I remember insulting a teacher when I was in the 7th grade, back in the 70's.

I got my face slapped.

I didn't do it again.

But you need basic knowledge to understand the answer to your question.

What the hell is wrong with educating your self so you can comprehend the answer.

It's not up to the people on the forum to dumb down there replys to a newbie who keeps asking the same question in deferant ways and doesn't understand. After all he is the one that wants to know it's up to him to have basic knowledge about what he wants to know.
The person asking questions has a responsibility to know what the hell hes talking about. It's his responsibility!

Your a fool thinking you can get ALL your information from this or any forum.
Of my six children five have chosen higher education, none of them got it from a forum!

Well this got even more interesting really quick, I think I'll just throw in a stock straight six and call it done lol. Thanks to the people that actually helped me, I'll now have my engine builder sit me down and write on a whiteboard for four hours to teach me the few things no one here wanted to answer, since apparently that is what engine builders are for......

"But you need basic knowledge to understand the answer to your question."
True, but acquiring the basics should still be welcomed on this board.

"What the hell is wrong with educating your self so you can comprehend the answer."
Nothing, but isn't that what the OP is doing by asking, and inquiring discussion from those with the knowledge?
Obviously there are many avenues to self-education such as reading the fine books previously suggested, but why should one avenue disqualify another source of information? There's a mass of valuable information, and a wealth of experience, on this site that simply isn't in print anywhere else. Interaction on this site is essentially interaction with many authors. But, I think I understand the offense a little better. Maybe the OP has put the cart before the horse?

"It's not up to the people on the forum to dumb down there replys to a newbie who keeps asking the same question in deferant ways and doesn't understand."
Dumbing it down and explaining in different ways is what an educator/mentor does best. A competent educator finds many ways to relay the same information, for there are many different ways to learn and there are many different learning styles. I'll refer to my previous post about the scarcity of those that can educate/mentor without taking offense to a learner that needs additional explanation.

"The person asking questions has a responsibility to know what the hell hes talking about."
If the OP knew what the hell he was talking about then he wouldn't have to inquire from people that do know what the hell they are talking about.

"Your a fool thinking you can get ALL your information from this or any forum."
Who said anything about "ALL"?

"Well this got even more interesting really quick, I think I'll just throw in a stock straight six and call it done lol. Thanks to the people that actually helped me, I'll now have my engine builder sit me down and write on a whiteboard for four hours to teach me the few things no one here wanted to answer, since apparently that is what engine builders are for......"

#1 Thread Starter, this is what pisses people off. It's snarky.

Maybe a little less snarky in the future? See previous recommendation about decorum.

Best of luck.

I actually didnt add that, I think that was something that the site gave me. Also thanks for helping me out and being a pretty logical person.

We are not educators, just car guys expressing opinions. It's not a responsibility to educate expressing an opinion. I've said it before that you can't learn how to modify for more power if you don't have the basics.

You can ask for opinions and that's what you get, but I dont think theres a responsibility in any way to educate the OP, theres resources for that.
As far as this site being a wealth of information it is, but ONLY if you know how to interpret it.

I didn't realize that averaging cam timing was basic knowledge....even someone else in here compared it to banging your head against a wall. I was asking the same question in different ways because people were avoiding it. However that was what a month or two ago? After I bumped this thread with a different question I was no longer concerned about getting that small cam. I also didnt realize that at college they taught you everything there is to know about building engines....

All I've ever said was to get a book on the big mopar and read it, that's what I did 35 years ago. I had plenty of experience with Ford but I was taking on something new so I bought DC engine book so I new what my engine building buddys were talking about.
I'm sure collage didn't teach you about building bb mopars but it did teach you the value of reading.

We're actually moving away from engine building. We teach less and less every semester. The curriculum is always expanding with new technology and the contact hours are decreasing so somethings gotta go. The Advisory Committee, made up of dealership management and shop owners, keep telling us they just install long blocks and short blocks and our students don't need to know what's beyond a head gasket.
Hell, we don't even take cylinder heads apart anymore. It's nonsense.

But, there are a lot of great sources to learn about engine building choices.
Books, Moparts tech archives, some youtube, manufacturer webpages like https://uempistons.com/ magazine articles, and using the search function on this site to look up a specific topic.
It's all good.

And, college teaching the value of reading? You're giving us way too much credit.

Get Andy's book. It'll help out greatly.

andy's book IS a good one !
sometimes, i feel like i'm a burden to those knowledgeable folks here. i feel pretty bad when i have to ask things that i SHOULD know, but keep forgetting. "oldtimers" disease, ya know ! i guess you guys need to beat me like a rented mule so i remember ......

They are going to give you a Stevanovski beating.

Theres no beating, I like making power with iron heads now I know I can go buy an aluminum head that makes more power way easier and cheaper than grinding up a set of 915s putting in 2.18 and 1.81 valves but I enjoy the work and the reward. I've heard to no end you can't do that or it's a wast of money. I learned how to make power by reading everything I could then asking a few important questions. But 645 hp from 915 heads isn't bad for an old retired fart.