Yet another Boport review..

[BrianO]

Well I spent several weeks researching cams on here and the merkur site and such.. I have a ranger roller right now and although it lacks power until you get into boost it's a decent cam and helped make 30mpg.

After reading all the cam info and going bonkers I decided to talk to Bo... with my goals and needs he suggested I get the Stage 1.1 cam as it will be an improvement over the ranger, but not so much overlap that it would kill my mileage being my daily driver.

Anyways, just finished the swap. i didn't have to shim any hla's due to all measurements coming in well in the range of stock so that saved some time. The hla's are still a bit loud, but that will pass once oil gets in there.

I got the timing spot on the first time and the car started and idle awesome. I have to say..it idles much better than the ranger cam. I took it for a drive and it's about what I expected. It's not a race car per say, but it's not a dog down low anymore and it builds boost easier as well. I wanted it to fill that gap of late boost with the .63 exhaust housing and it looks like it did exactly what I wanted.

I'll know more as I drive it more, but first impressions are good, install was easy, and thanks to Bo for all the info and help on selection.

B.

[thomp22]

Dats Purty!

[SVOeric]

??? man Im confused. the ranger roller only runs low-end, it dropps off to nothing on top end. which is why I run it. unless you've got your cam timing adjusted.

[BrianO]

the ranger cam was good, don't get me wrong..but after switching to the larger exhaust housing the car was a dog until boost cam in. It did this with the other exhaust housing, but just not as noticeable. nothing bad about the ranger cam at all, but I wanted roller and no loss of power..aka going backwards. Basically I may have an 86 cam just in roller version or something similar now. I'm happy with it and was happy with the ranger cam as well. today I'll unplug the knock sensor because I think the lifter noise was making timing get pulled.

[BrianO]

as an update..i will have to shim as I measured wrong.

[BrianO]

well what do you know...after taking Shimming 101 with Bo, the valvetrain is super quiet now as before. I was doing it wrong.

just remember.. MTCO (Measure Twice Cut Once).. applies to most things, just no cutting this time.. LOL

just for future reference if anyone has not done this..
1. empty one HLA completely using a press or C clamp as I was using..get all oil out of it.
2. use this HLA to do measurements on all lobes.
3. cam installed with no lifters or HLA's
4. install empty HLA into head on #1, turn cam gear so the lobe is pointing straight up and bottom of circle is straight down.
5. install roller follower using cam tool (get one if you don't have one)
6. now press down on the top of the HLA and stick a feel gauge in there and keep adding until snug. Stock is between .040 and .060 if I remember. Per Bo's instructions if you measure higher than .060 then they require shimming.
**Note...do not press the HLA, stick feeler gauge in and let go of HLA...that is WRONG and is how I did it the first time..I didn't know any better.
7. remove HLA, shimm bottom, measure again...
8. repeat with each lobe.

again, this is why Bo is a pro and I'm not.. he said after shimming they'd be right about .055 and he was right.

thanks Bo.