I'm considering picking up a crane cam this summer as well as building a head to put in. I've built an engine before but the head work was always done by someone else so I'm kinda new to this. I'm wondering if I would be better to go with a hydraulic or mechanical cam. Also wondering how much I should have the shop shave the head? I know shaving too much will lead to valvetrain problems. Anyone with experience in this area? Thanks in advance fellas!

i put in a voodoo cam 262/268 i think with the head shaved .010" with stock springs and no problems

I'm rebuilding my engine right now and was thinking about getting a Crane cam too. Does 87 octane still work fine after shaving the head?

High octane gas is required in a few instances. Engines that have high compression or are high revving.

Well, I've pretty much settled it. I'm gonna end up going with a comp cams 262/270 cam, harland 1.6 rockers, and probably shave the head .0100 inches. Id like to shave to .015 but I'm worried about valve clearance.

I usually shave it as little as I can. My machine shop usually does .006 and it cleans the head up really nice.

The EGR function of keeping combustion chamber temps low enough to prevent NOX emmissions is built into the 98' factory cam profile. I'd anticipate having to use midgrade or premium to prevent predetonation and probably failing smog due to high NOX.

I was planning on running premium. I'm trying to bump up my compression as high as I can by simply shaving. Of course I'm aiming for a clean seat as well, but the compression bump is my big thing. I'm trying to get the most power out of an na engine as I can without a stroker for now. Ill have a spare block incase I really wanna go stroked, but I'm not sure on that yet.

my stroker is at about 10.9:1 compression, i had a cam ground to the same specs as comp cams specs, i had the head milled .010s and left the deck stock. when u start milling the surfaces u will have to get different push rods of course

ps, im running stock springs, push rods and rockers

you could always get new pistons

Yeah, I'm going to be running different push rods. I'm not sure what rods to use though. Suggestions? Ill probably shave to .0100 since it sounds like you didn't have any problems with it.

Yeah, I'm saving that money for my girlfriends truck when that one comes into play. Well be adding a 90s chevy K1500 to the Muddy Money Race team. So far I've been alone running the jeep since I got it hah. I run mostly class one boggers (33" tires and less) and if the spirit takes me ill run dirt drag with similar trucks. I missed racing after I sold my old track ***** and trail riding wasn't enough for me