Tech Question
Quint Baxter, Oregon City, OR, 1976 Plymouth Duster 440
I have two questions.
First is: The guy who built the cardropped a 440 in an original slant six car without changing the suspensionand the engine has a 7 quart oil pan. I don’t like how low the pan ridesbecause I don’t like bottoming it out when I’m cruising. I was going tocrank the torsion bars up but I need to know if I need to have the front endre-aligned if I do so?
My second question is cam related. The cam in theengine now sucks so I’m switching to a .509″ hyd. Mopar cam. I’ve only donea cam install on one engine and I never tried to run it so I don’t know howI did. I need to know what’s the worst that can happen from a bad caminstall? Will it just wear the cam prematurely or can I cause some seriousdamage?
Please let me know and thanks for your help!
Quint, hopefully, you already know that the suspension in your car isgrossly overwhelmed by the big block – to the point of being dangerous. But,to answer your first query directly: Yes, any change in front suspensionride height requires a realignment.
Now, on to the bumpstick. A “bad cam install” covers a lot of ground. Ifthere’s valve spring coil bind or some other major catastrophe, sure, youcan cause some serious damage. Ditto having the cam timing way out – expectthe pistons to have some heavy-duty conflicts with the valves.
Improper break-in (i.e., long cranking or periods of idling for the first20-30 minutes) can wipe lobes right away, or, best case, reduce durability.
The simple fix: Just do it right.
Rick
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