Camshaft and lifter's

[kenneth.garcia18]

im looking to get a camshaft with .498 int and ext and duration is 278 i was told if i go any more radical than this i will have valve to piston contact i have a 1983 302 and its going in my 97 ford ranger can someone give me a idea as to how radical i can go witha cam to where the valve train will not give me a problem

 

[v-8power]

That cam is not that big, you shouldn't have any problems.

EDIT: if you go much bigger you'll have problems with too low of compression.

 

[baddad457]

You'll have to get into something bigger than about a .515 lift and 290* advertised duration to worry about piston to vavle contact and spring bind with the stock heads. And if you're using the stock 83 heads, you really ought to look into a head swap before going further. The heads used in 83 really suck. The chambers are bigger than most at 70 cc's. Going to a54-58 cc head will raise the compression a couple of points giving the cam more compression to work with.

 

[Beef52751]

it can vary based on how you put the cam in though, if you advance or retard the cam or your lobe centers are different you may have clearance issues. ALWAYS CHECK PISTON TO VALVE CLEARANCE, if you can swap a cam you can check valve clearance!!!!!