[Scooby333]

Ok I'm a newbie when it comes to building an engine for HP. I only want to build my engine once so I don't want to make a mistake on choosing the right parts for the job. I'm looking for advice on what cam to use and for someone to explain in simple terms on exactly what those numbers mean for the degrees and inches when your talking cams. Here's what I have so far:

455 block bored .030

stock rods with ARP bolts

Speed Pro Flat Top pistons

Sealed Power rings

Eagle Crankshaft

Clevite Rod, Main, and Cam Bearings

set of 96 heads, but been thinking about shaving them some for a bit higher compression ratio

Edelbrock torker II intake

Edelbrock 750 cfm carb

I can't decide on what cam to use. When I bought the block I was given a Crane Cam Power Max that the guy had for the block. Specs are as followed :

Part #270-283941

Adv duration is 272/284 adv duration with a .454"/.480" gross lift

I see Crane Cam also offers a muscle Car Replica of the Ram Air 400 H.O. and the ram Air IV

Specs are 212/225 deg with a .408/.407 lift and the other is a 230/240 deg with a .469/.469 lift.

I read a post where some guys say that the Comp EX-274 is a good cam.

What about Edelbrock's Cam 278/288 deg with a .420/.422 lift

I know that for the horsepower that I want to try and achieve (around 450 to 500 HP) that the 96 heads aren't going to give me the compression ratio that I'll need to achieve it. That's why i was thinking about shaving them a bit.

My real concern is what's a good cam for the parts I have now???

[MrPushrod]

Those cams you have listed are little girly cams......
You and I have close to the same motor.

I've got a comp 294 hyd. flat tappet cam.
250/256 duration with .520 lift with a 1.5 rocker.
This is a good cam if you're on a budget and wanna make good power.
By the way, this cam in my 455 at sea level will run 11.40's all day.
3300# firebird.

If you can afford to go to a roller do it. If you dont have 700+ bucks for one
then this cam is the cam to get.

[MrPushrod]

Don't up the compression. You won't see any difference with 1/2 a point of
compression.

[b-man]

Originally Posted by Scooby333

Ok I'm a newbie when it comes to building an engine for HP. I only want to build my engine once so I don't want to make a mistake on choosing the right parts for the job. I'm looking for advice on what cam to use and for someone to explain in simple terms on exactly what those numbers mean for the degrees and inches when your talking cams. Here's what I have so far:

455 block bored .030

stock rods with ARP bolts

Speed Pro Flat Top pistons

Sealed Power rings

Eagle Crankshaft

Clevite Rod, Main, and Cam Bearings

set of 96 heads, but been thinking about shaving them some for a bit higher compression ratio

Edelbrock torker II intake

Edelbrock 750 cfm carb

I can't decide on what cam to use. When I bought the block I was given a Crane Cam Power Max that the guy had for the block. Specs are as followed :

Part #270-283941

Adv duration is 272/284 adv duration with a .454"/.480" gross lift

I see Crane Cam also offers a muscle Car Replica of the Ram Air 400 H.O. and the ram Air IV

Specs are 212/225 deg with a .408/.407 lift and the other is a 230/240 deg with a .469/.469 lift.

I read a post where some guys say that the Comp EX-274 is a good cam.

What about Edelbrock's Cam 278/288 deg with a .420/.422 lift

I know that for the horsepower that I want to try and achieve (around 450 to 500 HP) that the 96 heads aren't going to give me the compression ratio that I'll need to achieve it. That's why i was thinking about shaving them a bit.

My real concern is what's a good cam for the parts I have now???

Some info on the car, the transmission type (converter stall if auto) and rear end gearing would be very helpful. In order to pick a good cam you need to consider these things, as well as the intended usage of the car.

[Scooby333]

Hey Pushrod, if you think we almost have the same specs on the engine, we do have the same car and color. That's if your car color is the Verdoro Green color. Who sells the cam you're talking about?

B-Man I have the original PG in right now. I don't know if I'm keeping that or going with a TH400. The torque conv. I'm thinking about a 2500 rpm. I have to double check but I think the rear is a 4:10 pos.

I know the tranny is going to depend how I'm going to run the car. Daily driver or performance. Well, the car isn't going to be a daily driver. It will mostly be a weekend car or something to go out and race around the streets on weekend nights. I hate that i only have 2 gears with with the PG, but i know it's better for racing. So I'm up in the air with that.

[MrPushrod]

That's my car in my sig.
It's a comp cam.
Post up some pics of your car.

[mchell]

You're gonna need to do A LOT more than shave those 96's to get an honest 450-500 ponies out of them.....a flow of 260cfm would be minimum for a true 450 ++ HP.......I believe Cliff Ruggles ran a RAIV clone cam at 230/240 into the 11's.......that would be the minimum duration for the HP you want......that 2500 stall might be a bit tight also.....

The easy way to get what you want is to ditch those heads and go with a good flowing aluminum head.......

[Will]

Originally Posted by Scooby333

..snip...I hate that i only have 2 gears with with the PG, but i know it's better for racing. ....

Better how, exactly...? Only full-on drag cars can really make use of a PG trans because they have very high stall converters that allow the engine to remain right on it's torque peak from the time the car launches all the way through the run.

For a "normal" car, even one that's going to be raced a lot, a 3-speed auto like the TH350 or 400 makes a much, much better tranny.

Go ask in the race section and see if anyone's actually running a PG, and if anyone is, look at their combo. They're not the type of cars that get driven on the street much, if at all.

The real question here is, how fast do you want to go, and what compromises are you willing to live with. You can run into the 10s with a TH400...

[b-man]

Originally Posted by Scooby333

Hey Pushrod, if you think we almost have the same specs on the engine, we do have the same car and color. That's if your car color is the Verdoro Green color. Who sells the cam you're talking about?

B-Man I have the original PG in right now. I don't know if I'm keeping that or going with a TH400. The torque conv. I'm thinking about a 2500 rpm. I have to double check but I think the rear is a 4:10 pos.

I know the tranny is going to depend how I'm going to run the car. Daily driver or performance. Well, the car isn't going to be a daily driver. It will mostly be a weekend car or something to go out and race around the streets on weekend nights. I hate that i only have 2 gears with with the PG, but i know it's better for racing. So I'm up in the air with that.

I would wait until you finalize the drivetrain before choosing a cam. Same goes for the engine, figure out what heads you're going to run first. No doubt that you'll definitely need some port work done or some better aluminum heads to achieve your horsepower goal.

I would get your heads done by SD Performance. Dave at SD can either port your current heads or sell you some aluminum heads to get where you want to be, and I would highly recommend that you let him pick the cam to go with the heads and everything else.

http://sdperformance.com/

[gjn]

Deck the block, it makes the quench closer to ideal which means less timing. I would recommend buying Jim Hand's book to get a better idea of Pontiac Performance. I would also buy good rods, they are "cheap" insurance. Not a big fan of edelbrock carbs.

I would give a Pontiac Expert like Butler, Kaufman, SD Perforance, Spotts, PPR, Pontiac Dude, etc a call and discuss the performance you want out of your car and see what they would suggest. You will be much happier having someone with years of experience helping you select parts than trying to guess yourself. I was always surprised that Butler wouldn't oversell me on parts. I was having issues with the car bogging 3 years ago (my 1st year at the track) off the line and called Bulter Performance up (who helped me build my combo) and told them of my problem. I thought it was the converter and Jim said it was the accelerator pump and to get that sorted out first before I thought about buying a new converter. I fixed the pump issue and picked up .3 tenths in the quarter the next time out and broke into the 12's for the first time.

[455earlybird]

I've got Kauffman heads (can use d-port headers) , a hydrolic roller 240/245 .570 /.575 w/1.5 rockers(plenty of vacumm for my power 4 wheel disc brakes and a nice idle), turbo 400, 3:73 gearand, a 2500 continential stall. My 3775 lb ( with me in it) car will run an 11.50 quarter

[b-man]

After going back through your list of engine components, I would also highly recommend getting rid of the stock cast rods and buying an inexpensive set of forged rods. They can be had for less than $250.

A good selection of low-priced 'good' forged rods here: http://www.pacificperformanceracing.com/

It's just not worth chancing your entire engine on those ticking time bombs.

I didn't mean to start a forged vs cast rod discussion, but there is really no good reason to run those in any 450-500 HP engine with so many good forged rod choices that are now available for a very reasonable price.

[MrPushrod]

Originally Posted by mchell

You're gonna need to do A LOT more than shave those 96's to get an honest 450-500 ponies out of them.....a flow of 260cfm would be minimum for a true 450 ++ HP.......I believe Cliff Ruggles ran a RAIV clone cam at 230/240 into the 11's.......that would be the minimum duration for the HP you want......that 2500 stall might be a bit tight also.....

The easy way to get what you want is to ditch those heads and go with a good flowing aluminum head.......

I've got 670's on my engine.
11.40's at sea level on the motor.