Anyone used oval track camshafts?

im interested to hear how you make out , im in the same boat 355 chevy, double hump heads, turbo 400, 2500 stall, 3;73 gear, the cam is a 3/8 dirt track cam we had cut by reed cams back in the early 90's we cant find the spec card but we think the lift is around 505. im putting it in a31 tudor. good luck let us know how it does thanks capt bobby

 

There's you some good advise. 50 years worth. A cam is a cam, it doesn't know it was a circle track cam. Just degree it in on a 108 centerline and it will be fine.

 

to help with the cam a cheap and ez fix for the street is 4 or v6 torqconverter from a s-10, good for everyday driving, and back in the day we used vega and oldsmobile deisel convertors too.

 

There's only so much aggression you can put into the idle of a 5000 rpm 350 before it's overcammed.

I think what you're looking for in idle and the engine's operating range don't match. No offense intended. What I'm getting at is your expectations are skewed enough that any of these cams are going to work equally fine. Because no cams in your operating range are going to have the radical idle you seek. It's just a matter of which expectations are gonna get shorted.

Super low gears will cure any torque problems if you end up overcammed in pursuit of idle chop.

Good luck with the project!

 

Disadvantage:

 

I've built circle track motors for 20 years and many with cams very similar to that one. I'll tell you that you will love the idle, but with 8-1 compression it will make that engine a dog off idle. When you get everything moving to around 2500 rpm it should pull good, but with that small duration it will fall on its face at just over 5000 rpm. My suggestion is seeings how your on a limited budget and your low compression is to use a milder cam and save your money and build a bigger second engine has funds permit. This is a very low budget build recipe that will perform good on very little money. Get the Edelbrock performer cam or copy (Speed pro Cs1014r $56.53 at Northern Auto parts, ht817 lifters $31.95 same place) it is 204/214 @ .050 and 420/443 lift. Put a stock performer intake and use a Quadrajet or 1850 600 vacuum secondary Holley. Get a good free flowing exhaust on the car and have fun. I built a 350 like this back in the late 80s and I put it in a 1970 Impala 2dr 3.31 gears stock converter turbo 350 with shift kit and 2 1/2" exhaust with Walker dynomax mufllers. I had about 3 different carbs on it and the best was a 6210 Holley 650 spreadbore. This thing pulled hard off idle right up to 5500 rpm and I got 15-18 mpg. A buddy had a 69 Impala with a 390hp 427 automatic and I could pull him by a car length. This setup will have a noticable idle in gear, but won't be to rough. Trying to get a mean and nasty idle and have power with a stock converter and tall gears is next to impossilbe. The Elgin cam you mentioned will have a nasty idle but will be a dog off the line. This performer cam will idle in gear with a stock converter around 700 rpm and have a slight lope, you will no for sure it isn't stock, the Elgin cam I doubt will idle under 900 in gear. I know alot of people will say the performer cam is way to small or there is better, I'm just giving you my "real world" experience from 25 years of monkeying aroung with stockcars and street performance.

 

2x.

Also no power off idle usually means no power on the highway.

Changing 10 parts to make one work, spend $, lose drive ability,and probably slower.


If you just want sound, how about a gear drive?

 

Thanks a lot guys... it seems like I am getting over my head by trying to ****yze cam specs. I think I'll just go with a GM 350 horse cam or something similar. I can toy with more radical camshafts in my Pontiac. It has 4000 stall.

 

This is music to your ears. It's an Engle solid lifter. I had it in a 302 small block chev

<TABLE width="100%" align=center border=1><TBODY><TR align=middle><TD vAlign=top>Part #: 1025
Grind #: EP-25</TD><TD>Int. 507"
Ex. 507"</TD><TD>Int. 280"
Ex. 280"</TD><TD>Int. 338"
Ex. 338"</TD><TD>Int. 244"
Ex. 244"</TD><TD vAlign=top>108°</TD><TD vAlign=top>Call for </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>