solid lift street cam reliability questions

[e philpott]

Jay , do you think a Comp 306S will be street reliable ??.... as in no valve train type problems for a couple thousand miles .... I have Dove rockers and stands ,contemplating a smaller cam than the current drag race Comp FB304B for street .... I'm worried about having strong performance with good reliabilty and wanting to re-use my Schubek solid lifters so no roller cams for me  ... was also considering a 294S , I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be happy with the performance of a 282S ... the 306 is not a whole lot smaller at .050 than the FB304B and has more lift than the FB304 ..... how much power loss between 282S , 294S and 306S on a 416 ??

thanks for imput as always , Eric

[My427stang]

Not Jay but a SFT can be absolutely reliable.

I ran a 300 adv/ 250 @ .050 Isky in my 427 for years and the current Erson has been in since 2006, driven everywhere

Even with standard lifters, make sure nothing hits, run good oil, and keep idle up high enough to throw some oil to the lobes.  All those things should be even easier with the Schubeks

As far as 294 vs 306, I ran a 306 in a 462 Rat Chevy and although it made a ton of power up top, I think it was a little too much cam for the street.  The FE isnt a direct comparison to a big headed Rat, but unless you are running a bunch of compression, I'd lean toward the 294

A quick WAG - The 306 would probably need 11.7:1 compression or more, the 294 would be happy around 11:1

[e philpott]

in the past it was drag raced and street driven some locally ..... now it will be street driven and drag raced some locally , still want the  power but not wanting broken valve train on a 5 hour highway drive .....

[My427stang]

How is the rest of the motor and car setup?

[jayb]

Eric, I ran one of those cams on the street in the early 1990s with no issues.  I think if you put good oil in the motor there should be no problem running the 306S on the street.

[e philpott]

engine was built in mid late 90's ... D3 block , half fill  , cross bolt main ,10.0 to 1 , 4.08 bore , Ross flat top , 428 crank , eagle H-beam , Edelbrock pocket ported heads , Dove rockers , have a assortment of cams currently Comp FB304B 266/276 .050 and 626/659 lift Schubek lifters ... JDC ported Dove spider , Holley HP 1000 annular booster dbl pump ...... eventually med 2x4 with two 600's that I have now and tunnel wedge in the future

WAS rollerized C6 reverse manual valve body w/brake , 5000 rpm stall converter (was street freindly converter with 2300 rpm part throttle cruise) ...NOW a 2.78 top loader with Verti-gate shifter , Tim Hyatt McLeod Sof-Loc clutch , cintered iron disc , 13 lbs flywheel , I have a assortment of gears from 3.00 to 4.86 currently 4.11 posi but soon 3.70 locker and I use a spool with 4.56 gears at the track

car is a 63 Fairlane 10 pt cage (soon to be cut out , I want the back seat installed , w/crites glass parts and engine kit , cal-tracs , 90/10 front shocks with control arm limiters , Falcon rear shocks (shorter extension than Fairlane shocks ) , moser axle , rear gas tank sump , 1/2 fuel line , granda disc with 11 inch drum rear , slicks are 9x28 , have 275/60/15 drag radials and currently have BFG 255/70/15 TA radial street tire 29.1 tall , weighed 3389 with no carpet or heater core and no cage without me , should be 3450 now with interior and heater core installed but no cage

[e philpott]

you got a quick button Jay and thanks , that took me a 1/2 hour to type ..lol

[My427stang]

I personally wouldn't run any more than a 294S with only 418 cid and 10:1, and even that is a bit less compression than I'd like to see.  FWIW I run just a bit less cam with 10.7:1 compression and it'll run on anything.

You can even go less cam than that, but as you noted,  I don't think you'd get the top end charge you'll want to see.

[afret]

Hey, you have Schubecks so just try a cam and see if you like it.  If not, it's pretty easy swapping cams.

[e philpott]

thanks , thats what I have been doing for a while , the 600.00 dollar schubeks are saving money now , my compression ratio is low 10.0 to 1 but the engine likes the big stuff , the Comp FB304B calls for 12.5 to 1 but it screams in my car degreed straight up or did with the automatic and 5k stall , I figured it may be hard on valve train for a long street driving and have not much power below 5K with the now manual transmission wich was why I was considering going smaller cam

[afret]

I think they're closer to $800 now from Smith Machine.  We recently used a set in a friend's street FE. Have you looked at the Lunati online catalog?  They have quite a few catalog cams there.
Or Bullet might be able to make you a nice cam.

[rcodecj]

I think they're closer to $800 now from Smith Machine.  We recently used a set in a friend's street FE. Have you looked at the Lunati online catalog?  They have quite a few catalog cams there.
Or Bullet might be able to make you a nice cam.

Where does one purchase Smith's Machine (Schubeck) lifters?
Is there a website that has info and sells them?
I can't find anything on them.
Thanks.

[plovett]

I'm pretty sure Schubeck is out of business and this is where you get ceramic-foot lifters these days.

http://www.4secondsflat.com/Composite%20lifters.htm

paulie

[afret]

Where does one purchase Smith's Machine (Schubeck) lifters?

Don't mean to post an ad here but to answer your question,  if you need a set Alex usually has them in stock for most Fords. That's where we got a set for a friend's street FE.

http://www.moneymakerracing.net/

[Rory428]

I love the Soft Lok clutches I have in both race cars, but I don`t know how well they will work on a mostly street car. With the clutch setup for the track, it will slip like a SOB on the street, you can crank the base clutch pressure up to 1200 lbs or so, but then it will be a very agressive "On & Off switch". Personally, I can see a 3500 lb street car with a Soft Lok, lightweight aluminum flywheel, mild gearing and tall tires getting very annoying in short order. Much like a non OD automatic with 4.88 gears and a 8" convertor equipped street car. Fun for the occasional street blast or parking lot hangout, not much fun at all to actually use semi regularily.