THEhomelessONE

Most I've found is .578" with the stock dished pistons. Comp and Hughes keep suggesting stuff in the .511" range for some reason I don't understand.

If you have the clearance, cfm and valvetrain why not run the highest lift you can get away with? I know lifters bleed down but I think rpm would have more to do with it than lobe lift.

Since I have a low stall converter, tall gears, low compression engine I guess I have to go with low duration and high lift. 4500lb ZJ Jeep with 30" tires and a 3" lift. Ridiculously tall gearing from what I'm used to. 3.73 axles with 46re trans.

Really want 4.56 gearing but with trac-loks and some nice axles it comes to about $3k. So I'm putting it off until they blow. Burnt a valve so I need a new top end now.

I want to spin it to 6k. At 6k in 1st I'd be around 55mph and in 2nd around 95mph. I'd never go over 95mph in the Jeep. So when it shifts from 1st at 6k it falls at 3.5k in 2nd. I'd need a cam with a ton of meat right at 3.5k that can pull well up to 6k. Basically 3rd and OD are useless other than cruising.

Setup so far:
IMM heads 271cfm@.550"
114 LSA cam for SCT (hopes of passing sniffer)
1.7 HS
m1 intake 2 or 4bbl
52mm TB or 4bbl
5007 hughes lifters
Tri-y 1 5/8 headers to dual 2.5" collectors to single 3" magnaflow cat/muffler, mandrel piping.

Thank you!

Iowan

My guess is there recommendations for a cam are in the 220 degrees of duration @ .050 lift range, .511 lift is a strong cam for a stock combination. You have to build for the complete package, .578 lift would be more duration than you need or can use.

RacerHog

You got to Smog this thing?????
Just my 2 cents... Sorry for the ball buster... But your screwed...
Wont pass a sniff test.. You will have to get it bootlegged through...
That a lot of funds to throw at a might and need to pass a sniff test...

THEhomelessONE

Hughes got back to me and recommended their 218/222 110lsa cam, .573"/.583" with 1.7 rockers (I'm sure they had 1.6's in mind). Sounds right, LSA has me curious though.

Yeah I'm trying to avoid paying "smog fees" lol. But in CA for an AWD vehicle they just do an idle (under 1200 or 1400 is considered idle) and raised rpm test (2500 rpm). Technically my TB and intake manifold would be legal so long as no emissions components are removed. Headers have exempt tags, and I will bolt back my stock cat for the test.

So for the visual part of the test, I should be fine. The tighter LSA cam has me worried about the sniffer. I know someone with a smog machine that would let me do some pre tests on it to see how it does but that's a pain swapping cams.

Worst comes to worst, I'll swap the stock top end every couple years. Not the end of the world. My laziness is really hoping I could get away with 114 LSA though. Thank you for the reality check, I need to be ready for this thing to totally fall on its face during a test.

Now say I kept a 1.6 ratio, about what RPM would a 218/222 .539"/.549" cam start to drop power with my build? Don't know why but I was thinking I could make power up to 6.5k just fine, but most dyno charts I find are losing steam at 6k, maybe they just don't want to spin it higher? Sorry for the long post, these ideas have been bouncing around my head all month.

Iowan

Situation is what determines RPM range, your 110 LSA cam will have narrower torque and hp curve than the 114.

I would measure valve clearance and check for coil bind with that much lift. Along with buying Everything recommend to with the cam, don't skimp on anything or you can end up with a pile of junk parts.
NO EXCEPTIONS!

TVLynn

What it the limit 25-30 years old for smog. The way EPA is that could change.
so you take your chances. or keep a spare stock motor

RacerHog

Ok... Just so you kind of know going in...
Have you asked Brian (IMM) about a cam recommendation?

To me... That cam looks like it's a little out of application range for the RPM?
I think a cam that big is going to need a little more compression.. And more stall for the converter..... Just my 2 cents

THEhomelessONE

114 makes more sense to me. Yeah I'm trying to plan everything out because I hate having to do something twice but this is all very new to me. To make things worse my current top end is on it's way out so I need to get started. I'm all ears on advice.

I think CA considered that 25yr thing a while back but then shafted us and said "nah 74 and older is okay, anything 75 and up can cradle our nuts at a smog station."

Yes Brian is the only person I haven't heard back from yet. Maybe my email went to spam.

The 114 over 110 LSA shouldn't have a noticeable affect on compression correct? I know torque is king for my application but you can only get so much torque out of a certain displacement. Best I can do is shift TQ more to the right and hope I don't lose too much low end.

Very difficult trying to plan a build like this when there's very little dyno numbers to go off of. Anything BMW or Mercedes is based on a dyno so not something I'm used to at all.

I can hear the little voice in the back of my head saying, "cut your losses, throw in some new valves, get it running, save $4k, buy an X5M for $20k, spend $4k to get 900WHP/950WTQ, still handle some snow and pass smog". For how much it costs to get 400hp out of a 5.9 liter, I'm really worried. I'm already in the Jeep about $6k including the SUV, might get $4k back if I'm lucky. I'd spend $4k now, $2k on trans, $3k on axles. $10k done right in mods, for reliable 400 crank horse. ****, I might have just talked myself out of this one.

RacerHog

Hummmmm.... You have some options, Just depending on your direction and what your Budget will allow.... Short or long block from IMM, MRL Performance, Blue Print, ATK engines, Jasper, JMS Engines, or someone near you, Where ever that might be?
Price it out and see what fits the bill....You can always roll back you expectations.... At that point.. Just throw a long block Magnum 5.9 at it...

Just my 2 cents..

THEhomelessONE

I've cut out new lifters, rockers and will go with a regrind vs new to save around $700.

Only couple things left for me to figure out are intake manifold and throttle body. From what I've learned so far, 1000cfm throttle body will be a limiter. F&B provides a 2bbl solution for around $500, double what Hughes wants for their 1007cfm TB for a few hundred cfm more flow. But how much power would I be giving up with the Hughes TB?

What's the best route to take if I wanted to make a 4bbl TB work? Would it be cheaper or would I be better off going with F&B? Planning on going with a single plane intake M1 intake with injector bosses drilled out, 2bbl or 4bbl depending totally on TB choice.

I have very little vertical space in the ZJ to start using adapters and spacers. Not sure how much lower the TB sits on the M1 versus stock kegger though. Thanks again for the help!