My car has a 1978 Chevy 454 with 781 heads. Its all stock and never been touched. It also has a TH-400 with a 2.73 rear end... I'm looking for a nice solid cam for this engine.. Nothing crazy, no lumpy idle. I'd like to have 18-22" of vacuum at idle.. A wide lobe separation with smooth lobes.. What solid cams have worked well for you.. Thank you...
i responded to a similar thread earlier. i was looking at a 302 ford and found modern takes on the old hipo mustang cam, sweet spot 1,800-5,800, but most of what i found was track cams that aren't happy until 3- or 4 thousand rpm.
never used this cam, but it sounds like it's in the ballpark of what you are looking for. Although it might have less vacuum and rougher idle than you want. But hey, you're looking for something they don't really make! https://www.summitracing.com/parts/cca-11-675-4/overview/make/chevrolet
Appreciate the help but the last Comp XE cam I dealt with had to be cut out of my buddys numbers matching Mopar block. Man was he pissed. That thing was as flat as a broomstick after 2000 miles.. Even when new it never ran worth a damn. I could never tune that flat spot out of it at 4500 rpm.. It never did this with the old Mopar cam it had.. Over in Pontiac land they've had all kinds of issues with the XE Series cams. But it seems like Chevy folks like them.. I have had good luck with Crower, Isky, GM and Summit..
The .500 lift Chevy L72 cam is a good street cam but honestly with the 454 combo you have I don't really see the point . With the compression ratio and heads + the gear you have a mild hydraulic is a much better choice.
Sealed power used to make a hydraulic RV cam that I put in my 78 1/2 ton towing truck,It had a stock converter with a 400 turbo with a 308 gear. It had a nice idol to it tons of low and mid range torque. I drove it everywhere with no issues, I could even pull my Camaro or my Chevelle with the trailer and it would bark second gear no problem. LA salt flats knows the old truck well and it had a $60 camshaft and $40 lifters. Lash was zero with a half a turn. All stock length components. I’m sorry I don’t remember the part number but it was listed as a RV duty camshaft. Good luck!
I really like the GM 427/435 cam in my OT ‘68 Vette . Can’t answer the vacuum question, but my vacuum headlights and vacuum wiper vent always have worked well.
I like it too, or look at an OG L88 cam. I used those in my stock cars. You may need more gear with it. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/...MIgpyTp8T25gIVEIiGCh2pyQiBEAkYASABEgLMQfD_BwE Chet Herbert would grind those up for me and IIRC, they had a good idle.
That L72 looks interesting. Since I have more cubes then 396/427 I wonder how rowdy it would be, I want low end torque. It does have a 114 lobe separation with Adv . 316/302 @50 242/242 with a .520/.520 lift... It comes form Crane as the 969961 and Comp as the 11-106-3...…. I'd like to keep the adjustment close, I like the sound of solids but not loose ones..
Call Bullet or the cam grinder of your choice. They will grind the cam to fit your needs, and it's not much more than an off the shelf camshaft. Tell them what you have, and what you want.
Ran a Crane 461 lift solid 1500-3800 cruise Rpm with a power band to 5800...850 Holly...drive anywhere...run high 11's in the 1/4 mile in a Chevelle...
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