Panhead Cams

[D.Mac]

Ive been running an FLH cam in my Pan, but I think I've squeezed about all the life I could out of it. The FLH cam is good, and I've been trying to figure out what to replace it with and not give up any performance. I've seen a lot of opinions fly on several forums, and it seemed that the consensus was that the Andrews J cam was the best for a stock Pan, so I ordered one up. Now looking at the two cams side by side, the J cam looks kind of wimpy. The lift looks the same, but not much duration, I have to wonder how the performace is gonna be. Anyone with real world experiance with these cams care to weigh-in? Is there something else better? I wish I could find another FLH cam, or better yet a good used Sifton 412 (one of my old favorites), but something new with similar performance would be fine.
Doug.

[kg993]

I like the J in my 65FL. It may be a little weaker than an H just off idle but picks up really fast after a few rpms come up. Starts easy, idles great and is quiet with hyd. lifters.

[Rollo]

I was going to suggest the Sifton 412 as that was what everyone used as the "hot " cam back in the day. Does Sifton still make that cam or a modern version or are they out of busniess? If they are out then I'm sure someone can make a sugesstion form Crane or Andrews that matches up pretty close. Good Luck!

Tom (Rollo) Hardy
AMCA # 12766

[T. Cotten]

Doug and Rollo!

The Sifton name was acquired by a "big box" distributor,
and now you never know what will come out of the box, this time.

There are many quality alternatives, but I do warn against using an Andrews "A" with hydraulics and a pre-'70 pump.
That can be disastrous.

....Cotten

[Rollo]

Tom,
Thanks for the update on Sifton. I thought I remembered something about them changing hands. I'm not in the market myself right now but maybe in the future and this is good to know. Basically anything I might do would be looking for stock replacement, not anything hot or performance minded. I'm too old to go fast and the brakes suck, and besides that if you're going too fast the girls won't see you.

Tom(Rollo) Hardy
AMCA # 12766

[D.Mac]

Finally had time to put 'er back together and put a few miles on. I went ahead and put the J cam in with new Jims tappets and stayed with the old Sifton solid lifter conversion. The performance seems to be comparable to the H cam as far as I can tell after just a few miles. The only thing I noticed is the J cam drops RPMs faster during shifts, especially downshifts, I guess I'll get used to it. Without messing with any thing else while it was apart it idles down slower/smoother with the J cam. I'm thinking of putting hydraulic lifters in next ( I must be gettin' old )
Doug.