Help with cam choice please
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 38
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From: Davie Fla
Help with cam choice please
Started out to replace the water pump. That ended up requiring a radiator and core support. The performer intake was just sitting here so its going on. Now I'm looking at the timing chain cover and all that empty space and it just seems like if I'm ever going to change the cam I should do it now. I am hoping someone more knowlegable than I can assist with the choice. 1980 auto 3.55 gears and the only non stock part is the intake. Looking for a little more power but not expecting a lot. Headers and heads next year. The Comp cams 268H has been tossed around but I have heard good things about the voodoo line as well. Thanks in advance for your recommendations.
Mike
Mike
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2005
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From: League City TX
Advanced
Joined: Jul 2008
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From: Soperton Georgia
If ya really want more power, put on a set of good flowing heads while ya got the intake off.
Aftermarket heads have gotten much more reasonable in price than they use to be.
I'm going with Dart heads on my build, I've read threads that say they are more header friendly than edelbrock.
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Drifting
Joined: Aug 2008
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If you want the most bang for the buck just order the generic 204/214/112 cam from Summit, PAW, or SpeedPro - it has .420 lift intake and .443 lift on the exhaust. it idles with 18" vacuum in a 350 and will set you back about $120.00 for the cam, lifters, and gaskets. It makes very good power off idle and in the mid-range and is an excellent choice for a low compression 350. I have used dozens of these generic cams and never had a lobe or lifter fail. They are quality pieces.
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 1,682
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From: League City TX
Harold Brookshire was hired by Lunati with his #1 priority being to design a new line of cams to beat Comp's XE line.
According to him, the Voodoo line accomplished that goal.
They reportedly made more power, and are also typically quieter than than the XE cams.
Thats because the Voodoo cams close the valves "softer" than the XE cams do.
Overall, both lines of cams perform well though.
By the way the 60101 Voodoo is a smaller cam than the XE262.
If you want a similar sized Voodoo to compare to, look at the 60102.
Advanced
Joined: Oct 2003
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From: Highland Mi
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 7,739
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From: Unreconstructed, South Carolina
If you want the most bang for the buck just order the generic 204/214/112 cam from Summit, PAW, or SpeedPro - it has .420 lift intake and .443 lift on the exhaust. it idles with 18" vacuum in a 350 and will set you back about $120.00 for the cam, lifters, and gaskets. It makes very good power off idle and in the mid-range and is an excellent choice for a low compression 350. I have used dozens of these generic cams and never had a lobe or lifter fail. They are quality pieces.
see summit SUM-K1102you'll pick up a bit more compression if you'll change the head gaskets to fel-pro p/n 1094
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 3,961
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From: Lompoc, CA. Santa Barbara County
If you want the most bang for the buck just order the generic 204/214/112 cam from Summit, PAW, or SpeedPro - it has .420 lift intake and .443 lift on the exhaust. it idles with 18" vacuum in a 350 and will set you back about $120.00 for the cam, lifters, and gaskets. It makes very good power off idle and in the mid-range and is an excellent choice for a low compression 350. I have used dozens of these generic cams and never had a lobe or lifter fail. They are quality pieces.
Bee Jay
Intermediate
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 48
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From: metairie louisiana
remember to add eos from gm or any of the good oil manufactures the new oils today are lacking zinc from them and with out it the cam would wear out a lobe a cam in the 216 to 224 @.050 in the .450 range will work well 110 seperation will be good for torque and give a lopey sound 112 better mid and top end and vacume
thanks donnie
thanks donnie
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 1,381
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Like Bee Jay says..........the generic cams work very well. They are made by Crane and I have used them in Chevys, Pontiacs, and big Mopars and they work just as good as the bigger name brands. The real question is what do you expect from your motor? If you want to retain all the stock components then you really need to stick with a cam in the 204 to 210 @ .050 intake duration. If you're running a free flowing exhaust along with optimized spark advance and a fattened up carb then you can move up a notch. Just be advised that you probably wont have the good low speed characteristics of the "tiny" cam. A good rule is that for every 10 degrees of added duration you will need to add one point of compression to keep the the low rpm operation the same.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 6,314
Likes: 508
From: South-central Missouri
Here's a free program to help decide...
I used this program to select my cam specs, and lo and behold, it performs exactly to my specs - I couldn't be happier with the results!
http://www.compcams.com/camquest/default.asp
Check it out. It really takes a lot of the guess-work out of cam selection. It's quite comprehensive.
P.
http://www.compcams.com/camquest/default.asp
Check it out. It really takes a lot of the guess-work out of cam selection. It's quite comprehensive.
P.