Is Marine 395 cam the right one for '98 DD K2500 L31

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homeslice

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I'm sure I might be able to benefit from a bit more duration/lift than the '395 provides; but fact is I can't find any other cam remotely close to what I need in stock anywhere. I ordered the 395 from Summit last Friday and got the last one they had until Nov. I decided to stay with the 395 and upgrade to 1.6 scorpion full roller rockers. I will go back with .028 compressed thickness head gasket as well.

My plastic intake gaskets failed, which is why I'm doing all this now. I can't imagine the 395 with 1.6 rockers will be a step in the wrong direction; and not worth the effort. Too many posts of positive feedback on 395 IMO.

Thanks for all the feedback.
 

L31MaxExpress

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I'm sure I might be able to benefit from a bit more duration/lift than the '395 provides; but fact is I can't find any other cam remotely close to what I need in stock anywhere. I ordered the 395 from Summit last Friday and got the last one they had until Nov. I decided to stay with the 395 and upgrade to 1.6 scorpion full roller rockers. I will go back with .028 compressed thickness head gasket as well.

My plastic intake gaskets failed, which is why I'm doing all this now. I can't imagine the 395 with 1.6 rockers will be a step in the wrong direction; and not worth the effort. Too many posts of positive feedback on 395 IMO.

Thanks for all the feedback.

I went with Edelbrock paper gaskets on my 383. Used their gasgasinch product to glue them to the heads. No more failure prone garbage for me. My old 83 had the stock paper intake gaskets intact in 2003 when I tore it apart. Even the Felpro problem solvers failed in 5-6 years on me. Stock GM gaskets took out the factory engine at 57K back in 2004. Grenaded on startup from hydraulic lock, snapped #2 rod and sent it through the cylinder wall and oil pan.

0.028 gasket is stock which might not be a bad thing. At 9.6:1 those factory dished pistons lack good quench even with the 0.016" gaskets and I could not run more than 29° of timing on 93 octane with the 395' cam without running into bad detonation. Then again that is a fair chunk of timing on an 8.4:1 DCR on pump gas in a 6,200 lbs vehicle with the aerodynamics and frontal area of a garden shed.
 
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Frank Enstein

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I went with Edelbrock paper gaskets on my 383. Used their gasgasinch product to glue them to the heads. No more failure prone garbage for me. My old 83 had the stock paper intake gaskets intact in 2003 when I tore it apart. Even the Felpro problem solvers failed in 5-6 years on me. Stock GM gaskets took out the factory engine at 57K back in 2004. Grenaded on startup from hydraulic lock, snapped #2 rod and sent it through the cylinder wall and oil pan.

0.028 gasket is stock which might not be a bad thing. At 9.6:1 those factory dished pistons lack good quench even with the 0.016" gaskets and I could not run more than 29° of timing on 93 octane with the 395' cam without running into bad detonation. Then again that is a fair chunk of timing on an 8.4:1 DCR on pump gas in a 6,200 lbs vehicle with the aerodynamics and frontal area of a garden shed.
At least yours has better aerodynamics than a wrecked garbage truck like Frank! The aero on a loaf of bread (Volkswagen Microbus) isn't as bad as you would think. Lower cd than a 70's Beetle!
 

homeslice

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I decided to go up a notch on the cam, couldn't resist. Decided I'm going with Comp Cam 08-501-8; along with the 26918 springs, 787 retainers, and 648 locks. Comp says this cam is ground 4 degrees advanced, so I will install straight up. Will just stay with OE 1.5 rockers and won't go thru the labor of removing the heads. Comp says this cam should be great for DD/towing with slight lope at idle. I'm thinking thsi should be easily controlled with 0411. specs below.

Grind Number:XR264HR
Engine Family:Chevrolet 305-350 c.i. 8 Cylinder O.E. Roller (1987-1998)
RPM Operating Range:1,200-5,200
Cam Type:Hydraulic Roller
Lifter Style:Hydraulic Roller
Camshaft Series:Xtreme Energy Computer Controlled
Camshaft Gear Attachment:3-Bolt
Usage:Street/Performance
Valve Springs Required:Yes
Camshaft Material:Austempered Ductile Iron
California Proposition 65:WARNING: Cancer and Reproductive Harm P65Warnings.ca.gov
Advertised Intake Duration:264
Advertised Exhaust Duration:269
Intake Duration at .050 Inch Lift:212
Exhaust Duration at .050 Inch Lift:218
Intake Valve Lift:0.488
Exhaust Valve Lift:0.495
Lobe Separation:112
Assembly Lubricant Included:No
Intake Centerline:108
Lobe Lift Intake:0.325
Lobe Lift Exhaust:0.33
 

Supercharged111

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Those LS springs are gonna go in too short, make sure you get some .050" offset locks.
 

homeslice

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You are correct, the 648 locks are not offset. However, the 787 retainers are 0.050" offset versus the stock retainers. So using 787 retainers and 648 locks on 26918 valve springs should provide an installed height of 1.75". This is still 0.050" less than the Comp recommended 1.8" installed height, but I'm thinking it should still be ok. Thoughts ?
 

Erik the Awful

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I used GM LS2/LS6 beehive springs in my motor with the 787 retainers and the 648 keepers. The installed height checked out, the valve seals have proper clearance, and it measured to readily accept .530" lift. I went ahead and used umbrella seals just in case. I have a couple thousand miles on the truck now and haven't had any valvetrain issues.
 
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