@Riddler sorry for hijacking your thread because I was impressed with your results and just wanted to know what your cam was. I'll now look at your rebuild thread for more detail. Cheers
Peter. It is the 50229 I'm looking at but would be interested how it compares to RPIs Piper Torq Max. Mines a manual (BTW 'S' stands for Synchro everybody but I'm a newbie so don't let rip for stating the bleeding obvious)so don't really need low down improvement, or do I? On a budget I think the Crower is going to win unless anybody spooks me. Sorry for being thick, are you recommending aftermarket rocker gear? Pick up SD1 heads tomorrow so will know more about what else I need then. Will start new thread to discuss but have gleaned heaps already on here.
You don't need rocker gear unless yours is worn. The point I was making is aftermarket components are not necessarily inferior to OEM, so don't worry about non-OEM cams, many of these US based companies have been around as long as our cars. As Rockdemon says, the only alternative known to be durable are yella terra if you really do need these. (Standard disclaimer: This is what I've read many times and not experienced - roller rockers are nice to have for several reasons but not really an issue for a standard road car).
The problem I found when reading up was that very few people have comparative experience with regards to cams. The main users will be Land Rover fans at one end and TVR owners (or other sports cars using the RV8) at the other. This tends to leave us somewhat in the middle. With an auto you are on safe territory with those talked about by Land Rover owners and obviously TVR appropriate cams are going to be too lumpy and peaky. Having a sporty cam in an everyday car it just a PITA as it is hard to drive in traffic smoothly. I've tried this in a mini once and, no thanks...
As you have a 3500S with a manual box you can go a little more aggressive depending on your taste. The 50229 is a pretty safe option. The worst that can happen is you might need to add 50rpm to the idle speed. Remember the OEM cam is very, very mild. If you look at the cam timing and lift you'll see many of the "fast road" options look somewhat similar.
I chose mine based on what I read, Crower's reputation, the overall lift wasn't too high and is OK with standard valve springs and the fact it was half the price of many of the other options. I'll claim no more expertise than that. Quite a few LR owners have it and I seem to remember at least one P5 did and the owner was happy enough. I hope to install it in the spring. If you can wait a bit I'll let you know...
Like I said if you can get 25bhp+ for £100 worth of cam and some second hand late cylinder heads then that's real bang for your buck if you DIY. The rolling road session you'll need will cost more.
The "S" as far as I can tell in 3500S stands for "not a 3500". Remember the 3500S sold in the US (NADA) was automatic... Just marketing, although theories abound as your's sounds plausible..