I posted earlier on Toyotaboy's thread about a 22re rebuild. I did a search on Mud looking for cam and head info. My truck is a 1990 pickup with a pretty old 22re. The current engine has about 80,000 ks on a rebuilt short block. I think the head came from Enginebuilder in Portland. Total ks on the engine are close to 500,000. In my parts stash, I have most of another engine, including a new shortblock, so my plan is to build a new engine to replace the tired one, and do a fairly quick install to minimize downtime. I have a cam and rocker arms in my parts bins. I assume they are stock, and I'm not sure on wear or condition. Beyond measuring cam lobes and visually inspecting, I can't tell if the cam would be worth putting on a new head. My thinking is if I'm getting a new head, I might as well get a new cam shaft as well, so that this engine starts as fresh as possible. The goals for the engine would be durability and longevity, as much fuel efficiency as possible, and possibly some increase in power, if possible. No need for stage 3 and above heads and cams. I think I'm looking at sourcing a stock head and cam, or maybe a "Pro" head and cam, if it is a worthwhile improvement. I know almost zero about the differences in cams, and stock versus upgraded heads. I took a look at the chart the Pappy posted (thanks for posting) and various websites, like LCE and 22RE performance. Any advice or experience with the different heads and/or cams is welcome. I have an intake, throttle body, 2 flywheels, oil pan, water pump, oil pump, etc. Will probably need some small parts and a gasket set.
22RE Cam and Head Questions
- Thread starter jgranthevagrant
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this may be of interest:
here's another:
here's another:
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- Thread starter
- #3
Thanks for thsoe links. I forgot to look at Marlin. Took me a while to get through all 24 pages and a pretty deep dive into cams. My conclusion is stock is pretty good, or maybe a mild change in the cam. What I can't sort out from the vendors is whether or not an upgrade from a stock head is worth the $500 USD or more. Looks like larger valves and porting will increase air/fuel flow, and some increase in power. Maybe some increase in fuel consumption? Anybody running an LCE pro head or 22RE performance head with an idea of benefits and downsides and whether it's worth the $? I will probably have fairly significant shipping and border brokerage fees to add into the mix.
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- #4
Bump. Anybody with experience on the upgraded heads? LCE or 22RE perf or other? Fuel consumption and reliability versus more power. Worth the extra $? Yes, I have been searching and reading a lot.
My head failed so I bought the LCE street head with their street cam. MPG didn't change. I didn't notice a difference in power, but I was coming from a DOA head with a C270 cam.
Careful with that aftermarket head a lot of those have very soft valve seats. Getting some good seats installed or just having an OEM head rebuilt should be a priority. If they are too soft you'll be out of adjustment every 5k miles or so and then start leaking if you don't tear up the cam first.
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- #7
I'm trying to build a complete engine to minimize down time and make a clean swap. I have a new short block and many other parts. The head that is in the truck currently has at least 400k on it, and probably needs at least valve work. I'm hoping to do that later when I have time to take the old block apart. The head and cam look to have the most variation amongst the various vendors. I'm definitely trying for quality in the parts as I don't want to redo an engine every 5 years. Good casting, seats, valves, and cam are all a priority.
I know of a engine builder head laying around with bad seats in it. I would guess that he would sell it for cheap if your interested. You could have it sent out and put good seats in, LCE and others sell good seats . Or you could buy a head ready to go from 22re race works or others.
Call Jim @ 22RE Race Works - https://www.22reraceworks.com/ I built one of his stroker motors with most all of his goodies and proprietary cam. Couldn't be happier! He has the best tech advice with a phone call. Only bad thing was that the motor was so good it blew up my L52 tranny lol.
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- #10
Did you notice any significant difference in fuel consumption with the stroker motor? Fuel here (B.C. Canada) is more than $5 a gallon.
I'm not the one to ask on that as I started with the stock carb and it's just too undersized for this motor. I need a Holley 500 or an aftermarket fuel injection to take full advantage of the motor. My understanding is that with a fuel injection that can flow the air the motor demands with the proper tune it will do well. I didn't realize just how good this motor was when I set it up compared to stock. Even stock fuel injection is somewhat restrictive to it.
