Thread: Marine cam

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Is it possible to run a marine cam in a srteet car. Comp cam makes the cam for a sb chevy but I was wondering if this would be possible

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sure, if it's for a standard rotation motor. (clockwise viewing the damper).

Possible, but not very practical. Marine engines don't need much bottom end, so a car with that cam would be sluggish off the line.

comp exstreme energy cams work better than anything i've found for a street motor.

Originally posted by R Pope
Possible, but not very practical. Marine engines don't need much bottom end, so a car with that cam would be sluggish off the line.

I actually never thought much about this, but I have to disagree. Go over to Comp's site and look at the Extreme Marine cams and check out the operating ranges. The main difference I see is that they are ground on a little wider lobe displacement angle than the street cams, so if a guy was looking for a smooth idle, good manifold vacuum, good mileage with a little more zip, they might work fine. Just my opinion, never used one on the street.

imho, boats need more low end torque. usually 4-5 grand and they are all in. That way, they can run wot - or closer to it - for longer periods than you can on the street. I seem to always have quite a few boats, they just don't run!

Not too sure what a "marine cam" is. For every boat I've ever owned the cam was picked with the same questions answered you would when picking a cam for a car.

For the boat you need to know heavy, what bottom profile, what drive type, ....

For the engine you need to know compression ratio, intended RPM range, head design, induction system, ....

Then usability -- how is the boat used, who will be operating it.

There may be a few specialty "marine cams" offered by a couple of the grinders, but usually you'll find the same pattern elswhere in their catalog for an automotive application.

Cheers, Mark

Originally posted by rancheroxl
imho, boats need more low end torque. usually 4-5 grand and they are all in. That way, they can run wot - or closer to it - for longer periods than you can on the street. I seem to always have quite a few boats, they just don't run!

rancheroxl, You are exactly right ! Mercruiser designs their outdrives to turn a max of 5200 rpms.
Lets say you are dealing with a 22 to 26 foot V- hull boat. Trying to get that beast on plane is like trying to pull an elephant on water skis. You need all the grunt you can get, Therefore you need plenty of torque from just off idle.Some of these boats will turn 6 grand,but not many. Even if they will ,they have to have the bottom end power or they're dead in the water.