Building a 348 Le Mans Race car for the road

My Endro engine cams vs stock cams
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Very nice

 

i like!

after my heads are done i will be looking for some of those.

I think OEM is
intake... 248 w/.360" lift
ex... 244 w/.313 lift

what kind of specs would Endoro Cams have? and would they idle ok at 1000rpm?

 

I have not looked for my build sheets yet.

Idle smooth at 1K? NO Chance of that happening.

 

Here is a chart of the OEM 348 cams we put on a Cam Doctor.

Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Seems they could both use some more duration, along with a little more exhaust lift.
Got anything similar for the 355 cams?

 

If I can get my hands on a set I will run them. I would also like to spec out the 308QV and the 328 cams.

 

I read these F348 cams as somewhere between 16/50-40/16 and 20/54-44/20. Wonder where the machine reads them?

The F355 cams are 16/42-56/16.

Note on the F355 and 360 cams--you cannot use the center intake valve as the cam timing read point, it is 10 degrees shorter opening and closing to avoid valve to valve contact. You have to measure on the outside intake valves. Thus you need to cant the readout device to be perpendicular to the outside vavle bucket.

 

Thanks for the pics Dave.

Raj wants to strip and measure everything. Will post up info as we go along.

 

So, let us assume that the F348 cams are 20/54-44/20

So the duration needed for moving the peak HP from 7200 to <number in table> is

7250 254 degrees (from the numbers above)
7500 242
7750 250
8000 258
8250 266
8500 274
8750 282
9000 290
9250 299
9500 307

So, overall you would be looking at a cam with 35/75-70/30 to peak at 9000 RPMs. You might get lucky and find a set of 35/75s or a set or 30/70s lying around some where.

This compares to the (streetable in 1970 terms) cam I used way back when on a 2 valve motor that had 35/75-75/35 timing and peaked at 8000 RPMs reving willingly to 9000 RPMs. The 4 valve motor gives you and additional 1000+ RPMs with no additional (and maybe a tad less) cam timing.

With a tad less lift than the leMans cams, you would be adding significant life to this motor.

I still can's see why the original cams read out as 322 degrees (+/-), perhaps they were hoping for 9750 or 10K peak power. Or perhaps the F348 hads have some air-flow limitation that the extra cam timing was trying to get around at those stratospheric revs.

 

Man, I love it when people who really know stuff post up! Many thanks Mitch!

 

I wish I knew what half of you guys are talking about!!! Fascinating reading!!!



Just got this delivered. An adjustable front anti-roll bar. Turns out it's a copy of the one that was actually on the 348LM that my engine comes from and made by the same company that made the original. It's an adjustable rotating blade type anti-roll.

Big thanks to fellow 348 owner Chris Gilmartin. He PM'd me about an anti-roll bar that was used on the 348 Le Mans car that John Pogson at Italia Autosport had.

Had a very nice chat with John Pogson who races Ferrari's and I mentioned the Le Mans engine we are working on. Turns out John had driven the Simpson 348 LM and he says it will be great in a road car. The idle was steady but the power band was quite high. From 7,000 rpm onwards. You also have to keep an eye on the rev counter as it revved very very fast. If I recall correctly, he used the word "lethal" (in a good way) to describe the car/engine.

Very excited. Can't wait to get behind the wheel and take it for a spin!!!
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Nice part

 

The length of the header tubes is another consideration for this beast. Note: headers are tuned for peak TQ not peak HP. The longer overlap of the cams will accentuate the power (compared to stock) and also broaden the range of peak TQ. I don't know the length of the F348 tubes, but the F355 tubes are about 31 inches and have a TQ peak in the 5600 RPM range and peak HP at 8200 RPMs. Based on the formulas, the headers of the F348 should be in the 36" range.

Thusly, for a car with HP peak at 9000, you should be looking for a header with about 25"-27" tubes (and don't expect a lot of power below 4500 RPMs). 25" corresponds to a header tuned for 7000 RPMs while 27" header is tuned at 6500 RPMs.

 

Whoops.

A 290 duration cam should have a timing of about 40/80-80/40 (not 35/75)

So for a HP peak of :
8500 31/73-73/31
8750 35/75-75/35
9000 40/80-80/40
9250 44/84-84/44

Sorry...

If you get a chance on a dyno to tune this 40/80-80/40 cam, you could try +/- 2 degrees on the cam timing and see what the dyno says--especially in the low end and with respect to low end throttle responce.

 

Thanks for all the info guys.........please keep all advice tips and tricks coming...all help appriciated!

This has been a very interesting rebuild and extraordinary project. Unfortunately while doing the work I have found many problems that need to be put right before I can confidently put my name to the work.

Just been too busy lately with lambos (murcie's), so the progress has been a little slow, but soon to change as I really want the engine rebuilt for other finetuning work and i have yet to work on all the elctrical and electronic modifications for the M800 and individual coil system.

I will be stripping the crank and components for a complete measurement for our spare part list......hopefully only oil filters and cambelts will be needed!

Will be collecting one of the cams next week, just having a piece machined for the cam sensor reference signal pickup. These cams have some huge lobes......I mean big.....

We shouldnt have too many problems with getting the engine to run reasonably well, I am confident that the advanced fuel and ignition system(all in one) will do the trick as the ignition system is able to work with the fuel injection and individual coils system should allow more precise detonation control.......we shall see how it all works out!

Over and out.......

 

So I don't forget, I've copied it here Bruce.

 

Great project! As far as new head gaskets, could you guys get custom copper ones made by using the originals as a template? I know it's not unusual for some to stop by their local hot rod shop to get them made.

 

Copper headgaskets are available on Ebay over here!

Regards,
Phil.

 

Been researching the engine and it turns out that of of the 6 engines, two were destroyed.

Engines were also raced at Daytona as well as Le Mans.

Trying now to get info from Ferrari about the engine.

 

Sorry, missed your post.

We won't be using head gaskets now as it's all ring edged. Although I have a set of gaskets lying about.



Haven't done any work on the engine, as I've been helping Raj move into new premises. Soon as it's all cleaned up and ready, we'll start work on the engine.

 

Looking forward to seeing your progress starting again.

Just had Plugzit in town and nearly put him to work pulling the Sprint engine.

 

You woulda let me do that? Maybe I'll turn around! Darn work obligations..... Life would be so much better if I'd just win the lottery...

 

A spare set of hands.... let me think on that... Oh Hell yes!

When the engine is done there is the wing, sliding side windows, recessed headlights, single wiper system, horn.... then onto brake bias, suspension setup, muffler design.... the list is long and that work thing... Pick the numbers, I need in on that!