I received my cam today from Web Cam [nice stuff] and it is a "stock grind" [new]. I thought I was getting their other version for stock fuel injection.

The only upgrade I am doing is euro pistons [flat top]. Is the stock gring OK or do I get better performance from the other version...specs are:

.426
262
224
73

Here is a photo of some of the parts I have so far. The pistons are AA. They look OK to me. The cam to the right is the old one.

Peter
1974 2 Liter

One more thing...the lifters from Web Cam have an insert and a circlip. I know I specified solid lifters..what's this all about. Is it an ipproved design?

They are a two piece lifter..... I am testing their lifters all week this week .... cycled 3 sets since Sunday...

Don't know too much about T4's but I awlays heard their #73 grind was the cats-ass for euro P&C's and stock FI??

So Jake, if I may, is the stock grind suitable for what I am doing or is the 73 going to improve performance/HP?

The stock grind isn't good for anything.... Anyones stock grind.

Stock cams fry engines, crack heads and drink gas...

Yep..I figured that. I already spoke to them and am sending this one back.

Thanks,

Peter

So, Peter, what's the shizzle? What cam are you gonna replace it with?

The "73 Grind ...better lift and duration" . I have some time. The crank, case and heads are still being done.

You should get more performance out of the #73 grind--IF you can tweak the fuel system to deal with it. Some very savvy people have had success in that endeavor (e.g., Bleyseng) and other knowledgeable folks have not (e.g., Kap'n Krusty).

If you can't deal with the notion of taking the car to a WBO2-equipped dyno and tweaking everything until it's right (even though there's no guarantee that it will ever be completely right!), the stock grind is probably the way to go.

--DD

Ok so is this what has been refered to as the web 494??
I think in a thread some time back, Jake didn't you mention the Web 494 and 96mm flat tops was a pretty good 2.0 carbed set-up???

The 494 is NOT EFI compatible, and works well with bigger valves and better CR...

I have 3 great EFI cams, the 73 is the base for two of them.

OK...I am confused. Web says this is for stock FI with no mod's required. Jake says the stock is NG. Dave says it's fine. I'm not questioning just trying to make a good decision.
What problems develop with the FI with the 73 grind?

The question is I am keeping everything stock less the flat tops. Why is a stock grind a problem?

Does Jake have a cam that will work with stock FI?


Peter

Yes, i do have them...

I HATE the stock cam, it may run smooth but the heads fry! I have dropped 50 degrees in head temp by swapping the stock cam on the same engine!

These engines are ALL I work with, day in, and day out... I see trends that would take others YEARS of guessing to notice in just a few months...

The stock cam is the bigest mistake that the engineers did to this engine!

I guess what Peter is asking, will you, Jake, sell him a cam? If not, is the 73 appropo for his application?

Jake hates the stock grind, yup. But most of the original 914s seem to run for 100K miles on the stock cam... Some have dropped seats, but many more have not. I know of one 2.0 that went for a quarter-million miles before being rebuilt! I don't know why some last and some don't, though. Probably has to do with how hard the engine is used and how well cared for it is.

...Of course, all it takes is one set of heads burned up and seats dropped to really ruin your day. (Not that I know anything about that! ...Three times over.... )

Some people have had problems getting a smooth idle with the #73 grind (or its near-equivalents) and the stock FI. Sometimes you can get a smooth idle but you have other mixture problems at other load/RPM combinations. There's a fine game to be played, and if you can get everything to a point you can live with you have won better performance, and (theoretically) a smaller likelihood of overheating the heads.

--DD

Just because something lasts forever doesn't mean its efficient.

Efficiency is everything.