'59 Plymouth Forum

In a box that came with my SF almost 20 years ago I found a camshaft. It was told to me that this camshaft was the original one and was replaced just before the car was sold to me. The cam shows the number 524.
Here is the problem:
My 318 shows a compression of 130 psi. on each single piston, what’s inside the required tolerance of 125 – 160 psi. Yet the engine appears very tired and doesn’t respond as I think it should.
The questions:
- Is it possible to identify the cam by this number (524) and if not how do I know what cam-lift and cam-duration this cam has?
- What is the Valve-Lift and Valve-Duration for the stock 318?

Thank You!

Stefan

Stefan, the V-800 (the 318 they put in standard SF's) had a hotter cam than the standard 318 -- also, a special intake and of course, a 4-bbl.

I'm thinking that Gary Pavlovich from the [318poly] newsgroup will know the answer to this. I'll post there and refer people to your question -- let's see what they come up with.

Dan

Stefan

Stefan,
The stock Fury grinds for 1957,58 were 256/.405 and 260/.405 respectively. Aftermarket grinds were approx. 240/.387 to 256/.400 or thereabouts.
The cam you have pictured is not a Poly camshaft and will not work in your Poly engine.

If you are in need of any Poly 318 information or New cams, New Poly finned aluminum valve covers, any Poly parts... let me know and I will send you information and pictures.

Take care,
Gary Pavlovich
402" Poly stroker motor

this is the first Ive heard of this..both a DIFFERENT cam AND a different intake for the v-800? Can proof of this be found in the Parts Book? (sure, I can look for myself, just asking the general audience)

rogerh wrote:this is the first Ive heard of this..both a DIFFERENT cam AND a different intake for the v-800? Can proof of this be found in the Parts Book? (sure, I can look for myself, just asking the general audience)

I'm not quite sure where I read this now, Roger. But if you look in the parts book, there's standard parts for the "MD2" 318 found in both Dodge and Plymouths, and then there's separate part numbers for Plymouth only "w/Power Package" -- you'll see this for the cam and intake, and perhaps some other parts too. I'll poke around some more, and see what I can find.

Dan

thanks Dan. The notion that the v-800 was "hotter" than the standard 2v 318 makes perfect sense, starting with the larger carb. Years ago,I had a Belv with stock 2 bbl..I swapped that 2 bbl for a 4bbl and intake and it ran noticeably better, but I never imagined the cam may have needed to be changed out as well. Of course these engines can run on 7 cylinders with timing way off, so the avearage guy would not notice the wrong cam being used.
Certainly the Power Package would have a different # for the intake because it employed a 4 bbl carb; there were no other 4 bbls for Plymouth 318s other than the V-800. There's not more than one 4v intake listed in the Parts Book, is there?

Gary Pavlovich wrote:Stefan,
The stock Fury grinds for 1957,58 were 256/.405 and 260/.405 respectively. Aftermarket grinds were approx. 240/.387 to 256/.400 or thereabouts.
The cam you have pictured is not a Poly camshaft and will not work in your Poly engine.

If you are in need of any Poly 318 information or New cams, New Poly finned aluminum valve covers, any Poly parts... let me know and I will send you information and pictures.

Take care,
Gary Pavlovich
402" Poly stroker motor

Thanks Gary -- actually, I posted something about your cams on this site not too long ago:

https://59plymouth.net/59forum/viewtopic.php?t=381

Dan

rogerh wrote:Certainly the Power Package would have a different # for the intake because it employed a 4 bbl carb; there were no other 4 bbls for Plymouth 318s other than the V-800. There's not more than one 4v intake listed in the Parts Book, is there?

Actually, I think there is! And something that implied that there was a front and rear carb available; but I forget the details. There's a snippet from the parts book on this site somewhere...

Dan

Faulkner wrote:

rogerh wrote:Certainly the Power Package would have a different # for the intake because it employed a 4 bbl carb; there were no other 4 bbls for Plymouth 318s other than the V-800. There's not more than one 4v intake listed in the Parts Book, is there?

Actually, I think there is! And something that implied that there was a front and rear carb available; but I forget the details. There's a snippet from the parts book on this site somewhere...
Dan

Here it is:

https://59plymouth.net/showcase/imag ... /carbs.jpg

Dan

Thanks Fellows for so many quick answers!


Gary: I certainly will come back to you when I go ahead with this project. I’ve already read some articles from you in the 62-65 Site and it seems you have earned a lot of practical experience. In fact, I try to get some reliable information about how to increase the torque and hp on my 318 without building a monster that makes only sense on a race track with all its side effects like rough and rumbling idling at 1500 rpm or more, increased fuel consumption and so on.

My intention is simply to get more out of this small block without destroying the original base of it and without investing a fortune. My favourite driving style is cruising, long distance journeys with more than a 1000 Miles and sometimes it would be nice to catch a 520 BMW from 1990 on the traffic light. For that reason I need a reliable car that allows overtaking in an acceptable time with a lot of torque at low rpm. In fact at this time a kick down on the traffic light won’t spin the wheels - not even a little – is that normal??? Roger I don’t ask you because you have a BB, but Dan, how good does Faulkner go?

I have already a Pertronix Kit that will be installed in the winter. The carburettor was also replaced by a bigger Charter 650 cfm. The next possible changes could be

1. A hotter Cam, (or a Stock cam again if the one I have is the wrong one)
2. Eventually bigger Valves and
3. A set of pistons to increase the pressure

But let me ask the question again. If the pictured cam is not a 318 poly cam the guy must have lied to me, and if so what did he put into my engine? How can I identify the grinds of this cam?

Thanks to All!

Stefan

Thanks Gary -- actually, I posted something about your cams on this site not too long ago:

https://59plymouth.net/59forum/viewtopic.php?t=381

Dan


Dan,

I've seen this post. In fact it was the reasen why I show up with this matter.

Stefan