As some here may know, I recently purchased a chopped 49 Ford shoebox and trying to finish it up here as soon as possible. All that is left is the brake lines, engine, transmission and wiring. I ordered an Isky cam from Summit but the wait on it is almost a month so I have to choose another brand (all Isky cams have this wait for some reason). I have already waited 3 weeks and on the supposed delivery date I called and they said it will be another 3-4 weeks. Anyways, my question to you guys is which cam and brand to go with? I want to stay away from Comp, Lunati and the such if possible. It seems that people lately are having problems with this including 2 of my friends who believe it's due to cheap metal. The brands I am now looking at are Howards and Crower... Here's some info on my car and what I'm looking out of it: 1949 Ford with an 81 Corvette 350 sbc all stock with under 80,000 miles. I have a 200-4R trans out of a 86 or 87 Monte Carlo SS and a (I believe) 72 Maverick rear end with what I was told 3.25 gear ratio. The car is going to be a cruiser but with some balls to it. I do not want to have to run a crazy stall converter or anything, just something with some balls to it that is reliable and fun to drive. I am thinking of something along the lines of 0.450 valve lift, lobe separation of 108-110 and adv. intake/exhaust duration of 264-270. I could be looking at something way off here with those numbers but from what I have in my head, I do not want to go any larger than that. As for lobe separation I am not sure what to do. I know Howards has a sweet cam made after the old GM Performance 325HP 327 cam. Thanks a lot for any info here guys!
Also forgot to mention I am running an old Holley Street Dominator intake. As for the carb, I have not decided yet on this. Probably just a plain Holley unit 600 cfm or so (nothing too crazy). The intake is taller than stock so am assuming the RPM range for it is not idle or anything, I think it's around 1800 and up if I remember correctly.
Any info here at all guys? I am trying to order this thing by this afternoon if at all possible so they will hopefully ship it out by tomorrow and I'll have it after Christmas... Engine is sitting and waiting for a cam.
I'm a total sucker for either the old Duntov 30-30 or Z28 Off-Road grinds that have been around forever. You may want to call the cam makers tech line and get their input based on what you have there, then place the order. All in 1 phone call.. in theory. Bob
I think I have the brands narrowed down to two now... Howards and Isky. Any opinions on these two? Seems that Howards are cheaper in price (which I'm not looking for cheap) but they are supposedly good cams with good stock metal and great customer service (big plus in my book). I am looking at Howards OE Muscle cam based off the old GM 325HP 327 motor/cam. Heres the specs: Chev SB 262-400 1955-1998 Advertised Duration: 290/290 Duration @ .050": 223/223 Valve Lift w/1.50 Rockers: .447/.447 Lobe Separation Angle: 114 Intake Centerline: 110 Valve Lash: Hyd./Hyd. Nice idle, near duplicate of the Chev 325HP/327 cam (GM #3863151). A buddy of mine who builds engines said to stick with a 108-109 Lobe Separation Angle if possible but all the cams with lower LSA are too big in lift and duration. I want to still run a stock converter if at all possible.
Bump! Ok I still have NOT ordered my cam because of the holidays which put me WAY behind here. My plan is to order something tonight and have it here by the end of the week if at all possible. Any info is still greatly needed and appreciated here guys!
I think your choice is a good one. With the OD transmission and 3.25 gears, you will need a lot of low rpm torque to keep rolling uphill in fourth gear.
thats a small cam.its definitly not a thumper. but it should pull good infront of that 200 trans. i dont remember the #s on the gearing right now.but it seem s to me that the last engine i put together for a guy that used a 200 those cam specs were in the ball park with what you want. it should be ok for low end power
with stock converter ,you dont want 290 duration. i would stick with an RV type spec, this would give you a little gain on torque, but with not wanting to go bigger on converter etc. it wont have much balls. it will just have a little more than stock,which for a cruiser is just fine...........stick with 450ish lift 260ish duration
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