Cam Choice
 

Building a 383 stroker (or having one built anyway), and he wants to use an Elgin E1136P Cam. Specs:

C E-1136-P HL-2148 CL-1136PK Int
Exh
.308
.313
.462
.470
288°
284°
210°
215°
1° ATC
41° BBC
31° ABC
6° BTC
71° RLR 106°

Does this seem like the right cam for a Vortec based 383? It has tube headers and the water is not introduced to the exhaust until right at the tip. I am not looking for top performance as much as an engine that idles good and builds good hp and torque up to 4500 rpm's. I don't want to wrench on it at all. Thoughts?

Is the cam a flat tappet or hydraulic roller? Is the engine carbureted or EFI? What exhaust system? What is the application/weight of the boat. This info will be helpful. Thanks.

EFI (might still do carb, though), tube headers w/water outlets right at the tips of the tailpieces, 2000 lb boat, 4500 rpm range. Longevity and low maintenance is important (I do not want to wrench on it every 10 hours).

What EFI system? Do you have O2 sensor ports welded into the exhaust anywhere?

Nope, I don't think there is. It is the EFI system from a 2000 Mercury Scorpion.

I am on the fence of just putting an intake and carb on it, and then monkey with the EFI next winter.

Since the EFI system is the Scorpion you would need to add an O2 bung in the exhaust to allow an O2 sensor to be used to read the air fuel ratio for tuning purposes. The ECM would need to be re-calibrated for a correct fuel and timing map. Shops like Eddie Young or Mark Boos, among others could perform this calibration. Your other choice is to match the components to the Mercruiser package, compression ratio, cylinder heads, and camshaft, then the existing computer tune will work. The MEFI computer will not learn for a camshaft change or other modifications. Good Luck.

Thanks for the info. It might get an intake and carb till next winter!

We used Bullet Racing Cams in our 383's Grind No. CHS 288/296-10HR Part # 501000 Duration @.050 223/231 Lobe Likf .3530/ .3650 Separation 110 Gross Valve Lift .530/.548. We replaced the Crane Cams with these and picked up 4 MPH @ 5500 rpm and made 425 hp @ 5600.

Just my $0.02

Eddie @ Young Performance Marine is not that far away. The money spent on intake, carb, distibutor, coil, wiring harness etc. would likely be more than having him tune the set-up properly. Everything from your current set-up is usable and will support the power, I'd think your cam choice is smaller than the Mercury original. It might be a pain to travel, but do it once and it's done. I'm just saying the current tune in the computer will probably not work well. Another option would be to contact RMBuilder on the board here, give him an acurate build sheet of the engine components, he may be able to re-flash the computer through the mail with Mark Boos. The best is to tune it in the boat. Good Luck.

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