I recently purchased an edelbrock performer EPS manifold (part #2701) and am looking into camshafts. When I look on their website though for a performance camshaft, they don't have a camshaft dyno-matched with this manifold. Is there a reason I should not have this manifold and just go with the edelbrock performer, or is there another camshaft I should be looking into?

 

anybody?

 

I would call the Edelbrock Tech line # 310 781-2222. I recently bought an Edelbrock Performer and they were extremely helpful when I called. I believe the Performer and Performer EPS are same manifold. My intake is a Performer and the part number is also 2701 (said nothing about EPS anywhere). The EPS is probably a marketing ploy. The RPM series is the step up from the Performer series. Again, I would call before I laid out $$ for a camshaft.

 

Before i picked a camshaft i called Lunati, They gave Exelent advice, the guy knew what he was talking about. If i were you check out the Lunati Vodoo Series, call lunaties techline and talk to them. I Still havnt installed my cam(sitting since xmas) i will once summer is underway, and no school.
Call there techlines most of them are very smart on it I mean it is there job i guess. I found Luanti and Holleys tech The best. I called edelbrock and i just thought holley and lunati had a better person to talk to....

 

I was thinking that the 2701 was pretty much the same as the 2101, but I wanted to be sure. I'll definitely be sure to give them a call tomorrow though. But would you guys recommend a different camshaft, or should I really use an edelbrock cam since I have an edelbrock manifold (I don't know why I would have to)? Plus I was hoping to get better rocker arms, but it says the stock arms must be used.

 

I would not say you had to run an Edelbrock cam because of your Edelbrock manifold choice. The guesswork is eliminated to a degree because their parts are dyno matched based on the series (Performer, RPM, etc.) I think it really becomes a matter of choosing the right cam specs for your intended usage and performance goals from a quality company. Contact the companies, tell them what you have and what you are trying to do with the car (type of usage, RPM range). If they can't or won't help you that should be a big clue about post sale support. I would go with the company I had the best comfort level with.

 

When my cam went flat I ended up going with a summit cam #1103. Little hotter than the performer but not as hot as the RPM. Works great on the street for me. Was under $100 shipped with lifters. I believe summit's cams are made by crane.

 

You don't have to buy a Edelbrock camshaft only because you have their intake. The RPM cam is too hot (234/244 @.050") and requires high compression, higher than 9:1. I've had this cam and with my low compression L48 is ran like
I bought the 'performer' cam at the local store then did my homework on camshafts and duration/lift :o ...with the 'performer' cam I have very good low end power but not much at higher rpms. It's probably a very good camshaft for a truck

 

Yes. Edelbrock is known for intakes & heads.
If you consider that Chevy has made various cars w/ various engine sizes, various weights w/ 3-6 spd. manuals, 2-4 spd. autos. & various rear gears, tire sizes, etc., then it should come as no surprise that a few cams cannot match all.
The real issue is to get the right cam for your setup.
Your L-82 cam is better than the Edelbrock Performer 2102 350 cam, which is not enough cam for a Corvette, basically for a heavier car, would work for a girl's 305 auto.

 

So what kind of cam would you recommend? People are always saying "choose one that fits your setup" but there's nothign special about my set up: edelbrock manifold, 650 holley carb, planning to side pipe, and am looking for a performance cam to make this all come together. I'm trying to do some research on some cams, and thats why I'm starting here: what would you guys recommend?

 

Peformers are great manifolds for mild street engines. I would choose a cam in the neighborhood of 214-229 degrees at .050". The lower end would give you 0-5000 rpm power with plenty of bottom end torque, the higher end 1500-5500 rpm, with a little lumpy idle to impress your friends.

 

Lunati has a "vodoo" cam with 218-228 duration and roughly .500" lift. You likely have to upgrade the valve springs for lift greater than .450". You'll need better (hardened) pushrods and guide plates but that's not a big deal.
I'd upgrade that stock stuff and do it 'right' the first time.... I've done it wrong before and it's a pain to do it all over again just because I tried to take a shortcut and safe some dollars....

Any cam with roughly 214-230 duration should work for you, if the lift is not high enough you can "correct" that with 1:6 ratio rocker arms.

 

I'm running a Crane Max Velocity (now Powermax) cam and it runs very well. It's a dual pattern cam with 216 intake and 228 exhaust at .050. It had a good bottom end with around 14 inches of vacuum at idle. It comes on very well after 2K rpm. I have a stock original block and reciprocating assembly with a performer intake and an Edelbrock Thunder AVS carb. My heads are World Products SR Torquers with 67 cc chambers and I'm running Dynomax ceramacoat headers into 2 1/2 inch duals. I think it's a nice streetable combo that is very reliable and gives improved performance over the stock engine.

 

See, cams are a whole new concept to me. What is the 214-230 duration? I know it has something to do with the valves and when they open, and I also know a higher performance camshaft will allow more time that both the intake valve and the exhaust valve are open. Also what is the dgrees of .050 and what does that mean?

 

I'm not trying to be a smartass here, but my recommendation is to go to a book store and pick up one or two books about "Street Power" and "How to Build a Smallblock Chevy For the Street" (those are made-up titles, but you get the idea). They make it real easy to understand how all the components work together to produce what you want from your car. Then you can make your decisions based on your knowledge and desires, rather than taking it for granted that what someone else says is right for you.
I changed my ideas about cams (and many other things) probably 8 times, and actually bought 3 and returned 2, over the course of learning about engines and performance before I built my motor......Hopefully, the combo of parts I so carefully researched, purchased and assembled will work the way I wish. We'll soon know--it sure sounds & feels good on the test stand now, soon it will be in the car and we'll see if I'm F.O.S. or not....

John

 

See, thats good advice, thanks John.

 

I buy all my engine parts from PAW. In their big catalog, they have a whole section dedicated to camshaft selection, sort of a cam primer. The whole big catalog is only like $5-10, it's about 6 inches thick.

 

As suggested by other members: buy one or two books before you waste money on a cam. It's easy to make a wrong decision.... I did... :o
You basically want the cam as "hot" as possible and still have good idle and vacuum. A cam with advertized duration at .050" lift of 220 intake and 220-230 exhaust and 112 degrees lobe seperation should deliver what you want. there are single and dual grind cams, the intake and exhaust duration can be different (f.e. 220 intake, 230 exhaust) - more exhaust duration gives you a little more power.
Anything above 230 duration is pretty "wild" - you loose driveability and vaccum that you need for headlights and power brakes.

Whatever heads you're using - make sure the valve springs can take the lift of your new cam. F.E. my Edelbrock heads are advertized to be good up to .570" or so.... most streetable flat tappet cams have around .480"-.520" lift...

again, there so much to 'learn' it's worth buying the books.... I am preparing for a 383 stroker and I got five books and still lot of 'learning' left....

 

I do have a couple books: "how to rebuild your small block chevy" though a friend is borrowing it, and "how to restore and modify your corvette." But can anyone recommend a book that discusses performance enhancers? Really the modifications I've made have just been because of what I have heard from other people, because thats about all I know. But these current books don't help because they help you make your corvette original, and I want to be pretty far from original.

Also, someone mentioned a rocker arm ratio of 6:1, is this not rediculous? I thought performance rocker arms were no more than 2:1

And I'm still confused about the degree duration of the intake and exhaust valves. What does an intake duration of 220* and an exhaust duration of 230* really mean?

 

Can't think of any specific titles at the moment, but both David Vizard and (the late) John Lingenfelter have good books about building power with excellent explanations.....

"Lift" is how far the valve opens, i.e., a .470 lift pushes the valve .470" off the valve seat.

"Duration" is how long it stays open, typically measured from a point where the lifter has risen .050" off the base circle to give a standard place to compare different manufacturer spec. However, the "advertised duration" can be measured from any of several places. (edit: deleted a sentence here, I shouldn't try to "multitask" when writing)

Both determine how much air/fuel mixture gets into the cylinder, and give different characteristics to the induction process, and so must be coordinated to the type of performance you want.

Rocker arm ratios determine the lift of the actual valve as opposed to the lift of the cam lobe, i.e., a cam lobe of .313" with a 1.5 rocker arm ratio will lift the valve .470". Cams lift is typically advertised at a 1.5 rocker arm ratio. A 1.52 rocker arm, as some are, will give a .476" lift of the valve. A 1.6 rocker arm will give a valve lift of .501". Replacing 1.5 rockers with 1.6 is a way to increase lift without changing out the cam, but there are drawbacks and cautions with that as well.

Entire books are written about this subject alone, but once you comprehend the basic ideas, it's not too hard to understand.

John