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Volvo 144 Head Mods Questions

Very interesting. I wonder how that higher lift would work with my KGTrimning roller rockers.
 
Are they a higher ratio than stock? As with any high lift cam, you'd need to check V-P clearance (especially if the head has been milled) and make sure the springs aren't binding.
 
Awesome, thank you! Yeah, those look like a much better option. Biggest thing for me is that I'm not looking to sacrifice low end power - most of what I intend to do is drive around the city, and be able to accelerate into and out of traffic comfortably. Obviously would love to be able to canyon carve as well and have it be a fun road trip car, but I don't want it to be miserable when I'm not doing those things.

I honestly don't understand cam grinds at all, so this would be something that I would take either your advice or John V's on (if John V has one that he would recommend, I'd probably go with that - he has the clearest understanding of the rest of the build!)
 
Bump! I'm hoping to get on getting on a cam tomorrow - already a week into the month of lead time for the head, and once that's up they'll need to know what compression values we're hoping to get, and to know that we'll need to know what cam we're using.

--Colin
 
What are your plans for this engine? Is it for a daily driver? What you're going to do with it depends on which cam you choose. Also, larger displacement engines can use more cam.

Isky 625/626 springs have a seat pressure of 98 lbs @ 1.625" installed height.
 
Not necessarily daily driver, but will be driven around the city (date car, I guess?), and road trip car. Want it to be fun to drive on PNW highways (think highway 101 North of SF style). So not something that needs to scream around to be fun, but something that is fun and quick. Engine has first over bore.
 
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Called Isky and they suggested VV-71, which I know John V wasn't a huge fan of. Anybody tried IPD cams? Are they just Isky? I'm also reaching out to John Parker, on the off chance he follows through, and also reaching out to KG Trimning.
 
I'd recommend the Z-322. Any bigger and you'll have a lumpy idle and no power in the lower rpm range with stock displacement. Raise the static compression ratio to 10.5:1 to achieve a dynamic ratio of 8.09:1.

VV-71 is very close to the stock D grind cam. It works well with stock fuel injection and stock carbs. That's why they recommend it to almost everyone.

FYI, I have good prices on Isky stuff.
 
Ah! Awesome. You rule. I'm gonna see if I can get in touch with John V. What are your thoughts on the KG Trimning stuff? Just trying to understand what the options are.
 
With Isky so close, I've never really looked at what other cam grinders have to offer so I really can't comment on KG Trimning's stuff although I hear it's good.

Isky will grind a custom cam as well. You're not limited to what they offer in the catalog. It just might cost a little more.
 
Trust me, it's not.

You can cut the spring seats a little deeper into the head if you want to reduce the seat pressure but be careful, there isn't a lot of room before you hit a water jacket.
 
You can't say accurate timing and distributor in the same sentence without your fingers crossed.

Crank trigger it with 12 to 36 teeth, avoid lower tooth counts for accuracy and 60 teeth is too many for high RPM), and use wasted spark or COP.

COP will give you the hottest spark as the coil has lots of time to rest/recharge, COP will need a cam signal to sync the 720?.

Yoshifab sells a CAS if you won't do a crank sensor, A CAS can provide both needed signals.
 
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