summit k8600

[MIDNIGHT]

whats the verdict on these things? should I send it back while its still in the box?

heres another cam gear victim:

http://cgi.amcforum.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=Engine;action=display;num=1113740495

I thought the dui dizzy was the cause if this (like what happened to BRAD ARTHUR)

[BRAD ARTHUR]

every time this topic comes up seems like my name is mentioned for good or bad at least i belienve this problems behind me- hopefully i've learned .
you don't need to go through what i went through.
that cam is a good cam and what little i ran it seemed to be a bit better from the drivers seat than the edelbrock.
the problem (others can chime in here) seems to be the quality of these aftermarket amc parts. the little details- oil holes ,galleys, castings the way they all stack together is very vital. the best way is to study the oil passage way of the amc v8 and know where the passages need to be in the dizzy drive area there are alot of parts normally of different aftermarket manufacterers, that need to work together. know what needs to be where search dizzy gear topics on this forum and others. ask questions, this site has lot of knowledge and everyone here seems to want to help.
my 2 cents .......just don't what anyone to go through that problem if they don't have to

[jeepsr4ever]

Interesting post...Mopar gear are Crown however. You may get a old OEM gear or a crown in their bags...even though they are packaged as mopar performance parts. The reason he stripped a cam gear is probly something to do with a lack of oil, bad height on the distributor gear (caused by either aftermarkt dizzy or bad timing cover) or binding of the oil pump. Their simply is not mystery to this issue...either use matched timing gears or check check your specs.

[MIDNIGHT]

well I just ordered BJs' book. Maybe that and reading here will get me thru it.

What do you guys think about the fact that the summit cams sometimes have "unfinished" cam lobes or cam lobes that have places that never got machined. Is this something I should be able to see with the naked eye?

I need to find out what kind of springs to use with this cam and if I'm gonna need different length pushrods also. I'm not sure about this.

Also, about the heads. I really don't want to spend the time porting, but was wondering if there was anything else I could get the machinist to do to them to make them flow any better and if it would be worth the money to do it. I guess bigger valves would be the only other option, huh?

TIA

[jeepsr4ever]

The cams are cast under pressure and no machining is required. You can run a stock spring and stock pushrods with them. I have BJ's book as well..and it has some good points. You can take the casating flash out of the intake and exhaust chambers with a die grinder or a dremel....this will help out.

[eight]

What about having the heads decked to raise compression? Is that a good idea? And how far can you go?

[jeepsr4ever]

you can go right to the deck with most of the std head gaskets these days