So I'm dropping a 69 Nova SBC into my fastback and having it rebuilt completely as it was in 69. Th only thing I'd like to improve is the cam and am wondering what the best one might be. I don't need major thump and plan on doing some distance trips with the car once finished so I'd like something on the mild side that will still get decent mileage. TIA!
the 1968 327 350hp hydraulic has what you are looking for....slightly racy idle, and goes like hell around 4,000 rpms and up...decent gas milage if driven easy.
GM pt# 3863151.... L-79 327-350.... And it likes the smaller Holley carbs... Like 535-585 cfm maybe???....
So many choices out there, it's staggering. Many have used the good old 327/300 cam as a good middle of the road, daily, cam with some streetable grunt. I'm sure there're better choices these days, with dual profiles, etc, but that was a good'un. I'd call the various manufacturer's for some input maybe.
I had the Crane blueprint series 350hp 327 cam in my 69 camaro , I believe it was 444 lift intake and exhaust , forget the duration , I will look for old cam card I think I still have it . It was a nice cam . I also had a Crower super street beast in a 350 , made good power and got good mileage with a 373 rear with no O.D. 2cents
I am building a 283 to go in my 49 fleetline....bored 60 over, 601 chevy big valve heads, flat pistons, custom built quadrajet by me, 700R trans, and 3.42 s10 rear. I am going to run what they call a performance chevy cam....it is for 327-300hp engines...I think the number on it is 1274 sealed power, will probably go Crane as they make it also...I think its in their blueprinted catagory....it has short duration and a higher lift...I think .390 and .410. This cam was in my 51 shoebox with 305....I loved it...25mpg running 70-80 with a turbo 350 and 2.79 gear and still had lots of take off power at the red light....surprised me....so I told the machine shop....give me the same cam you gave me for my old 305 and that is the cam the machinist said we put in it... I live in a area of steep mtn roads...highest mtn east of the Mississippi and with this cam it was rare I had to mash the gas further to go up hills and maintain the current speed...lots and lots of torque with this cam. I am thinking with the 700R and gearing and that cam.....30mpg...and will still get out of its own way....if I really want to go fast....I still have my 327-350HP bored and Banjo Matthews Racing balanced, etc 68 vette of 39 years. First part of video is 51 running thru the gears...it was a very nice car...is close to Greensboro NC now with a new owner. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQZbHtfiivI
I put a Crane Fireball cam, I think it was called the 292, in my daughters 69 Camaro 350 engine years ago and that was a nice running engine, not to lopey but plenty of power.Don't have the specs on it now, not even sure if they still grind it. The rest of the engine was built similar to the LT1 specs.
We used to install a lot of 151 cams back in the 70's in customers cars. They worked ok, but give up some horsepower at low rpms (torque) where most of your daily driving is done. And every once in a while they were a bear to make idle right with a stock/tight convertor. The 300 horse cam is a really good cam, but you can't really tell much difference in them and a stock cam. I've ended up really liking cams with the same specs as an Edelbrock Performer (204/214 duration @ .050) cam in daily driven vehicles. Speed Pro makes exactly the same cam (CS1014R) and all the major camgrinders have identical grinds too. If you want the cam to talk a little more you might look at a Speed Pro CS1151R. Same basic specs with a tighter centerline (110 instead of 112) for a little more rump at idle.
Auto or stick? If you have an auto, stick with the RV type profiles, unless you get a torque converter with more stall. If you have a stick, then the performance grinds would be a good choice. I bought an Xtreme Energy Cam that advertise it was good with a stock converter, however, at traffic signals I had to stand on the brake. I should have added a big stall converter.
I had a RV cam in my 55 ford with 305 and if it ever got p***ed 4000 rpm it was unknown to me....18mpg was tops....was not happy with it cam wise...had the same engine etc as my 51 ford basically...it had 420 and 433 lift and 204 / 214 duration at .50 I think this very nice truck is in NJ somewhere.
This was suppose to have a 151 cam but in 84 chevy did not have any in inventory when I rebuilt the engine so I asked for the highest hyd cam available...forgot the number on the box it came in but here it is running... I am pretty sure it was a 3896962 Z28/L82 cam....has a little more umph than the 327-350 cam. I told the girl with the terrible phone video to "hold it steady" LOL...... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgBFh7m_45w
Just Like Larry T said the L79 cams were great when matched up right but, take away the higher compression and add a tight converter and highway gear and they wont work well at lower rpms. You need more info to make a really good decision here. What compression ratio you have (real compression) what trans auto/man and w/OD or not and what gear. could make a big difference on what works well or not.
Yea, I was thinking 350. The smaller the engine, the bigger the camshaft looks to it. But, if you're strictly looking for gas milage and idle doesn't matter, I think Chevy pretty well has it covered with the stock cam that came in the engine. They probably did more research on it than I did.
spend the extra money on ... roller rocker arms 600 cfm carb electronic ignition L79 cam balance tube in the exaust
Yeah Larry your right....maybe in a 350 the rv cam would have performed differently...it was a dud in my 305 truck. My ol chevy corvette spe******t mechanic says chevy didn't put a junk cam in them ( he has built a few 10,000rpm 327's)....they put in an overall "this is the best performing cam for this engine" cam....my corvette has to have some rpm to come off the line and the rear end bobbs down real hard on take off ( well, with the solid rear sus*****on, it tries to bobb down) as I have to give it the gas or the clutch kills the engine....I have to wait for the car in front of me to get some distance before I take off as it leaps forward pretty hard on take off. If I take off real smooth....I am slipping the clutch a bunch....I do not like slipping the clutch...I have only clutched this car one time in 39 years ( stock GM clutch, and its real easy to push in and has NEVER slipped).
Russco....I agree 100% with your statement of facts...my vette has 11:15 to 1 compression and 3.55 gear with a close ratio M21 trans....would love to put in some avation gas and re run my "sunday drive"....by the way...still running a points distributor and love it.
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