(TOM) camming the AMC 360???

[Joe J-Truck]

I'd like to hear from people who swapped in cams... What cam did you chose? Source, cost?Lift/Duration? How do you like/dislike it? Torque/HP @ what rpm? Other mods done to engine (intake,headers,porting,etc). Did you swap lifters/springs too? What do you primarily use your FSJ for? Crawling? Mud Bogging? Towing? Street use? For work?
thanks, I am considering a cam swap...
Soooo many choices!

[ February 05, 2002: Message edited by: Sitting Bull ]</p>

[Lindel]

The only cam I've installed into the AMC 360 has been a Summit cam, p/n SUM-K8600. The intake duration @ .050" is 214 degrees, and the exhaust is 224 degrees. Lift, at the intake valve is .472, and exhause is .496. Lobe separation is 112 degrees.

The price included lifters (anti pump up) and was only $79.95.

Seat of the pants was very good, and you could really tell the difference between stock and the Summit cam. The actual manufacturer is Super Stock Industries.

Rpm range is from 1500 - 5000.

Good luck.

[Jerk]

edelborck performer- 204/214 degrees and .448/.472 its a mild street performance cam, not alot of overlap, so if your looking for that lopey idle, go with something bigger and rebuild the entire engine. If you are going to keep everything fairly stock, the summit cam, Lindel mentioned would probably be the max you'd wanna use- edelbrock the least. I run a 401, 9.5:1 compression forged TRW plugs, Edelbrock performer intake, cam,lifters, 600cfm edlbrk perf 4 barrel carb, hedman headers, duel 2.5 " pipes and turbo mufflers. Accel coil, stock distributor, w/ no vac advance hooked up, (it pings at 3k rpm if its on),heads milled .020 and pocket ported. 3 angle valve job, Cloyes true roller timing set, cut down air filter housing and ca192 air filter, and has, stock- forged steel crank and piston connecting rods. Rockers are stock 1.6:1, valves are stock, springs are after market stiffer( I can't remember who or what they are)Machine work on block and heads as well some small parts added up to $900.00 locally, Crank was polished, block punched .030", heads- checked (reused off of previous 401 engine) and ground, milled .015" and a bunch of other stuff I can't remember now, All pretty much neccesary- $900.00. Pistons and cam/lifters- $450.00, gaskets/seals about $130.00, I had the intake, spark and exhaust stuff already, I did buy the edelbrock performer 4 barrel carb for $230.00 (I overpaid by 30 bucks!, thanx, Checker Auto!) I did the assembly installation w/my Dad 3.5 years ago. All said and done, I think $2500.00 was about right. It has great torque, with 33" procomp ATs, it burns 'em at 1000 to 1500rpm if you're a little anxious off the line. I no longer have full time QT since 15 years ago when Dad owned the truck. I use it for work, street, some offroading, nothing extreme like rocks or mud, My biggest problem is 5 months of snow, Not one of these idiot magazines that do "Big Tire Testing" ever mention driving on ice or packed, to driven, drifted snow!

[ January 25, 2002: Message edited by: Matt W ]</p>

[Dive 30]

I dropped in a remanufactured motor.

I did the Edelbrock Performer package from stem to stern.

Cam, Lifters, Springs, Intake, Carb, Timing Set, Chrome Valve Covers, Chrome Filter Housing (It makes it faster . . . I'm just sure of it! )

I also did the complete MSD upgrade. Pro Billet Distributor, 6A ignition, Blaster 2 coil, Noise Filter, 8.5mm Heli-Core Wires

And the Exhaust. Headman Headers to 2.5" single exhaust, no cat. to a 14" super turbo muffler

Transmission: Rebuilt with TCI upgrade kit and remanufactured torque converter.

Cooling: GDI heatbuster 4 row radiator, 185 deg T-stat

Love: Cold start performance is awesome, not as good as TBI, but much better than stock.
Ooomph. Love the get up and go both from start and on the highway. Limited off-road use has yieled that in 4 low I can crawl most stuff at Idle or with little throttle and plenty of control.
MPG! 12 average up from 8-10.
Cooling: No more over heating (so far, we'll see with the AC on in IA 120 deg/120% humidity this summer). Right now with temps in the 50s to 60s I run 140 in town, 170 on highway.
Cruising: No longer feels like my wag is about to explode at 70mph. It's a little too easy to bump the 80-85 mark when passing though

Installation. Was easy for an inexperienced weekend wrencher like me. It was nice and a good feeling of accomplishment to have my G-Wag as a hot daily driver.

Hate: Headers. They suck, save your $$ and get the Edelbrock or Doug Thorleys

Still have carb issues. You set the carb for good start on 20 deg days, have to re-adjust for the two days that it warms up to 50-60 or put up with sucky starts . . . arrgh . . . I want EFI. I can't run from here (500ft above sea level) to home (5000 feet ASL), let alone to the In-Laws (9,000 feet ASL) without re-jetting half-way there.

Timing Gremlin. I have a weird timing gremlin that I haven't been able to track down and since the modifications my rig is out of factory spec and even my mechanic (used to run stock cars) can't give me hard answers on where everything should be, he just tunes it by feel.

Well . . . there's the long and short of it. Overall I am very pleased with my drivetrain . . . now time for those dual batteries and onboard air!

I hope that helps

Phil

[Lindel]

Phil, I've got the same problem on my 79, concerning the timing/Edelbrock issue. What it is, is the Edelbrock is very sensative to air/fuel ratios, and until you get the mix correct, you'll have the timing issue. It took me a long time (almost 2 months) to get the air/fuel mix close (it's still not absolutely correct), and then I was able to reset timing to something close to what it should be. However, it's still not at "Jeep" specs. I haven't dropped in my new camshaft, since I've got other engine issues that need to be addressed, but I suspect that I'll go through the entire process when I do.