ideal cam shaft charateristics for a tunnel ram

In 1 of my holley tuning books [I think dave emanuel??] his claim was to keep duration at 230*@ 0.50 or lower w / a tunnel ram.... I didn't listen & went & went 232/234 ...but this is a 388 sbc stroker.. I'm still pleased w/ the outcome !!! You'll probably find you won't have much power below 2500... it's the price you pay !!
dave

 

Hahahahaha!!!!!!!

 

two friends had tunnel rams on bbc a 427 and a 454 both ran 750 dp with 5:13 and 4:88 both with manual trans. i am working on a car with a 383 sbc tunnel ram with 2 600 had to stuff the intake to get enough velocity to over come a stumble on acceleration stock torque powerglide 5:29 gears

 

It was only a matter of time before somebody suggested a Poser cam This is NOT a "bad big block", nor will a Poser cam make it into one- and the original poster seems to understand that and just wants his interim engine to run well while he builds a stronger one. Considering that it is a low-compression stocker, and he is going to use fairly small carbs as he should on this engine, a fairly short duration cam with some lift that will fit in the stock valve reliefs should actually run pretty well- instead of a compromise power for noise Poser to try and impress the 16 yr olds at the burger joint Shorter duration with quick ramps will help keep the dynamic compression up, and some more lift will help fill the cylinders, so it will actually have a little snap instead of being a rolling ghetto blaster with a Poser cam
Driving a car with a putso engine with a Poser cam is like dating a chick wearing a huge bra stuffed with tissue - it's all fake, baby, and just not that much fun to actually play with

 

This is exactly the truth !!! LOL !!!

 

El Scotto,
In your pic,,is that a low deck Mopar in the background,,a 383 maybe?

Tommy

 

Gear ratio will be more important than cam selection. Chris

 

Bringing back a thread I was following from January (before I signed up)...

What did you end up with for a cam?



Tight lobe centers would help build some cylinder pressure with your low compression, while helping scavenge the intake.

Just keep the headers & exhaust as free flowing as you can (tight lobe centers & a restrictive exhaust system can = exhaust reversion).

The tight lobe centerline does mean a poorer idle & less vacuum,
so tuning will be tougher, but worth it once you get *on* the cam.

I'm thinking a hydraulic 106-108lc's with 220-225* duration @.050
.510+ lift

good read on lobe centerline angle;
http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/engine/cam_lobe_centerline_angle_tech/

 

hey shoestring, still havent pulled the trigger on a cam yet. I'm hoping that by the end of the month I've got all the big stuff done on my car; once thats done I'm going to seperate the body from the frame and send the motor to a buddy of mine whose going to try to breathe some life into it with a cam, tunnel ram, new carbs. My expectations are pretty low for performance. I just want something to get me down the road and let me find all the little problems before I have the money to put in a better motor.
BTW thanks for the article!

 

what Chris said

 

You went a whopping 2 degrees over?? Such a rebel! Wow.
Won't have much power below 2500? I'm curious, how much power does it take to drive through car parks and cruise at 30mph anyway?

 

Really? A 12 year old post?

 

Feeling lonely ?

 

The first question that comes to mind is whether you want to drive the car a lot and have something thats not finicky

Or
Do you just want to go to rod runs and the drag strip and want it to have a lope?

Since its stock, you may not have too much room for lift and duration to miss the piston.

I'd consider making it look "gasser" and keeping it very mild......including the Comp Ratio. Then you can run regular gas and drive it a lot for less money. Take those $1 a gallon savings and put them toward getting a 454 and build another low compression motor and still run regular gas. With the tunnel ram you will want velocity in the intake tract to insure good mixture.

Here is a basic reference chart..........