Good Evening Gentlemen, I am seeking some advice related to a cam for my 292. First I would like to give you a point of refference. I'm an old retired dude (72). I have no asperations of competing with this car. It is a '50 Chevy coupe and I am building this car as I would have back in '56. Today, I think it's what is called a rat rod. When you lift the hood, you see an inline six. It has three single barrel carbs on an old alum intake. It has tube headers, a late model HEI ign. Internally it has .060 over 283 pistons (read that approx 10:1 compression) all new bearings (rod and crank). It's coupled to a built TH350. I am WAY over budget already with this rascal and I'm still not on the road. I would like it to sound fairly mean but I don't want to invest in a high stall converter. I don't want to invest in reworking the head for valve springs. My question is; can I use a cam like the "Comp Cam" 244? It has a .489 valve lift. I eagerly await your comments Rog aka, 66Ragman
Hey 66- I'm an old dude myself, and messed with the 292's myself for several years (hence my "screen name" of stan292. I had a 292-powered '37 Chevy gasser back in the day and have been a fan of those motors since then. I bought a couple complete motors to rebuild for a street rod I'm still working on. Ironically, by the time I got to planning the actual engine work - I ended up with a small-block V-8. but that's another story. Bottom line regarding your cam selection though, my advice (for ANY motor) is to spend time shopping and talk directly to the cam manufacturer for a recommendation. Most all of them have worksheets available to figure the right cam depending on several aspects of you car. Have you gotten catalogs from the inline specialists, Langdon's, Sissel Automotive, etc.? They might be the first place to try. As far as reworking the heads for new springs. It may be tough - and perhaps counter-productive - to attempt using springs that aren't correctly matched to the particular cam you choose. That doesn't necessarily mean though, that you can't get a suitable "stick" that will allow use of stock-size springs. Best of luck with your project. Stan Weber Firth, Nebraska AKA stan292 P.S. Check the '50 fastback (my first car) in my avitar. Gotta love them '50s!
Another old dude here,, stan292 says it all, Check with the cam guy,, there are to many varibles with cam selection. Weight of car, rear end gear, trans, converter, on and on. But the good news is,, It's only money. Man I like the sound of sixes,,