HELP! Ordering cam for 66396 engine

1169 Views 4 Replies 5 Participants Last post by odie, Apr 1, 1999

Chris R

Discussion Starter · Mar 30, 1999

I know that the cam for this engine needs to have a oil groove in the rear journal. So when I called Summit to order, The guy said that he has never heard of this. So I called the manufacture (Comp Cams) they said that it does need a rear groove, and I should pull the old one out to make sure. Im not quite ready to pull the engine apart yet due to other parts for the car need to be installed (taking up space in the garage). Although my mind is pretty well made up on ordering the grooved cam, what are the odds that this cam will be wrong? Im going to order it before disassembling the engine. Probably tonight or tommorrow.

Big thanks to all of you and sorry for the long post. Chris R

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Al

· #2 · Mar 31, 1999

The regular counter guy at Summit must have been on a break. I'm sure that all the 66's need the grooved cam. I'd hate to say 'get the grooved cam' and have you get the wrong one. Check the build date of your engine, the earlier in the year, the better the chance it would need a grooved cam.

I've also heard you can put a grooved cam in a newer block without a problem as a friend said they did this years ago (and I think the motor is still running). Would love to hear more about this!

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Jake

· #3 · Mar 31, 1999

I ordered a cam from Summit a while back for my 66 396 & they told me I needed that groove, which is true... I went to a local machine shop & they cut it in for me. I want to say it cost me around $20 for them to do that.
Good Luck with it!

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Tubby's Drive In
www.ecsi.net/homedir/jake

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BillK

· #4 · Mar 31, 1999

Chris,
I do not know of anyone that still makes a cam with the groove in it. I just cut a groove in one for a customer last week. It is not a real hard procedure but should be done on a lathe to be right. I actually grind it with a tool post grinder, the cam material is so hard that it kills regular cutting bits. By the way there were some later 66's that did not need a groove. The groove will not hurt any thing in the newer style motors. Hope this helps.

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Bill Koustenis
Advanced Automotive Machine
Waldorf Md

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odie

· #5 · Apr 1, 1999

When we rebuilt my '65 396, we used the cam bearings from the newer generation that had oil holes & grooves in them, since we replaced the bearings anyway during the complete rebuild. This allowed use of the non-grooved cam. It was our first BBC rebuild on something this old, & it seems to be great. The fit on the main bearings & oil pump we used have resulted in 50 to 60 psi oil pressure,& it runs & sounds good, so I say "so far-so good".

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