255 (assumption, not exact)
Duration @ .050": 214 / 224
Lobe Separation: 107 / 117

Either way, it seems to be an odd cam grind to me. I've not heard of many cams ground with different lobe centers...especially 10 degrees apart.

cutlassefi

Thanks for the prompt, here you go guys;

The 214/224 is at .050 tappet lift. And yes you're correct, the 294/310 is in fact lobe lift.
This is a dime a dozen generic grind, sold by Edelbrock, Summit, Lunati, Erson, and a host of others and ground by Camshaft Machine in the midwest..
The 107/117 refers to the intake and exhaust centerlines, add then divide those by 2 and you get the lobe sep, 112. Running duration is normally 280/290, but those are taken at .004 tappet lift, not the .006 (Comp/Lunati) or .008 (Engle/Mondello) like most others.

Yes I'm surprised it has a lope too, especially in a big block. My friends 455 Olds in his T/A had the same cam, you could barely hear it. Maybe this one has been retarded.

Either way not the best choice, considering todays abundance of better grinds.

WoofWagon

Hey thanks for the information. As far as I can tell, this engine was put together about 10 years ago, broken in and hardly driven since then in the car. There is no blow by from what I can see in the oil filler and the compression check.

This is actually good news, I was concerned that I had some animal cam that would hurt drive characteristics around town. On the freeway it's a different matter, since I can hold a specific RPM for hours at a time.

Lee_A

I had forgotten about PAW! They used to have big ads in all the "hot rod" type magazines, and anyone with a subscription would get catalogs from them.

I agree with the other comments, that is NOT a "radical" cam at all, I would say it is only marginally "mild," and it should have a pretty smooth idle.

If it has a noticable chop, then you may have a problem somewhere. Bad spark plug (or wire), vacuum leak, worn cam lobe,.... that cam should not have a chop to it in a 455!

Lee

WoofWagon

Well that helps a lot. I have posted a vid of the car on youtube. I put the link in the Vista Cruiser forum. I have headers and Flow Masters for the exhaust. I guess I've been driving diesels for too long .

There is an intermittent miss while driving, I'll have to pull the plugs and have a look at them. The previous owner had the carb idle jets so lean that it was backfiring and running hot.

WoofWagon

Here's a pic of the cam card that I got from the guy who rebuilt the engine. Hope this clarifies matters.

72 w29 all green

I'll second this. I have the same cam in mine and with a choppy idle i was thinking the same. Worked with the qjet and checked for vacuum leaks but no change; the problem ended up being a joke of a valve job with stem heights and guide/stem clearances all over the place .

GOSFAST

Reasonably certain that cam started life at C.M.C. (Camshaft Machine Co.) who was supplying many of the aftermarket vendors with their cams! It may have what looks like a "CWC" cast in the core??

The list is very long with their buyers!

In any event, what you have is a Wolverine "Blue-Racer" cam and the specs you have are correct (the advertised is really 280*/290* however), the part number is WG-1168!

This is an "R.V." type cam, meaning it is actually on the small side for a 455" unit! Would work best in a fairly low-compression unit!

(Add) Their original part number, at the plant, on this very cam, was 117804. The "SAE" duration is 290*/300*, same cam just different measuring points. These cams usually had between .100" and .150" smaller base circles than the "stock" Olds pieces. Normally meant slightly longer pushrods may have been needed without any adjustable valve train!

Hope it answers some of your questions!

Thanks, Gary in N.Y.

P.S. "C.M.C." was actually a major supplier to the OEM guys for cams/lifters, and eventually started the "Blue-Racer" line. We were one of the first in line to have a direct deal with them. Still have a very large quantity of their parts in stock and use them in our own builds!

coppercutlass

i remember my last engine it had a towing cam in it. Everyone was like that thing sounds mean for that cam . Well come to find out i had a big vacuum leak. Yet the car still ran perfect and brakes went unaffected. if you have an edelbrock intake sometimes those extra bolt holes for the carb go down into the intake . If you run a spacer like i did it exposed 3/4 of the bolt hole for the q jet mount hole . i put in a set screw and silicone over it fixed it right up. The idle changed significantly it was no longer choppy but now super smooth . What left me baffeled is performance did not change drive quality was the same just no more choppy idle . just my 2 cents on choppy idles and vacumm leaks . btw love the wagon saw the vid looks tough

cutlassefi

Just an fyi, they're still around.

WoofWagon

Thanks for all the input on this. That's the trouble of buying someone else's project, you never really know where they left off, unless you have some sort of paperwork left behind.

In a way I'm glad that the cam isn't too wild. I prefer RV cams in V8s for the improved torque and to a certain extend the improved mileage. As I drive this car more and more and run out the old crap gas in the tank with fresh plus octane booster the car is smoothing out.

I did find out however that the engine was punched 40 over and is running about 9.6:1 for a compression ratio. It has J code heads which are the 'junk' heads, but since I have no plans of racing this car, they'll work fine with their stainless steel valves and new valve seats.

WoofWagon

Update:

Found out the timing was almost 45 degrees advanced at idle, the Q-Jet was shot (no mixture adjustment possible and literally belching gas out the exhaust pipes).

The timing has been reset to 8 degrees of initial and a new Edelbrock 1411 750cfm carb is on the engine now.

Haven't heard it started yet (it's at a mechanic friend's being worked on) but it should smooth right out just fine and produce a good amount of power now that the timing is where it should be.