Just be careful Brian. The number 1 mistake street engine builders make is to over-cam & over-carburate. Don
> I am considering doing the cam change because ever since I built the engine > about a year ago, the new crane cam and lifters will clatter and tap every > so often and I'm not sure if this could be damaging the cam lobes too or > not. I have tried re-adjusting the valves 2 or 3 times and it seems to go > away for a little bit then comes back. I have tried different amount of > turns starting at 1/2 turn after clattering stops and am now between 3/4 to > 1 turn. I have also tries marvel mystery oil to see if that would help a > sticking lifter. No help. Being a daily driver, I can only alow a weekend > down time and dont want to just buy lifters and then get into it and find > out the cam is going bad too and not be able to get another one right away. > I know eventually, a bigger stall converter (and tranny cooler at the same > time) will help my seat of the pants feel. I did a mild polishing of the > ports on the redone heads when I built it. I also want to eventually change > to 2 1/2" exhaust and maybe 3:23(?) or 3:50(?) gears. You know that with the > horsepower bug, you always want just a little more and still keep it > streetable. ; ). Any other comments would be appreciated. > Thanks > > Brian Zack > '70 Chevelle Malibu > mailto:brianz@;dpsabq.com > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Dave Studly [mailto:chevelle@;studly.net] > Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2002 9:00 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: RE: [Chevelle-List] SBC Cam selection > > > Brian, > > I'm no expert, but it almost sounds like you're splitting hairs. You > mention the car being a daily driver, so I'm gonna assume you're not drag > racing it much. Adding .015-inch of lift is going to be difficult to feel > in the seat of your pants. Have you thought about switching to 1.6 rockers > instead? If you have .440 lift now with stock (1.5) rockers, swapping to > 1.6 rockers will take you up to .469 lift ( (.440 / 1.5) * 1.6). This also > adds a few degrees of duration. A *much* easier swap than a cam. > > I dont think you'll really want a cam with more than .470 lift and ~225 > degrees duration (@ .050") with a stock converter. You should be able to > get away with stock valve springs in all of these cases. Don't quote me on > that last part, though. > > You have a pretty well-matched combo for low-mid torque. Carb tuning (using > a dragstrip or dyno to verify your results) can make a noticeable difference > in power and mileage if you haven't done so. It's not glorious like a new > cam, but it can be just as rewarding in the end. > > As an aside, I was just at the dragstrip this past sunday and a friend was > there with his 90's LT-1 Roadmaster station wagon. He upgraded the exhaust > which killed the good low-end torque he had (motor is stock, except for > slightly modded air box). To remedy that, he changed the torque converter > to one from a S-10 application (he estimated 2000-2100 stall, versus > 1200-1300 stock -- no tach to truly verify these numbers.) and picked up .8 > seconds in his quarter mile time and +5 MPH (it was also only in the high > 40s, low 50s temperature-wise). If you're not familiar with quarter mile > times, that's a *big* improvement. Getting the engine up into it's torque > band quicker makes all the difference in the world. > > As another personal aside, I ran my quickest and fastest on Sunday with my > 406-powered '70 -- 12.70 @ 107. I was pretty happy about that. If there's > one good thing about Ohio, it's low ETs in October! :-) > > Torque rules! > > -Dave > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:owner-chevelle-list@;chevelles.net]On Behalf Of Brian Zack > Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2002 2:28 PM > To: Chevelle List (E-mail) > Subject: [Chevelle-List] SBC Cam selection > > > What is the largest cam any of you are running in a daily driver with a > small block 350. I have a '70 Chevelle Malibu with a 350 4-bolt main, > cast pistons, 9:1 compression stock heads, edlebrock performer manifold > edlebrock 600 cfm carb, 1 5/8" headers, and dual 2" exhaust. It also has the > stock stall converter and I think either 2:73 ot 3:07 gears ( I have to > verify that) Right now I have a crane energizer 266H which is 266 duration > and .440 lift. I am going to be changing to a larger cam and was wondering > what max. size anyone might recommend. I was thinking of of the crane > energizer w/ .467 lift or the crane energizer with .454 lift. But, I dont > think the smaller one would give me that much of a difference. I think I > would have to change my springs though and probably the converter. Has > anyone used a larger cam and not upped the converter? I would assume it > would probably hurt mileage and not have that great of low speed torque. Any > recommendations? > > Brian Zack > '70 Chevelle Malibu > mailto:brianz@;dpsabq.com > > > > > ----------------------------------------------------- > To Unsubscribe please visit www.chevelles.net/list.html > To start a new topic, send mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > ----------------------------------------------------- > To Unsubscribe please visit www.chevelles.net/list.html > To start a new topic, send mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > ----------------------------------------------------- > To Unsubscribe please visit www.chevelles.net/list.html > To start a new topic, send mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----------------------------------------------------- To Unsubscribe please visit www.chevelles.net/list.html To start a new topic, send mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
