Cam opinion
Thread Starter
Race Director
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 10,258
Likes: 1
From: Calif.
Cam opinion
Going with this cam for the rebuild I'm doing on what was the '76's 355 engine. (I'm going to put this engine into a '65 Nova.)
Tell me what you think of this cam:
Hydraulic Roller
Lift = .530/.530
Duration @ .050" = 234/242
112 lobe sep. installed straight up.
Heads may be aluminum, may be cast iron. Either way I believe I'm looking for intake runners in the 195-200 c.c. range.
I believe that, with a 10:1 compression ratio, this ought to deliver something in the 450tq/400hp range with a flat torque curve from off-idle to, say, 4,500 or 5,000 with a hp peak right around 5,500. Plus, it ought to have a nice rumpety idle. With the 3.55 gears in the car's future, I believe this combo ought to get the job done nicely. BTW there are no accessories on the car that will require engine vacuum save the TH 350. And that's going to have a converter that's advertised to stall at 3,500.
Opinions?
Tell me what you think of this cam:
Hydraulic Roller
Lift = .530/.530
Duration @ .050" = 234/242
112 lobe sep. installed straight up.
Heads may be aluminum, may be cast iron. Either way I believe I'm looking for intake runners in the 195-200 c.c. range.
I believe that, with a 10:1 compression ratio, this ought to deliver something in the 450tq/400hp range with a flat torque curve from off-idle to, say, 4,500 or 5,000 with a hp peak right around 5,500. Plus, it ought to have a nice rumpety idle. With the 3.55 gears in the car's future, I believe this combo ought to get the job done nicely. BTW there are no accessories on the car that will require engine vacuum save the TH 350. And that's going to have a converter that's advertised to stall at 3,500.
Opinions?
Last edited by The Dude; Sep 1, 2005 at 09:58 PM.
Safety Car
Joined: Feb 1999
Posts: 3,631
Likes: 14
From: Fountain Hills AZ
With 234/242 duration in 355" I'd expect peak power at 6k or higher and I wouldn't expect a flat torque curve from off idle. It does sound like a good cam for your combination though. With a 3500 converter and in a light car, I don't think you'll need a lot of low end torque to be very drivable.
Thread Starter
Race Director
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 10,258
Likes: 1
From: Calif.
A little down on the low end pull, huh? Hmmm. Yeah, I suppose I can see that given the duration. But I can also see your point with a light(er) weight car. All in all, though, I think the Nova will have anough juice to get out of its own way, at least. 
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 894
Likes: 91
Hydraulic Roller Retro
This is the base cam we use in most of the 383's we personally do here on Long Island. 234/242 x .540"/.560" x 112L/S. The recent one came off the dyno at 480HP @ 6100 and 460Ft.Lbs. @ 5000. It's also in a Nova (1972). We used a 185cc Brodix head (straight plug's cast up in 1988), 2.020's, 1.600's, and a new Brodix HVH intake. C.R. @ 10.5:1 and it runs fine on 93. He does run on 89 when "normal" driving. I don't what amount of power you'd be down with the lesser C.I.'s, but it will
affect the torque probably more than the HP. We're getting many calls now to chase some gas mileage at the same time. We figure we can still hit 500HP on pump gas, using regular (87/89). We'll be doing more testing in the future. Thanks, Gary in N.Y.
P.S. That's an excellent cam choice. On a totally different platform using a Solid Roller we've already gotten past 730HP on 93 with a N.A. single 4 Brl. SB, and under 7000RPM, but not cheap to build. We're trying to persuade the customer with the 730HP to have the car running at Atco for the big meet coming up. We know it will go very low 9's on muscle and on 93.
affect the torque probably more than the HP. We're getting many calls now to chase some gas mileage at the same time. We figure we can still hit 500HP on pump gas, using regular (87/89). We'll be doing more testing in the future. Thanks, Gary in N.Y.
P.S. That's an excellent cam choice. On a totally different platform using a Solid Roller we've already gotten past 730HP on 93 with a N.A. single 4 Brl. SB, and under 7000RPM, but not cheap to build. We're trying to persuade the customer with the 730HP to have the car running at Atco for the big meet coming up. We know it will go very low 9's on muscle and on 93.
Last edited by GOSFAST; Sep 5, 2005 at 06:35 PM.
