79vetter

I am leaning towards a rebuild of this motor. Since the engine has over 120K, I want to get another cam and heads after the lower end is rebuilt.
I have heard here on the forum that the heads were not too great on the L-82 and I am figuring that the cam is worn out.
I'm looking to get to the 300hp neighborhood but I do not want the lopey idle that some cams seem to give.
What combo of cam and heads would get me where I want to be? Any $ figures would help too

Entropy

Boy is this a can of worms on this forum...check out DJ dep's thread on not enough engine power.

What do you want? Sounds like a street car more then a race car...do you want 300hp at flywheel or wheels? I imagine flywheel if you don't want the lumpy idle.

If you're looking to keep price down, get another L82 cam (check parts for sale) and maybe go to a set of those cast iron dart heads. Smaller chambers, better flow.
Get your calculator out, start crunching numbers on what you can afford and then plan accordingly.
good luck,
trw

Nate '69

For low buck it's hard to beat the vortec heads/intake in a street car and choose a cam in the 210-220 @ .050 range. Your L82 cam is good if not worn and is 222@.050.

From scoggin dickey vortec package is $~800 (intake,heads,gaskets) if you need a cam the lifters and cam are $~180

stingr69

That's what I did but it depends on what you are looking for. I have built monsters in the past but this one needed to be closer to stock. This car is too nice to mod into a beast.

Loose the original cat for sure one way or another. Loose the heads for something better and rebuild the rest. That will get you solid performance but not a lot of glamour It will idle well, runs like a Vette should run and does not break the bank. Tuning the combo is a breeze as you don't have to do much other than recurve the distibutor. One more thing you have going for you would be that this combo is a great place to start if you ever decide to step up the HP. You have great flowing heads, a lot of compression, and a stout bottom end. You could cam it into a real beast later if desired. How could you go wrong?

-Mark.

79vetter

300HP at the flywheel is just fine---Definitely want streetabillity and not racing...
Remember that I am have to be cheap on this project...

After Shark

I would go with a top end kit from one of the many companies like Trick flow, dart, brodix, holley, Edelbrock etc. Everything is matched and it takes alot of the guess work out of the engine project.

After all a rotating assembly is just a rotating assembly. They all are designed to make compression. All the power likes in the heads, intake and cam. Use the KISS plan on this or any othe engine.

loose nut

I am using a 268h comp cam with gm 441 heads and I am making plenty of power, can idle all day without loading up, and I can still pass any emmission test without detuning. 441 or 487 heads are a heavier older casting and are not as prone to crack but they will probably not help you gain any horsepower. Dart is the way to go if you can spare the cash.

TheKomoman

I asked Dart a couple of months back which heads they would recommend for the exact kind of goal he has in mind with his car - a nice street performer for under 5000 RPM. Their response really surprised me - they recommended the Summit brand "Fuelie" heads that are actually Iron Eagles. $650 a pair.. not nearly as much cash as the bigger Iron Eagles and lots of reports around here of excellent results with the stock L-82 cam. That's the way I'll be going.

Ganey

Start here:
Ex. is first, see Why Exhaust is problem for HP on 75-81
Many refer to it as my Exhaust topic.
http://www.corvettefaq.com/c3/ganeyexhaust.htm

At least trans. & gears are needed for cam.


Not really! What for?

DAVEWSC

the L-82 cam and the L-46 350-350hp motor used the same cam, (3896962 Hyd. 222/222 .450"/.460" 8.5:1 114 350 L-46, L-82,), the L-82 I believe had 8.5:1 compression ratio and the L-46 had 11.5:1 compression ratio, so if you changed your pistons and put some old double hump 64cc , 2.02 vavle heads on your motor, or after market heads, if you got the cash, the vortec heads out flow the old double hump heads and you dont have to worry about find a set that is not cracked, but you do have to use a special intake with the vortec heads, you should be putting out 350 hp at the flywheel, and you need a good free flowing exhaust system, I think you should change the pistons to at least 10.5:1, just my 2%

DJ Dep

For some good info instead of a load of



Just kiddin...I LOVE your "rubber baby buggy bumpers" car

Dep

GOSFAST

PS I've posted this on other sites as well as here a short while ago, but I'll give it here again. SB 355 C.I., Ross pistons (9.7:1 C.R.), #186 G.M. heads(2.020x1.600), 224/224 x .450/.460 x 114LS cam (we love this L82 grind), stock alum. intake, 650 CFM Holley carb, and "stock cast iron" exhaust manifolds, off the dyno at 360+HP @ 5900 RPM and 390+Ft.Lbs. torque @ 4000 RPM. And a "super-flat" torque curve. This motor made equivalent power to the original LT1 (higher C.R. and larger cam), but runs fine on 93. Also, just a slight correction in one of the above posts, the duration is 224/224 on the same cam I've listed here. It is an excellent "all-around" cam if you're not spending weekends at the strip. Thanks, Gary in N.Y.

kevinator80

rubber baby buggy bumpers? These are all i can afford! Does this mean you won't respect me in the morning?