I am doing a Plenum kit (possibly copy silvers kegger mod), underdrive pulleys, Timing chain, and fastman. Along with some other gaskets and valve covers.

Now, I was thinking of 1.7s, but since I have the timing chain off and everything out of the way, would it be cheaper to do a cam (then 1.6s later)? I would look for a cam that doesn't require changing the valvesprings (less than max lift....but don;t know how much max lift is for 5.2s). Would a cam cost less than the 355 dollar roller rockers? And If i do the cam...what should i do with the new timing chain (Advance or retard).

tHat is the only thing that makes me feel uncomfortable. THat and the fact that i most likely will put the distributor in a tooth off.

 

how about new cam & 1.6 crowers...

 

I could be wrong but I think you would end up with better performance from an upgraded CAM than the 1.7s. I opted for the 1.7s because I wasn't ready for changing the CAM due to lack of experience and money. I believe to benefit from the CAM upgrade, your PCM would have to be flashed / upgraded and that wasn't in my budget at the time. Of course now I have a tuner and it would have been a sinch to program the new CAM, but this is now and that was then. I did notice a little more low end power from the 1.7s, but not earthshaking results. It seems that it sounds slightly different at idle since I installed them. The other positive for me was at the time, all I had to remove was the valve covers and old rockers to install the new ones. The work took me very little time compared to getting to the CAM for replacement. You are in a much better position for the CAM work than I was at the time. I'm sure there will be someone who can attest to the benefits of the CAM over the 1.7s, but I don't have the experience for both so I can't tell you which would be better.

 

A cam will yeild better performance.

 

well you already have the mopar pcm so upgrading the cam should not be a problem , but here the question ? what rpm do you want the cam to work at ??? you should always upgrade the valve springs , roller rockers 1.6 with the 3/8 stud kit..pushrods. and if you are gonna do the heads port em out and put just a slighty bigger valves in.. what are you trying to build is the question ??? a TQ monster ? or a high end runner ??

 

Putting 1.7's on will give you some performance gains and the only cost will be for the roller rockers. maybe some new pushrods as you want to check them to be sure your not putting a bent one back in.

If you go with a new cam you can choose the type of gains you want (torque or horsepower) but stay in the computer friendly range of 112 degree lobe separation. below that the computer can get a little squirrely.

A new cam will also cost you new lifters and pushrods. Personallly I refuse to put a new cam in with old lefters and pushrods. You can re-use your stamped rocker arms until you get the cash for a nice set of roller rockers.

Depends on your budget and what your overall goal is. I'd say if you can afford the cam, lifters, and pushrods do it. Contact John at Southeast Performance http://www.southeastrt.com/he's a really good resource to help get you set up right.

Good luck.

 

Ok lets take a look at stock cam specs , against a pcm cam friendly "performance cam" .

performance cam : in. valve lift .458 , exh .467 lobe 114 at 442.00 includes lifters .

stock cam : in valve lift .413 , exh 430

stock cam with 1.7 roller rockes : in .438 , exh .457

 

That's interesting, how did you calculate that? What was the "Performance Cam" specs for (i.e. the R/T cam, or some other?).

 

its from summit , crane cams #CRN-704121 . pcm friendly no other mods needed...Now if i was gonna rebuild the motor then yes i can see upgrading the cam and with that should upgrade the TQ convertor ... i mite go with a bare R/T heads and stick on 1.7s i gotta research that a little more..

 

My build was just a mild improvement from stock that can still utilize the Mopar PCM, stock valvetrain and leave room for 1.7s down the road.

However I think the cam would be a waste beacuse I won't be going "big." Comp makes some cams for 4x4s, and i researched those, but they seem like the cam that indy put in. And that was a huge upgrade.

I want some more torque, but I think that i will just do the roller rocker upgrade until i rebuild the engine. In 3 years I want to do a complete rebuild with a .030 over, camshaft, RT heads (match the valvetrain to the cam), the Mopar performance intake, B&G, fastman, roller rockers, have the crankshaft modified for aerodynamics, balanced and blueprinted. Plus some suspension upgrades (new shocks and AAL to replace the blocks).

However, I am not sure whether or not I am gonna sell mine so I can get another that is the same generation, same color, same engine, EXCEPT it is an extended cab. No back seat stinks, I don't know why dodge makesstandard cabwithout fold outs at least.I would swap back the stock parts though and just leave the suspension lift...its a good selling point...and the fact the tranny was replaced at 72,000