Shark Racer

With an otherwise stock L-48 and limited by budget I'd go w/ the K1102 summit cam or an XE256H. Particularly with those rear gears. Just looking at the graph for the XE256H tells me you're shifting power up out of the comfort zone of the build.

Shark Racer

Actually, I'm kind of liking the XE250H for this application:
http://www.compcams.com/Technical/Dy...50H-10_001.asp


And for completeness' sake, the XE256H:
http://www.compcams.com/Technical/Dy...56H-10_001.asp


So yeah, all said I think I'd go w/ the XE250H. When the budget opens up, he can go bigger. This cam should enhance the torque of the car everywhere and add just a little bit more upper RPM power.

wilcar

Isky 262 supercam with 208-208 on a 108 lsa is a good cam for low c.r. 350. Had a friend use one in a stock 350 in an el camino and it had much better low and mid range and actually got decent gas mileage too.

diehrd

Leave it alone ..You will be lucky to get 200hp with a cam only change .

My point of reference is the L82 which required Different heads and cam to make 225

jb78L-82

My stock L-82 with no emissions and dual exhaust produced 233 RWHP on the dyno and forum member Karol's L-82 with stock heads and unknown cam with 2.5 inch dual exhaust produced 248 RWHP on the same dyno. 233 RWHP and 248 RWHP equates to about 275 Net HP and 290 Net HP versus the stock L-82's 220-250 (1974 L-82, the last year with true duals) Net HP.

Lobzila

I am a big block guy, kind of. But as my engine builder told me when I had my motor built, unless you get it to breathe, its really not going to do much.
I know your budget is 200.00, but speed is a question of money, how fast can he go? If your cam change gains you only 10-15% hp increase, it seems like spending that would be better spent tuning it and making it run better would get you the same results.
Good luck.

lionelhutz

I agree that using house brand parts like this is your only option to do it with a $200 budget because you will need the gaskets, timing set and valve springs as a minimum on top of the cam and lifter kit. Are you planning to ship to the border and pick it up because shipping across the border will add a fair bit.

I also think the XE268 cam is just too big for the rest of the combo. If you had more stall and more rear gear you could probably pull it off but not with what you've got right now. A cam with the intake duration somewhere around 210* @ 0.050" lift is likely about the most that should be used.

bluedawg

If you go any larger than 262 advertised you pay for it with little or no bottom end, for a 200$ upgrade in an l48, there is hardly anything besides a curve kit and tune up. You can get a cam kit and a new cam if the right cam would make a difference, but given stock heads, low compression, stock stall converter and high way gears any thing more than the xe262h would hurt horse power and the xe262h would be on the high side. I get that your friend only has a small amount of money to improve his ride, but with the existing parts anything past mild will make a doggy ride. The xe256h will improve low end torque and won't require after market improvements to show gains.

jb78L-82

One of the first motors I modified in the mid 80's was a late 70's 350 L-48 totally stock except for a dual exhaust, Long Tube Headers, and an Edelbrock SP2P intake ((no longer made I believe..single plane/dual plane). Frankly the engine was a dog in this configuration. In an effort to get some more power out of mill, I swapped just the stock cam, nothing else, and with a car that had a Turbo 350 auto and 3.08 gears.

The stock L-48 cam specs are:

Lift .390/.405, duration 195/202, LSA 112

I choose a comp cams 260H (this cam is still made by comp cams):

Lift .440/.440, duration 212/212, LSA110 Operating range of 1,200-5,200 RPM.

The cam transformed the engine...designed for low end grunt and good mid range power...perfect for 3.08 gears and an auto. The car was a blast to drive and MUCH better than the L-48 cam with the 260H having almost as much lift as the L-82 cam with lower duration. It can be done!

Jebbysan

A Comp XE268 is an excellent cam.....
It will give you the 30 horsepower you are looking for....
Team it with a Performer EPS intake and a quality set of headers.
You will like it a lot.

Stock heads or not...you will see improvement.
Use an Elgin spring kit and new valve seals when the cam is installed for max performance.
The Elgin Z-28 spring kit is inexpensive and perfect for .470 lift flat tappet.
A flat tappet cam is fine if broke in properly. Do not listen to naysayers....it can be done.

Jebby

diehrd

You all know his budget is 200.00 .. Oil , anti freeze , gaskets , timing chain and gears prevent getting any cam shaft LMAO ...

The Money Pit

Built many low buck 350s over the years, and from what everybody has already mentioned keeping the combination matched is the secret.

I have used Edelbrock Performer cams in the past, and believe it or not,...they work well for stock type builds. The intake duration is 204 @.050, so it's not that much bigger than stock, but it'll make a 190 hp stock engine feel like 300 hp. Throttle response, low end torque, will work well with a stock converter, and gears.

As for a $200 total budget,....I am afraid that's not going to happen these days.

Maymyvetteliveforevr

Thanks everyone for your reply.

My friend and I had a long conversation this past weekend about the cam install as well as other "wish lists"and we decided that $200.00 is no where near a realistic budget. In my opinion I'd say at least $500.00 so this is on the back burner till we review the other "to do" and "wish list" budgets.

We noticed also that the floor pan is rusted and needs to be replaced along with the carpet, so that takes priority.

Thanks again.

gdh

That's the best choice at this point Frank. Maybe there will be some good Black Friday sales and he can start putting together a well thought out combination.

Grumpy 427

I went the route of an entire engine rebuild. Dropped off the block crank and rods at the machine shop and let him do his thing. The result was 350 hp and 390 tq on the dyno. He used a comp cams dual pattern camshaft, and reworked a set of 882 truck heads. He offers this combo as a crate motor. With a Eddy dual plane and 670 holley the car is a blast to drive gets 20mpg.

bluedawg

Correct me if i am wrong, but I thought that the only differences besides the forged crank and pistons were the compression ration, aluminum intake and camshaft and I thought that both the l82 and l48 used the 882 heads. I could be real wrong about this and if so please school me as I've not ever owned a l82 but only going of what i seem to remember reading here on the forum. I only ask as now I'm confused about the topic.

Grumpy 427

Most specs i have read say the L82 had 10-20 hp more than the L-48? and the only change was a slight increase in compression. At the end of the day, you need 300 plus hp to make this car a fun car to drive. Save your money and buy a crate engine. or have local shop build one.

jb78L-82

No...There are big differences between an L-48 and an L-82 with compression being one of the smaller differences:

Most L-48's are about 35-60 HP down over an L-82. For example, a 74 L-48/L-82 rated @ 195/250 (Gross) and 78 185/220 (NET HP).

1978 L-48 versus L-82

Cam lift .390/.410 versus .450/.460
Bigger values on the 882 heads for the L-82
Compression 8.5 versus 9.0 (8.9)
Forged pistons, forged rods, forged crank versus cast iron components
Cast iron intake versus aluminum intake
and other differences...

A properly setup up L-82 (timing, emissions delete, dual exhaust/headers with freeflowing mufflers) should make about 275-280 NET HP (330 Gross HP), versus a stock components L-48 with the same mods. A stock L-48 with the same modifications should make about 225 NET HP,same as a factory L-82 with no mods. The 72 LT-1 rated as gross HP 330 was rated as 255 NET HP in 1973...same motor, almost exactly.

Grumpy 427

Oh ok your the winner. My Dodge caravan makes 250 hp with its V6, doesnt make it anymore fun to drive.

7t9l82

I agree with Jebby. One thing I would add is if someone could do some bowl work in the stock heads that would help. It isn't difficult costs basically nothing .