6.5L Performance Cam? Marine Cam?

[paulcsf]

Hi,
I am wondering if there are any performance or marine cams available for the 6.5's. I have done a lot of searching around on the internet, and there doesn't seem to be much information. I would appreciate any information you have.
Thanks.

[john8662]

Heard of two "regrinds" out there...

Delta Cam, Diesel Depot Cam.

Not sure on the benefits, supposedly lower EGT's due to more duration leading to a better scavenging of exhaust gasses. Some have reported lower pulling EGT's, some have reported better all-around-performance.

There are some downsides though, it's a re-grind, and has the possibility of leaving lobes at points to where the lifter can't compensate, leading to the possibility of a loose rocker, this is strictly rumor though, take it for what it's worth.

[dieseldummy]

I ran the diesel depots regrind for a while. I beleive that it helped lower EGT's while towing, but couldn't tell any difference in around town performance. I beleive that the regrind part did leave smaller lobes and caused rocker arm problems... Just my opinion though. Unless you can find a grind of an uncut cam I wouldn't bother.

[kenisret]

I recently installed a cam from SS Diesel supply.As far as cooling goes I also did the cooling upgrade at the same time and it runs at a solid 180 deg so which of those mods accomplished that is a guess.Also inst.hi-flo inj's hi vol. oil pump, now runs 80 psi, ported and polished heads, boost master, 80 hp chip,stainless oil cooler lines, new harmonic balancer.also rem. exh. end of turbo and polished that inc. exh. man.heat wrapped man's and crossover pipe.It will boost to 13 psi Without a before and after dyno run who knows how much the cam would help.

[tommac95]

Paul-
The point has been made that on gassers a hot cam allows an engine which spins much faster than stock to generate vastly greater power.

The revs of the diesel are inherently limited, so the benefits of a nonstock cam would be correspondingly limited.

[paulcsf]

Ok, thanks for the information so far. New question: is there a place to get a new stock cam for these engines?

[dieseldummy]

A good machine shop or parts house should be able to get you a new cam. What's wrong with your cam? Usually unless they are pitted from rust they are good for alot of miles. If you're doing a rebuild have the machine shop polish your old one.

Where near Denver are you at?

[DA BIG ONE]

Running, a few gasser turbo motors myself I found the more overlap the cam has the more real power it made. However a flame front? (not sure if this is correct term) in the exhaust after turbo from unburnt fuel becomes an issue leading to shortened turbo life. Thinking this could be a real serious issue on diesels.

[Robyn]

Just my 2 cents worth here.
I ran blown big block chevies in race boats for a number of years.
With an NA engine the idea is to get longer duration to allow for more filling of the cylinder at higher revs due to the fact that the column of moving air/fuel will continue tp pack the cylinder even after BDC and the exhaust will continue to flow after the piston has reached TDC resulting in better scavenging of the cylinder and better overall power.
An engine with a huffer, be it a blower or a turbo does not require the wild ass cam as the cylinder in stuffed full under pressure up to whatever the huffer is producing.
The stock cam is going to give you about all that is needed to produce all the engine can do. The secret is the huffer/ turbo ie more boost more fuel more power.
The wild ass cam will kill the benefits of the huffer if you get crazy with the cam. The design for a blower cam is altogether different than an NA cam
This equation all comes back to how much thermodynamic stress your little beastie can take before it croaks or melts.
As the pressure at the manifold goes up the more fuel you can add to a point.
Aftercooling is the key and this is why the 6.5 is set up with such low pressure.
The 6.5 can be made to produce a moderate increase in power over stock but as we all know the 6.5 has real issues with heat rejection and this is not going to go away. Under a marine application with an unending supply of cold water the engine temp and the air charge temp can be regulated far better than in a truck via the use of air to water heat exchangers for the intake air and ofcourse the engine itself can run river/lake water
In fresh water there is no issue at all, now salt water is a different story requiring a slightly different system using a heat exchangers for both the engine and the air charge.

To put it in a nut shell the cam in your 6.5 is most likely about as good as you need to produce all the RELIABLE power you can get.

Hope this help with this question
Robyn