SteveG75

All right, here is the situation:

Dropped off the old L-48 at the machine shop today.

Rebuild to a 355 with:
New rotating assembly with nodular crank, balanced.
Ported Performer RPM heads. Forgot planning 9.5:1 compression so can run pump gas easily (even 89 octane if necessary).

Car will be running a Performer 2101 manifold for clearance (and because I already have it) with a Q-Jet and Dynomax headers. Super T-10 with a 2.64 first, 3.36 rear end gears. Anticipate a 6000 redline with new engine.

Usage is true daily driving in the nicer months with a cross country moving (driving the car) already set for June/July. BTW car turns approx 3200 rpm at 75 mph.

So: XE262 218/224 @.050, .462/.469 lift
Or: XE268 224/230 @.050, .477/.480 lift

Builder will install any flat tappet cam without changing $$$. BTW: for the curious, total was $3579 with machining, all new sheetmetal (pan, cover), heads, cam, and balanced rotating assembly using my block with a limited (of course) lifetime guarantee.


[Modified by SteveG75, 8:16 PM 1/21/2002]

Gameshow Bob

Out of those two I would vote 268, but the 274 works great for me!

Smokehouse69

If you had an automatic and a 3.08 rearend I'd suggest the XE262, with your manual and rearend, the XE268 should be good.

VegasJen

after doing some research i think gamshow bob may be right. i was looking through the summit and jegs catalog and edelbrock tests their RPM heads with a 284/294 cam. maybe the xe268 would be the minimum choice and as bob said maybe the 274 would be better. always keep this in mind though, you can always size up with 1.6 or 1.7 ratio rockers but you can't size down!

Gary79

with manual tranny i'd go with xe 268. i have an auto trans and used the xe262 and i'm satisfied. your engine will be similiar to mine,except the machine shop re-used my crank and massaged the original heads.they also had to plane them and i use 87 octane,non-gasohol. i only had a problem with knock about a month ago,change in gas formula for winter driving, i guess,because my 94 Sub knocked a little also. i paid about $2100 for my rebuild.

Matt Gruber

these cams sacrifice mpg for power. If poor mpg is ok, then get the 268. :cheers:

mountainmotor

Your 9.5 compression says XE262.Even if you had 3.55 gears with that 4 spd the 262 will run better in my opinion.With the unported stock heads compression and Quadrajet I think you will be happier with the XE262 in the long run and will not give up any low or midrange power to the other cam.

1/4 mile drag race between the to cams = a win for the XE262

Alwyn678

Do you have the article?? i would love to see it..I am running a 284 Blue racer cam and I am Extremely happy with the power I am making

VegasJen

alwyn678, it wasn't really an article. if you have either the summit or jegs catalog, you can find it. it is just the combination that edelbrock uses in their ad for the performer RPM heads.

KenSny

I guess everybody's definition of "daily driving" is different. But IMHO a XE274 is a bit much for every day driving...... It performs well from mid-range to high rpms, so if you are not going from stop-light to stop-light in traffic then I guess it would be fine, but it sure seems to not have much oomph down low.
Whereas the XE262 has a lot of oomph down low.


[Modified by KenSny, 8:17 AM 1/23/2002]

73 Teach's Pet

I have the 262 cam which is topped off with 3x2's on my 355. I chose this cam to keep my torque in the lower RPM range, which is where I want my power. The 3x2 intake matches the cam rpm rating very well, they both top off at 5500. Rarely do I actually use or need my torque band in the higher rpm range.
Go smaller, rather than larger. Its better to get your car running and want to change it later because you want to improve the performance, rather than the bummer that it was just rebuilt and your not happy with the way it runs, after you just spent tons of funds, feeling like you need to change the cam right away to be satisfied.
Also, I would suggest using a 2 piece timing chain cover so you don't have to drop the steering linkage and oil pan, if you do forsee that in the future you might be doing a cam swap. The money spent on the chain cover can often cover 1/2 the cost of the oil pan gaskets later.
Be cool!
"TEACH"