Thumper cams were DESIGNED to sound that way. And for the Littleman deal, that is a car already set to kill. Give up that argument.
I just saw a video on youtube where David Freiberger put a thumper cam in a stock 1991 350sb with mild iron heads and an rpm air gap that pulled 350hp. It seems a little poserish to me but at least it has some performance capability.
Unlike most of the people who have commented yet have no experience with this cam .......... I am actually running one the .488 lift versions in my '55 chevy. I bought the cam after reading the article Hot Rod magazine did on it testing it against other popular SBC cams and in the end it out performed all others cams of the same lift and duration but had a nasty sound and good drivability. I love it and in my '55 chevy and 4spd Muncie it pulls hard to 6,500 rpm!!!
Whats strange is the mis-conception of the Thumper series cams. These are a series of cams that are designed to make HP and TQ gains. There are 3 levels of cams, kinda like the old days, 1/4 race-3/4 race. full race. They have a unique exhaust note. they come in many lobe profiles. Obviously there was a demand for an aggressive sounding cam that performs. Thumper is that cam. Its not like it sounds like a big engine and wont do a burn out. Or run a great E.T.
I'm going to put my 2 cents in on this one. I am building a bbc for a customer at my shop and He wanted the healthy sound. I picked up a "Thumper" cam for him. After checking out the spec sheet the exhaust timing is very similar to that of an L79, 350 hp 327, and the intake timing should keep the torque curve low with good power starting around 2000. Looking at the cam itself, the intake lobe looks pretty normal for a street cam but the exhaust lobe, well you be the judge. The first photo is an exhaust lobe. second is an intake.
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