Hi everyone,
I couldn't think of a better forum on the planet to ask than this one when it comes to this engine I'm putting together, I'm at an impass regarding the strength of springs to use, so I actually require some professional guidance as I do not know the formula used to calculate necessary spring pressures! The manufacturer for these cams really has no idea, they just make wonderful cams and expect Ferrari people to know this sort of thing. I built an engine similar to this a while ago, but I cannot recall the springs or spec I used for them.
I'm building a 2 valve 308 Ferrari rallye engine stroked to 79mm stroke with 83mm bore, displacement is just a little over 3.4L.
For all Ferrari engines, the camshaft directly actuates the tappet. STOCK springs employ about 63lbs pressure at the seat and 190lbs at .350" lift (8.89mm), these are good to 8k rpm with the stock cam profile, which doesn't use too radical of a ramp to open the valves. Duration for the stock cams are about 20 degrees less than the figures below but the ramp is not as radical nor is the lift nearly as high.
The new billet cams are of the following specification:
duration at .1mm = intake 291° exhaust 283°
duration at 1mm = intake 254° exhaust 246° -
intake lift = 10.75mm exhaust lift = 10.00mm
operating range up to 9000rpm, expected power output is in the 380bhp range. stock springs will not be considered for this as I'm sure this cam ramp will loft the valve and at max lift there is not enough spring clearance for me to be comfortable with.
TOTAL weight the spring will have to control (valve, tappet, retainer, collets, spring) is about 215-230 grams, nothing titanium being used, the tappets are standard 37mm Ferrari shim over bucket tappets identical to those used on countless VW, Volvo, Fiat, the valve is a touch lighter than stock and is 2mm oversize.
anyone who is able to offer their studied opinion would be greatly appreciated