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This thread is for all of you who have questioned whether to build your own engine, have a shop build one, or just buy a crate engine. It chronicles the build process I went through building my own engine a couple of years ago. This was the first Chevy engine I had ever built and it was accomplished with the help of some very knowledgeable friends.
Ultimately the decision to build my own engine was based on two factors. First, I wanted to do the engine the way I wanted and I had friends who could help me do it. Second, I am on a limited budget and wanted to keep the cost as reasonable as possible without compromising my goals.
A street engine from a recognized builder in my local area runs around $10,000. A zz383 crate engine runs $6300 (Jegs). I was able to build my equivalent for $3621 which included a full day custom dyno session at a local racing engine shop ($500). Without the dyno, I spent about half what a zz383 would cost. And the results were significant: 442 horsepower and 471 ft lb of torque. Not bad for what my son-in-law called, “a greasy hung of iron dragged out of the u-pull-it.”
My overall goal for the engine was to build a solid long-lasting street motor that would make as much power as I could afford (400+hp was the goal) and fit under the stock hood of a ’76 Vette. I also wanted the sound of the L79 I nearly bought back in the mid-seventies, and I wanted to use a period block for the build which ruled out a later model transplant. Why the period block? My original plan was to build a stock looking motor with the correct numbers. Ultimately I was not willing to make the horsepower sacrifice that a stock appearing motor would require and made a few modifications to the original plan.
I was also able to use many upgraded parts for my engine through diligent searches, sales, and even a bit of horse trading. How long did it take? The actual engine build took about a year and a half. And I lost track of all the hours that I put into it. Let’s just say it was a substantial part of my life for the time I was working on it. But in the end I was pleased with the results. And I hope that the chronicle of the journey will help someone else.
Now before I even begin I am sure that many who read my posts will have different opinions. That’s fine with me. My motto is: MY CAR = MY OPINION, YOUR CAR = YOUR OPINION, EVERYONE IS HAPPY.
So to start, I am posting my build sheet for the engine including costs, and the dyno sheet from B&B Racing Engines. I also included a picture of the engine dyno session. Once Adobe gets their act together I will post a video of part of the dyno session. I hope my journey benefits someone else. Step by step posts of the process will follow.
Very nice results for the budget of the build!It will be night and day from where you started.Half the fun of these cars is putting your personal touch on them.
I got a used 383 stroker from a guy who wrecked his truck. His brakes went out and he used a tree to stop. I got it for $1K. I kept the stock heads and just spend time porting it. That engine has some serious power. No comparison to a stock 350, from that same era, with same heads.
SUBBING! My block is at the machine shop now, prepping for a 383 build.
I don't know where I am going to go with it yet so the parts list you posted will likely be referenced often. I have similar HP goals.
Very nice story and numbers for that money. I went down a similar path with my stock 78 L-82 and wanted to keep it as stock as possible. Original L-82 block, OEM reconditioned forged L-82 rods, OEM reconditioned forged L-82 crank, OEM L-82 intake, etc. I did the removal, some of the disassembly, reassembly after the block was bored .030, new JE forged racing pistons (9:1), Howards roller cam .525 lift, AFR 180 64 CC heads, etc 10.2:1 total compression from the new L-82 355 which puts out probably more HP than most 383's BUT cost me $6K to do it. Great job on your 383. My engine pretty much looks like a stock L-82 from 2 feet away unless you spot the aluminum AFR heads.
Very nice story and numbers for that money. I went down a similar path with my stock 78 L-82 and wanted to keep it as stock as possible. Original L-82 block, OEM reconditioned forged L-82 rods, OEM reconditioned forged L-82 crank, OEM L-82 intake, etc. I did the removal, some of the disassembly, reassembly after the block was bored .030, new JE forged racing pistons (9:1), Howards roller cam .525 lift, AFR 180 64 CC heads, etc 10.2:1 total compression from the new L-82 355 which puts out probably more HP than most 383's BUT cost me $6K to do it. Great job on your 383. My engine pretty much looks like a stock L-82 from 2 feet away unless you spot the aluminum AFR heads.
Congrats on getting it built the way you wanted it. One thing I didn't mention is the feeling you get when an engine YOU built gets fired up on the dyno and shakes the walls. That is only exceed by the relief when they finish the dyno session and the engine is still in one piece.
But as my wife noted, "Better to blow it up on the dyno than in the car!"
I am running antique plates but as long as no one pulls the hood on mine I will be good. That may change when I get the new engine in as I am not sure I will be content to drive it just on the weekend. The police in our area are not too diligent about enforcing the "un-modified engine clause." I saw an Anglia drag car at a recent cruise-in running antique plates. He had a supercharger sticking out of the hood.
SUBBING! My block is at the machine shop now, prepping for a 383 build.
I don't know where I am going to go with it yet so the parts list you posted will likely be referenced often. I have similar HP goals.
Let me know if you need any further info on the parts. I did a lot of research trying to get something that I was sure I would be absolutely happy with. There will be a lot more information in future posts.
The key to my horsepower figures was the heads. The HVH heads are based on a ported version of the Edelbrock E-TEC 170. With some help from a friend at HVH (High Velocity Heads), they were custom ported for my build. Also matched to the intake and headers. That info will be in future posts as well.
I got a used 383 stroker from a guy who wrecked his truck. His brakes went out and he used a tree to stop. I got it for $1K. I kept the stock heads and just spend time porting it. That engine has some serious power. No comparison to a stock 350, from that same era, with same heads.
You were definitely at the right place at the right time! I really am looking forward to getting mine in the car. Right now it has the original engine running on 7 1/2 cylinders. I think #5 has a burnt valve. But so far as I can tell it has never been out of the car. Even at its best, the original engine was pretty weak. Add 40 years and it is time for some work.
Hi MBHNM,
Thanks for sharing this is the kind of tech that a member can find with the search. I Built my dart 400" and it cost me about double that, When I was looking to do a 383" it would have cost $10k up here, but everything is more expensive in the AK. Once again thanks for sharing and looks like you have a fun engine there.
I got my 76 cheap. It had some minor body damage on the right side and I was told the engine was had been replaced. But it ran, in fact I drove it all the way home. Doing some research on the car, I found that the seller had been wrong about the engine. The engine was original, all the numbers matched, and it appeared to have never been out of the car. It was the transmission that had been replaced.
Even though the 1976 engine with those terrible smog heads has never been much sought after, I opted to keep the numbers matching engine as is and build a replacement engine using a period block.
I love the U-Pull so that is where I started looking for blocks. Found two from the right time period and the correct block casting (3970010), both out of Chevy trucks. (Note: Truck engines of the period tend to have four bolt mains.) My sons-in-law, Manuel and Justin, helped me pull one engine, the other was already out. $50 apiece. I disassembled the blocks in a few hours and recycled all the old parts, I was not planning to use anything but the blocks.
(Note: You can have a two bolt main converted with splay-cap mains, and if done right it will take more abuse that a 4 bolt main, but it does add extra cost).
I sent the blocks to B&R Machine here in Knoxville. Bill, the owner, is a good friend of Joe Martin whom I enlisted to help me with the build. Joe is retired now but used to be the sales manager at High Velocity Heads here in Knoxville. Joe has built a number of these engines from 357 all the way up to 409, all over 400hp.
(Note: When picking a machine shop check around with some knowledgeable car guys at a cruise-in, local Vette club, or racing event. Find out who they have used and their experience. Not all machine shops are equal. The guy down the road may be cheap – on not -- but what is the quality of his work? Do your research first. B&R does a wide variety of engines for racing and you pretty much have to have an appointment to get your work done. All good signs).
Bill checked the blocks over and found problems with one, but the other was good so he machined that one for me. And he did all the proper prep so that I could build it as a 383 which – Joe told me – could be done as cheaply as a 350.
(Note: Bill says many of these blocks have cracks after nearly 40 years so you probably want to have any block you get checked in case you need to do a return. We had to hot tank both my blocks to find the crack in one, and I am not sure I would have found it even after it was cleaned.)
The machine work included boring the cylinders 30 over, line boring the crank journals, clearancing the engine for a 3.75 crank and decking the block. He also installed ARP main studs in place of bolts. As soon as we got the block back, we greased the cylinder bores and began painting.
Engines in 1976 Corvettes were Chevy orange so that was the color I went with using the POR-15 engine paint system. POR-15 is pricey but pretty much impervious to anything short of a nuclear meltdown. So I ordered the kit. I was a little concerned about using a brush on paint system to paint the engine, but had heard that POR-15 is hard to spray, so I tried the brush.
With POR-15 you have to clean the block with special cleaner, etch with a solution, apply the base coat and when it is just about dry apply the top coat. I opted for a double top coat for insurance.
I would rate the quality of the paint job as an 8 out of ten. There are some imperfections which you would expect using a brush but nothing you can see unless you get up close. The good thing is that the orange really pops! Much better than the blocks I have seen with the typical engine spray paint. I presume this is because of the silver base coat you put on before the orange.
Overall I am very happy with the POR-15 and would probably do it again. While experimenting with some other parts I found that you can thin POR-15 enough to spray it and the results are exceptional. The next block I do I will definitely spray!
After a couple of days for paint to cure, it went back to B&R for cam bearings and brass freeze plugs (Bill’s recommendation).
Sorry for the delay in getting this next segment up. I had to dig up some files and find time to put it all together.
I forgot to put this in the last post, mea culpa! Before you launch out and buy a block for your project, you might want to consider what camshaft you want to use. My aim was to use a period 010 block so that meant flat tappet camshaft. You can get roller cam kits to retrofit the 010 block but they are a lot more expensive that just buying a later roller cam block to begin with (87 and up). My people say that flat tappets are good up to about 0.5” lift, more than that and you need a roller. I’ll talk more about that when we get to the camshaft selection.
An important consideration before you start picking parts is checking for compression. If you want to run regular gas (87 octane) you probably want a lower compression ratio. You also want lower compression if you are planning a turbo or supercharger. According to my sources, you can run up to 10.3 to 1 running premium (93 octane) pump gas. If you want to go higher than that you are looking at buying race gas which is pretty expensive (see www.sunocoracingfuels.com).
There is a lot of discussion online about what various compression ratios will tolerate what octane level. Planned usage should probably guide your selection. I want to use commonly available pump premium. In fact, my engine was dynoed on 93 octane from Wal-Mart and my final calculated static compression ratio came out at 10.14 to 1.
There are any number of compression calculators on line, static and dynamic. There is an extensive discussion of static and dynamic compression at the following site:
You will need the following information to run compression calculations: Bore (In.), Stroke (In.), Cylinder Head Volume (cc), Piston Dome Volume (cc), Deck Clearance (In.), and Gasket Thickness (In.). I am not going to go into detail about calculating compression ratio since there is plenty of help available on the Internet.
You may want to consider some engine software in your planning process. I have used two: CamQuest6 and DynoSim5. CamQuest 6 is a free tool from Comp Cams and is very useful for those on a low budget. The main limitation is that it only works if you chose to use a Comp Cams camshaft. You can put in flow data for your heads which is a helpful feature, but it is very limited when it comes to intake and exhaust manifold selections.
One of the best resources for cylinder head data is Stan Weiss’ database at
You can look up a wide variety of cylinder heads in the table or buy a file of head info. Even has a test file to download if you want to test which file format works with your software. Since I already planned which heads I was going to use and had all the data on them, I did not purchase additional files from the site.
The other program that I have used is DynoSim5. It is a much more in depth program for which you can purchase a cam data disk or input info for any camshaft. It still has some limitations on intake and exhaust. DynoSim5 is about $100 and the cam data file about $50. DynoSim provides a much more detailed output file that allows you to see what the engine is doing at various rpm levels, a function that is missing in CamQuest. DynoSym also has a ProData tab which allows you to see calculated power and engine pressures. The only flaw that I found in DynoSim is that it tended to overestimate the torque on my engine.
I have included samples from both programs on my final engine configuration. If you get good representative numbers input into the program, you are probably going to get fairly accurate results. The problem is the limitations on intake and exhaust selection, especially intake. Except for the limited data on specific intakes in the program (neither had my Weiand Stealth), you are left to choose between single plane and dual plane and either standard, high, and maximum flow. I found the best results on my build using the high flow setting for the Stealth.
One thing that dyno software WILL allow you to do is to run comparison of various engine setups and cam configurations to hone in on the camshaft you really want. My impression is that the software is probably more accurate for comparative data than for the ultimate output of the engine.
Included with this post are screen shots for each program with my final data included. My suggestion would be to download CamQuest6 first and try it out. Then you can spend some money on DynoSim5 if you find too many limitations in CamQuest. Keep in mind there are a lot of other and more expensive options out there for dyno software. You can spend as much as you want.
ct using a brush but nothing you can see unless you get up close. The good thing is that the orange really pops!
Thier orange looks incredible
I used thier platinum back in 2000 it still looks like new no chips nothing even lasted throught the machine shop in a rebuild. Get asked a lot if its an aluminum block
I had my 406 short block rebuilt with new cast crank, rods, forged pistons new bearings, cam/lifter/spring kit for a little more than a 383 with hyper pistons. While money was tight I still wanted the extra cubes and couldn't justify spending the same amount of money for a smaller engine.
I spent probably a couple of months deciding on which rotating assemble to use. The “Claimer” assemblies were the cheapest but have to be balanced before they are installed, an additional $200. I want an engine capable of 6500rpm, so I want it to be balanced.
The next level of rotating assembly is for street rods (Eagle = Street Performance). It has better quality pistons and parts and you can buy the kit already balanced (look for the “B” in front of the Eagle part number). I could not find a street performance assembly that had exactly the right combination I wanted.
I finally settled on the third level, a street/strip assembly from Eagle. Joe has had good experience with them and their B13005E kit (you can look it up at Eaglerod.com) had everything I wanted. This included really nice Keith Black hypereutectic pistons, forged rods, and a cast crank good for 500hp. Estimated compression ratio for the combo on my engine was 10:3 to 1 which is in the range I was looking for. It also was for the 010 block with the two piece rear main seal.
(Note: There are other options out there. I have heard mixed reports of people buying kits from various sources including Eagle. Do your research and make your choice. Joe has built a number of these engines using Eagle parts and has had no problems.)
Forged or Hypereutectic pistons? According to my sources forged pistons are necessary for turbo or supercharged engines and are recommended for high compression (11+) or high horsepower applications. Forged pistons are able to withstand more heat and pressure than hypereutectic pistons, but they also have different warming characteristics which can produce initial “piston slap” (rattling in the bore) until they are warmed up. According to Bill at B&R he uses different boring clearances for hypereutectic and forged pistons. So you probably want to have your piston type selected BEFORE you send your block to the machine shop.
5.7 or 6.0” rods. There is a lot of debate out there about 5.7 or 6.0 rods. Ultimately I decided that for my build there was not a significant difference between the two and opted for 5.7.
Once you cross the 500 horsepower line things really start to get expensive. The crank has to be forged which is about 3 times as expensive and you have to start looking at things like H-beam rods and also forged pistons. As an example, a top line street/strip rotating assembly with a cast crank (500 hp) goes for around $850. The next step up with a forged crank is $1750. And there is not really a step in between.
Crank horsepower capacity. Again, according to my sources, a first gen (through 1991) cast Chevy crank is good for about 350 horsepower (at the flywheel). Yes, your engine may stay together with more but if you spend $5000 on an engine do you want to take a chance on breaking a crank? Aftermarket cast cranks are available from a variety of manufacturers rated between 400 and 500 horsepower. Forged cranks are available to go up to any hp you want to make … or pay for!. What about factory first gen forged cranks? In general they are lower quality than the forged cranks you get now and are heavier. Metallurgy has improved in the last 50 years!
Once you pass 400hp – I am told -- the problem is getting it to the ground. There might be bragging rights to having a 700hp engine but you probably won’t get near that much to the ground without a lot of drivetrain modifications. There is a local fellow here who has a twin turbo V8 S10 running about 700hp. It is primarily good for polishing off a set of rear tires every weekend!
Keep in mind that mid to late c3’s generally came with less than 200 horsepower and GM downgraded some of the parts accordingly. Put 400+ horsepower to a drivetrain designed for 200 and you might as well expect problems. Double the risk factor if your drivetrain is 35+ years old. The things you want to consider are your transmission, torque converter, universal joints, and differential. I am planning to replace all of these in my car. My choices will follow in future posts.
I thought long and hard about getting the internally balanced assembly rather than the externally balanced one. But the internally balanced crank is only good for 400hp and I was aiming for 450. This is because internal balancing is generally accomplished by drilling holes in the crank and inserting heavy or “Mallory” metal. Generally 350 based rotating assemblies are internally balanced and 400’s are externally balanced and include a balancer and flexplate. If you want to find more information about engine balancing check the Eagle Specialty Products webpage below.
Another consideration I looked at was to order individual parts and have them balanced at a shop here. Ultimately I decided there wasn’t enough benefit to that option (or savings) and opted to buy a complete rotating assembly ready to bolt in. I am told that a pre-balanced rotating assembly is not as precise as one balanced in a local shop, but all recommendations were that it would be close enough for my planned use of the engine.
I ordered the rotating assembly from Summit Racing (have had good service with them) and waited with anticipation. Came home a few days later to find the box standing on end in the yard. Looked like the UPS guy had just backed up and dumped it out of the truck. The wife and I were leaving the next morning on a trip, if I had not found it the box would have sat out in the rain all weekend.
Joe came over to inspect everything. Although the box was damaged the parts seemed unscathed. That is more than I can say for the UPS guy if I ever find out which one did it….
(Note: Later when we mounted the starter we found that the flex plate was tweaked and not running true. Probably a result of the delivery experience….. Replacing the flex plate was a simple fix and the new one. I went with the TCI 399373, some have reported problems but mine was perfect.)
A lot of guys building a sbc pick a high flow oil pump reasoning that more (30%) is better. But there is a rumor floating around the Internet (and the Forum) that a high flow oil pump can suck the pan dry and starve the engine. So some research was in order.
Knowledgeable oil pump people said it was impossible to pump the pan dry (too much return area in the engine) but they did agree that a high capacity pump could lower the level in the pan.
If you have a 5 quart Chevy system that is running, you can expect ½ to 1qt in the filter, 2 circulating in the engine and 2 in the pan. But if you use a high capacity pump, happen to be low on oil, and take off or corner suddenly you can push the oil away from the pickup and toast the engine. Most racing pans have extra capacity and containment doors to keep the pickup submerged in oil.
There is also a question in some circles about pumping the oil sump dry with a high pressure oil pump. Bill (B&R Machine) says he has been in business for 35 years and has never seen it happen.
I wanted to go with a stock pan to keep the engine looking original but according to my sources, the stock oil pan is the primary problem in the oil starvation equation. One guy said, "Why spend thousands on an engine and put a $30 oil pan on it?" Made sense to me.
So I began looking for a high capacity pan made to address the oil starvation issue. Problem is that C3 Corvette pans are 7 or 7 1/4" deep (depending on who you talk to) and most high capacity pans are 8"+. Since the one on my car is already dinged, I didn't want a pan hanging down an extra inch.
The pan most Corvette guys like is the Canton Corvette road race pan. It is 7" deep but did not offer a pickup for the oil pump I wanted to use. And it was almost $400 so that ended that.
I did find that Canton made a drag race pan with a crank scraper, windage tray, and baffle system to control oil movement that was only 7 1/2" deep. And it was less than half the price of the road race version (#13-120, $200 when I bought mine). For $200 I can live with an extra ½”.
Canton also offered a pickup for the oil pump I wanted to use (#20-021 for M10552 Melling). So the Canton drag pan got the nod. The pan holds 6 quarts so very little likelihood of running out of oil (unless you are planning to do autocross or road racing). For comparison, the ZZ383 comes with a four quart pan.
I also did a lot of research on oil pumps. A lot of people use Melling's basic oil pump (M55) either in the standard version or the high flow. But I found several guys who had ruined engines when the oil pump casting cracked (Joe confirmed this was a common problem with dirt track racers). So I decided to go with the heavy duty version (Melling 10552). Comparing the two pumps, the most obvious difference is the heavier casting on the 10552.
I also opted for a slightly higher flow than stock (10%) and high pressure spring since I am aiming for 6500 rpm. According to my sources, it is best to run 1psi for every hundred rpms you are planning. The Melling ultimately worked out great, running 62psi and up from 4000 rpm on the dyno. If you don’t want to run high pressure Melling offers spring kits to convert it to a lower pressure.
Ron (Engine assembler at B&R who builds racing engines) recommended using a racing oil filter. He said with a high pressure pump and cold oil a factory type filter can blow the element on startup. That was a good tip to know. I chose to go with a Wix 51069R. As you can see from the pictures, the standard 51069 flows 9-11 gpm, the 51069R flows 28 gpm.
Cam selection. That was quite a dilemma. There are literally thousands of different choices available. I ultimately settled on Comp Cams for three reasons: 1) Joe had dealt with them at HVH, 2) they offer an updated version of the L79 camshaft from the 1960’s, and 3) I really like their free CamQuest6 software.
From the beginning my goal was to try to build an engine that sounded like the L79 327 350hp Corvette engine. I almost bought a 68 Corvette with that engine years ago but decided at the time I could not afford it. You can look up L79 videos on YouTube and listen to the sound. I love it.
When I found Comp Cams makes an updated version of the same cam I was hooked. And when I entered all my specs the L79 cam made as much or more horsepower as any of the viable options. Another thing I like about Comp Cams L79 is that it is low lift, (about .46"). That allows you to use a little lighter spring which means less wear on the lifter lobes. My sources recommended keeping the lift down to 0.5” or less with a flat tappet cam.
I don't know if you are aware of it or not, but in the last few years the government has changed the specs on oil and reduced the amount of zinc allowed in engine oil by about 75%. Zinc is the primary component that protects flat tappet lifters. Most modern cars use roller lifters so this is not a problem. But if you have an older vehicle it can cause the lifters to wear prematurely.
The primary reason for reducing the zinc is that it is hard on catalytic converters. Some guys were using diesel oil which until recently still had a high zinc level; but now that has changed too. There seem to be some formulations, like 10w40 or high mileage formulas, which still have higher zinc. But you have to check to see … or run a zinc additive.
Concerning lifters, Joe has used the Comp Cams High Energy lifters (#812) on test engines up to 7000 rpm. Since I was hoping for 6500, those should do the job. If you want extra insurance you can go with Comp Cams Pro Magnum (#858).
I also elected to go with roller rocker arms to reduce friction and load on the valve train. I opted for Comp Cams High Energy die-cast aluminum rocker arms (#17001-16) as a reasonably priced selection. If I was using higher lift or stronger valve springs I might have chosen a more expensive model. But with 0.46 lift and single beehive springs, the die-cast units should work without a problem. Joe recommended 3/8 studs for my build. Again, low spring pressure and valve lift made 7/16 unnecessary.
As a neophyte my inclination was towards heavier and even dual valve springs. And if you are aiming for high rpm those are useful. But Joe said the philosophy at HVH was to use what you needed and only what you needed for a given application. This is especially important with flat tappet cams since greater valve spring pressure equals greater cam wear.
Joe recommend CompCams beehive springs (#26981-16). They are good for up to .525 lift and have a 110# seat load. There are two benefits to beehive springs. First, they taper at the top meaning the retainer and lock mechanism are lighter reducing moving weight in the drive train. The tapered spring also provides some dampening effect on valve harmonics.
Let’s talk for a minute about other cam options. As I mentioned previously, I chose to go with a period block. That meant flat tappet cam unless I opted for aftermarket roller lifters. My thinking is if you want roller lifters you should go with a factory roller block and if you go with roller lifters, the sky is pretty much the limit on cams. The ZZ383 comes with a roller cam with 0.509 intake lift and 0.528 exhaust lift. You can go a lot higher.
The only other cam I seriously considered was Comp Cams XE274H (#12-246-3). It has a higher lift than the N+L79H (#12-671-4) and would have increased hp by about 10 and tq by about 4. The lift, however, is pretty much flat tappet max at 0.490 intake and exhaust. It also probably wouldn’t have the same sound so I stuck with the L79 as the best choice for my engine.
A word of warning. It is very easy to get bit by the horsepower bug when you are building your engine. Maximum horsepower = bragging rights! But after the dyno is done you still have to live with the engine. Joe made the mistake of putting too hot a cam in a 355 he built for his Chevy Malibu. It sounded mean and could really wind up, but it was so difficult to drive on the street that he ultimately sold it.
So as you are working through your build keep the planned use of your engine in mind. For a street engine you want something that can pull from low rpms, idles decently, and has high enough vacuum to operate accessories. The more radical a cam you select the less pleasant an engine is to drive on the street.
Of course, lift is not the only variable you want to consider in camshaft selection; duration, overlap, lobe separation, centerlines, etc. are all important considerations. If you want to get into camshaft theory, you probably want to check out David Vizard’s work. A good place to start is an article he wrote in 2006 for Hot Rod Magazine called “Be the Camshaft Expert.” You can find it at the following url:
I am happy with my Comp Cams N+L79H. The sound was exactly what I wanted, the power is great, and it is about as low lift as you can get in a performance cam.
For a street engine you want something that can pull from low rpms, idles decently, and has high enough vacuum to operate accessories. The more radical a cam you select the less pleasant an engine is to drive on the street.
This quote was the exact philosophy I used when selected the Howards Roller cam for my 78 L-82 355 with the AFR 180 65 CC heads and 10.2:1 compression...the cam had to idle as good as my stock L-82 cam, but have good bottom end power, very strong mid range torque with very good high RPM HP, all under 6,000 RPM with the usable power in the 2,500-5,000 RPM range where the engine spends most of its time. The Howards Roller cam with .525/.525, duration 219/225, LSA110 (operating range 1,500-5,600 RPM) gives the L-82 355 these exact characteristics (the idle is better than the stock L-82 engine too)....I debated over 1 year before I went roller and Howards. I appreciate your experience. I could not be happier with my end results. My car is a 4 speed with 3.70 gears.
I know you are looking for a cam similar to the L79 with the same sound but see the comp cams duration is 229/236 which will bias the power to upper mid range/high RPM, correct? Also, wouldn't a tighter LSA of 110 instead of 112 concentrate power more in the mid range? I am no cam expert but just on my research and experience with my 355 I ask the question....looking for your thoughts on how you selected that particular cam...more for informational purposes than anything else
10-15-2015, 03:40 PM
383 Engine Build for 1976
