spills1969

Im in the process of gettin a 77 L48, and the engine needs a tune up, well some body work as well. But I was wantin to get some Senior advice on what kinda combo I should get for an intake manifold/carb and/or cam package. Ive found the Edelbrock performer w/o EGR pretty good lookin, but I didnt know what else there was out there, and how much hp/tq gains Ill get from it. And as for the cam, I want a bit of a "lopey" idle, but nuthin that sounds like a top fuel, ya know? just something that sounds raunchier than stock. Ive seen the cam specs, but it might as wel be German, cuz I got no idea what they all mean! Can neone help with some of this?

BTW: Its got either 48k or 148k miles, so Im pretty sure its gonna need some more parts, but I figure this will get me started.

74 vert

Welcome to the Forum. I'm not an expert, but you should be able to get some fine answers on how to spend some $$$ here. Anyway, hold tight you should get a lot of replies.
:seeya

Ryan77

Edelbrock makes some pretty good packages or you could mix and match your own. If it were me I'd go with the Edelbrock Performer RPM package. But, I don't think the RPM package would mix very well with the stock cylinder heads and compression ratio. It all depends on much you want to spend and what you want to do with the car. If you want some real horsepower, go with the RPM intake/carb/cam package and also get the RPM cylinder heads with the 64cc combustion chambers. This will give you the airflow that the cam/intake package needs and also more compression. It will require atleast 89 octane, maybe even 91+. Edelbrock says that it idles very well too, but you'll know there's a cam in it. If you just want to cruise around town and just have a little more power than stock, than the Performer intake/carb/cam package would work fine. It will run on 87 octane fuel and you won't notice the idle at all. Like I said, if it were me I'd go with the RPM package, it's a great package for a street car and will make very good power :cheers:


[Modified by Ryan77, 4:42 PM 1/1/2004]

BSeery

Edelbrock intake, 650 CFM Edelbrock carb, and a cam not more than a 268.

If you had the extra money, drop in a set of 64 or 58 CC heads, a higher stall torque converter, and exhaust and you would have a nice little rocket.

spills1969

Dang, thanx for all the replies guys!

Well, as for money, Im willing to put in bout 2-3k, but ima need to get a front clip put on, and some paint. So thats drops it down a bit. But Im probably gonna end up puttin in more money than I want.

As for the idle of the cam, I want it to sound a lil lopier than idle, but not extreme. And like I said, I dont know how to read the cam specs, or what Im lookin for to get that idle. Im wantin to get around 300 hp, so i might have to spend a bit to get that. And considering I dont know for sure yet how many miles are on the engine, I might have to rebuild the whole thing.

And I also work at a GM dealer, so I can get a discount on GM Performance parts, so if there are any in particular parts that get really good gains, I can probably get a good deal on those. I am usually too busy to ask the parts guys what I can get, so I was thinkin u guys might know of some.

Faster & Faster

If you have a 77-L48 why the 1969 in your name, we get easily confused here.

spills1969

lol, ya sorry guys, its an inside joke Ive had with my friends for a while. Ive had it for a while, and I make it my u/n everywhere so I dont have soo many that I forget em all.

dogboy

What kind of gears do you have in the rear? Auto or stick shift? Stall convertor stock? Exhaust stock with cats or true duels? This can make a difference in cam choice. Look up a search for "cams". This will give you some ideas. I have a summit K 1103 that might help you with that "idle ". I have the cam & lifters that were taken out of my motor with only 1'000 miles on it. I kept the lifters in order so they can be installed to the proper lobes again. I paid about $80. for it + shipping. I can give it you for $50. If you want. This is about as large as you may want to go with a stock L 48.

Ryan77

:iagree: , I forgot to add this to my post. With the complete RPM package you'd benefit from a higher stall converter. True duals is also a good addition to any vette, even a stock one. I think my exhaust cost me between $600-700 installed. I used Hedman ceramic coated headers, 2.5" pipe, no cats, an X-pipe, and Flowmaster 40 series mufflers, so you can definately get an exhaust put on cheaper than what it cost me. If you work for a GM dealer and can get performance parts cheaper, by all means go that route. In that case, I'd go with the RPM package, but use the GM Fastburn heads instead. This is assuming you're using a manual trans or a auto with a big enough stall convertor, and plan on upgrading the exhaust if it's stock. I think it would be hard to achieve 300hp if you're using a stock exhaust and cylinder heads. You also said you're motor might need a complete rebuild. If thats the case, and you obviously want more power, and you can get GM performance parts at a discount price, I'd say ditch the L-48 all together and get a ZZ4 crate motor or a "deluxe" 350 HO. The ZZ4 will give you aluminum heads and 355hp, and the 350 HO has iron heads and 330hp, and the motor would easily be tame enough to drive everyday, not to mention it comes with a warranty.
Check this link out
http://www.gmpartsdepot.com/store/ca...&Category_ID=7
There are several pages so look through them and see what you might like. And I'm sure you'd get a discount on those prices too :cheers:



[Modified by Ryan77, 4:40 PM 1/2/2004]

GrandSportC3

If you are going to stay with the stock heads.. you won't get much more "bang" with intake & cam.. Well - the intake might help.. but it doesn't make sense to go with a really nice cam if you stay with stock heads.. Maybe you'll get 5 - 10 horsepower more... but that's about it... If you want REAL performance - you need to go with different heads...

Ganey

Correct. Step 1 is giving the setup to match to.
Correct again, a search on cam or cams can help.

Ganey

Actually, it's the intake which may add only a few HP. For example a Performer 2101 may add about 15 w/ a stock cam.

The cam is the engine's mechanical "program" & can make a day & night difference esp. w/ a high C/R & manual trans. where one is not limited by a stock converter stall, which could be changed.
When I started out I have made 2 major changes including cam & blew away cars w/ 50%+ C.I. ! Stock carb, intake, heads & rockers,C/R, ex. manifolds, trans., no blower, no nitrous, etc.. Engine appeared pure stock w/ an aftermarket air filter!

how much hp can I expect from cam swap http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=169787
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=299061
Note comments at end from Barry's70LT1
"Having "upgraded" many small block engines in the '70s, the best
"bang for the buck" is a cam and headers. Then carb/intake.
The "least" return on investment (power gains) are heads.
Thanks
Barry"
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=207787

Suggest Increase Power

:cool: