Stock Heads, BRE Custom Cam
Re: Stock Heads, BRE Custom Cam
Banned
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 6,518
Re: Stock Heads, BRE Custom Cam
Originally Posted by turbo_Z
I wish this custom cam craze was going on the summer before last b/c I definitely woulda thrown down $300 for a custom over the typical off the shelf grinds there were available.
What was the max lift with that cam, Bret?
What was the max lift with that cam, Bret?
My prices went up on the cams to $310 at the begining of July
Bret
Registered User
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 5,907
From: The Wild West
Re: Stock Heads, BRE Custom Cam
Awesome numbers, now that is what I call a sweet cam only car. That is incredible. One of the many reasons I am currently speaking with you Bret. I can only hope to have numbers like that from the cam I order from you. Emailing you back about this thread.
-Dustin-
-Dustin-
Registered User
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,148
From: AZ
Re: Stock Heads, BRE Custom Cam
Any more word on what happened to Jon's motor? Wouldn't happen to be a valve getting into the piston would it? You sure it's a rod? Can you get back to me and let me know what happened? 
Hopefully Jon makes a thread.
Hopefully Jon makes a thread.
Banned
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 6,518
Re: Stock Heads, BRE Custom Cam
From what he told me in a e-mail yesterday and knowing what he does with it... it's a rod knock... P to V contact is not the likely canidate... the thing would be junk with a hole in the piston from that.
Here is the e-mail I'll let you exercise your classes in liturature on it:
"While driving home, glad I wasn’t walking, stupid radio talking, suddenly there came a knocking,
As of someone was gently knock, knock, knocking at my chamber floor.
'Tis the Y-Pipe," I muttered, "knocking at my chassis floor;
Only this, and nothing more."
And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each tic on the oil pressure gauge
Thrilled me---filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I drove on repeating,
'Tis some rocker unseating above my chamber floor,
Some lifter poorly controlling the entrance at my chamber door.
This it is, and nothing more."
Quoth the bearing, "Nevermore." "
He beats on this motor regularly at PIR (Portland International Raceway) and that's a ton harder on the motor than drag racing is.
Bret
Here is the e-mail I'll let you exercise your classes in liturature on it:
"While driving home, glad I wasn’t walking, stupid radio talking, suddenly there came a knocking,
As of someone was gently knock, knock, knocking at my chamber floor.
'Tis the Y-Pipe," I muttered, "knocking at my chassis floor;
Only this, and nothing more."
And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each tic on the oil pressure gauge
Thrilled me---filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I drove on repeating,
'Tis some rocker unseating above my chamber floor,
Some lifter poorly controlling the entrance at my chamber door.
This it is, and nothing more."
Quoth the bearing, "Nevermore." "
He beats on this motor regularly at PIR (Portland International Raceway) and that's a ton harder on the motor than drag racing is.
Bret
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Dec 1969
Posts: 482
From: Mukilteo, WA
Re: Stock Heads, BRE Custom Cam
Yeah, it sounds like a rod bearing, to my untrained ear at least. I won't know the extent of it until the motor is torn down, but that's what it sounds like. The knocking isn't very loud right now (many probably wouldn't have noticed it yet) and still has OK oil pressure...but after hearing it I drained some oil and it was nice and glittery with a couple small chunks in it. I changed my oil at least 5 times last year and this is the first time it looked like that. I'm guessing it isn't too bad right now, but it's bad enough to park it. Bad enough to not bolt on ported heads and head to the track again. 
If it was P to V problems, I would have had problems long before this. I put 5,500 miles on it since the cam swap and 850 of those were on a racetrack. Here's a video (much shorter than the Portland one above) of Pacific Raceways to show you what that's like: http://www.jonaadland.com/Videos/PRFerraris.wmv . When traffic is clear, I'm at WOT a little less than 50% of the time. Hitting just under 150 MPH on the front straight. Imagine doing that, all day long....
There are many things that might have contributed to this, but overall I think I just wore the thing out. Probably the worst factor was running "thin as water" M1 5W-30 most of the time (even for a couple of years prior to the cam swap) which would get to well over 300 degrees in the pan before I finally added an oil cooler--and of course wouldn't provide much pressure at that temp.
I still have the stock pan. I never happened to notice any oil starvation on the long sweepers, but if your eyes are glued to the oil pressure gauge the whole time it's kind of hard not to crash.
A bad set of Comp R's sent some retaining clips disappearing down into the engine somewhere....
Oil analysis showed I had an intake leak (taking in dirt) which I finally figured out and fixed now that it's too late to do me any good....
But most of all, I really just beat the **** out of it. Before I wised up and installed a shift light I was constantly bouncing off the rev limiter (set in the 65-6700 RPM range depending upon my mood)--while that cam has impressive midrange, it doesn't fall off either. Must. Use. Restraint!
So as much as this sucks in many ways, I knew it was coming sooner or later. Even at stock power/RPM levels these engines don't last forever on a roadcourse. Bump the power/RPM's up as I did and you're a little harder on it. Do it again as I was going to with the LE3 heads and a 6800 RPM pill in the shift light and it's only a matter of time.
People need to keep in mind that this use is quite different from that of most people here. Had I only driven the thing to work and taken it to the strip a few times a year, I might have driven the wheels off it before the engine gave out. Like I said, what I do and how hard I do it is really asking a lot from a stock bottom end.
While the timing sure could have been better, it could have been worse too. It could have gone in spectacular fashion on the track taking the block and my new heads with it. And I could have been on a track in Portland or Canada! where a tow home would have cost a pretty penny (yes, I drive it to the track).
So at least now I know. I'm already looking forward to the reassuring feeling a more durable fresh bottom end will give me next time I'm on the track. Money, time, work...that's going to suck. But I knew it was coming eventually. Just not when. Now I do.
I really, really, wanted to see what those LE3 heads would do with my cam on the stock bottom end. That's probably the most disappointing thing. Oh well, things don't always go as planned. Now I'll just have to put them on a fresh bottom end and make a pony or two more. I guess that ain't all bad.
If it was P to V problems, I would have had problems long before this. I put 5,500 miles on it since the cam swap and 850 of those were on a racetrack. Here's a video (much shorter than the Portland one above) of Pacific Raceways to show you what that's like: http://www.jonaadland.com/Videos/PRFerraris.wmv . When traffic is clear, I'm at WOT a little less than 50% of the time. Hitting just under 150 MPH on the front straight. Imagine doing that, all day long....
There are many things that might have contributed to this, but overall I think I just wore the thing out. Probably the worst factor was running "thin as water" M1 5W-30 most of the time (even for a couple of years prior to the cam swap) which would get to well over 300 degrees in the pan before I finally added an oil cooler--and of course wouldn't provide much pressure at that temp.
I still have the stock pan. I never happened to notice any oil starvation on the long sweepers, but if your eyes are glued to the oil pressure gauge the whole time it's kind of hard not to crash.
A bad set of Comp R's sent some retaining clips disappearing down into the engine somewhere....
Oil analysis showed I had an intake leak (taking in dirt) which I finally figured out and fixed now that it's too late to do me any good....
But most of all, I really just beat the **** out of it. Before I wised up and installed a shift light I was constantly bouncing off the rev limiter (set in the 65-6700 RPM range depending upon my mood)--while that cam has impressive midrange, it doesn't fall off either. Must. Use. Restraint!
So as much as this sucks in many ways, I knew it was coming sooner or later. Even at stock power/RPM levels these engines don't last forever on a roadcourse. Bump the power/RPM's up as I did and you're a little harder on it. Do it again as I was going to with the LE3 heads and a 6800 RPM pill in the shift light and it's only a matter of time.
People need to keep in mind that this use is quite different from that of most people here. Had I only driven the thing to work and taken it to the strip a few times a year, I might have driven the wheels off it before the engine gave out. Like I said, what I do and how hard I do it is really asking a lot from a stock bottom end.
While the timing sure could have been better, it could have been worse too. It could have gone in spectacular fashion on the track taking the block and my new heads with it. And I could have been on a track in Portland or Canada! where a tow home would have cost a pretty penny (yes, I drive it to the track).
So at least now I know. I'm already looking forward to the reassuring feeling a more durable fresh bottom end will give me next time I'm on the track. Money, time, work...that's going to suck. But I knew it was coming eventually. Just not when. Now I do.
I really, really, wanted to see what those LE3 heads would do with my cam on the stock bottom end. That's probably the most disappointing thing. Oh well, things don't always go as planned. Now I'll just have to put them on a fresh bottom end and make a pony or two more. I guess that ain't all bad.
Registered User
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,148
From: AZ
Re: Stock Heads, BRE Custom Cam
Originally Posted by SStrokerAce
From what he told me in a e-mail yesterday and knowing what he does with it... it's a rod knock... P to V contact is not the likely canidate... the thing would be junk with a hole in the piston from that.
Here is the e-mail I'll let you exercise your classes in liturature on it:
"While driving home, glad I wasn’t walking, stupid radio talking, suddenly there came a knocking,
As of someone was gently knock, knock, knocking at my chamber floor.
'Tis the Y-Pipe," I muttered, "knocking at my chassis floor;
Only this, and nothing more."
And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each tic on the oil pressure gauge
Thrilled me---filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I drove on repeating,
'Tis some rocker unseating above my chamber floor,
Some lifter poorly controlling the entrance at my chamber door.
This it is, and nothing more."
Quoth the bearing, "Nevermore." "
He beats on this motor regularly at PIR (Portland International Raceway) and that's a ton harder on the motor than drag racing is.
Bret
Here is the e-mail I'll let you exercise your classes in liturature on it:
"While driving home, glad I wasn’t walking, stupid radio talking, suddenly there came a knocking,
As of someone was gently knock, knock, knocking at my chamber floor.
'Tis the Y-Pipe," I muttered, "knocking at my chassis floor;
Only this, and nothing more."
And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each tic on the oil pressure gauge
Thrilled me---filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I drove on repeating,
'Tis some rocker unseating above my chamber floor,
Some lifter poorly controlling the entrance at my chamber door.
This it is, and nothing more."
Quoth the bearing, "Nevermore." "
He beats on this motor regularly at PIR (Portland International Raceway) and that's a ton harder on the motor than drag racing is.
Bret
Good luck to you Jon.
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