Reply to "Help me choose a cam"

Hi guys and a big thanks for the welcome and for your help.

Cowboy from hell you are truly talented about these things and i am very impressed about all your knowledge and i truly appriciate your time and help. I am sure it took you a while to write your reply to me and i cant thank you enough..! Thanks Thanks Thanks..!

As i said i am an amateur on these kind of things and have lots to learn and want to learn. =)

As you guys know the plans you first made for the winterjob on a car just keeps getting bigger and bigger and also moneywise you just spend more and more. =)

I am not a rich guy and work hard to provide for my family and my hobby.

I really love the Pantera and to find one for sale wasnt easy but at last i found a car that was in my pricerange but as i said it needed some attention to get to my standards =)

My first plans for this winter was to do lots of things that would not cost that much money but do lots of difference, like cleaning everything and refurbish some things and get the wheels repainted and change the interior carpet and so on. But as i said the plans just get bigger and bigger and since i like everything ultraclean i figuered that i had to take the engine out so i could clean everything properly and the car could get to a condition it deserved. =)

And then when the engine was out i thought that it would be good to separate it because the cleaning bit would be easier and i could also look more at the condition at the engine. This adventure just makes me see more and more stuff i want to change and make better but the cash flow isnt keeping up with my thoughts. =)

i thought that since the engine was out and separated that i would put it back together with another cam and some other things.

As you see the things and plans for the car this winter are just getting bigger and bigger and the amount of spending money just keeps getting higher and higher *like always* =)

Your reply was great and i understand that this is the way to go. I went to different websites to look at the parts you recomended and i noticed that its not gonna fit my budget.

What i could find, these were the prices

Cam = 404 $
Lifters = 635 $
Springs = 300 $
Rockers = 500 $
Drivegear = 50 $
Pushrods = ~ 100 $
Shipment Cost = ~ 100 $

Total = 2089 $

And what you said about the engine balancer and original valves and connecting rod nuts frightened me =)

Maybe it would be best this winter just to make everything clean and repaint the engine and so on and try to calibrate the engine in the way you wrote.

I bought the car in knowing it would never be sold and my plans for the car spans over many years and need not to do everything just this single winter. =)


If i wouldnt go with a roller cam and trying to keep the cost down is there maybe a "bundle/package" like the link in my previous post that would be priceeffective and would outperform the original cam.

Next winter i can buffer up some money and take the engine out once again and do some better work then. =)

Thanks again for your help and once again sorry for my bad spelling. =)


Best Regards
Peter