anyone out there in Trademe land know what a good performance cam for a 355 would be for a speedway engine!, anyone got any cam reference books that would tell anything like that, what is a good brand ie howards, crane etc etc or what is a good company in NZ that does them!. Cheers
twink19,
Dec 2, 6:14am
have you tryed Franklin cams in Pukekohe
rob_man,
Dec 2, 6:19am
Sig Erson do a good range for Chevs.
dozerman,
Dec 2, 6:33am
kelford cams Cch i think
hi-ling,
Dec 2, 7:33am
Need to know a bit about your setup. What heads, compression ratio, intake, carby, Weight of your car, diff ratio, what RPM your hoping to make max HP at!. Be realistic with that figure. Theres plenty of good cams around for speedway.I ran different configurations for years and with good success so more than happy to offer advice
mk3zephyr,
Dec 2, 7:37am
so obviously a cam can be reconditioned (lobes built back up etc), so i want to get more performance out of the engine, can they grind the standard cam or would i need to buy a new one, dont want to have to change rockers/springs etc
mk3zephyr,
Dec 2, 7:43am
heads are standard off a chevy pickup, not sure of the compression ratio as the engine is now in bits and wasnt the best anyway, intake is an edlebrock proformer, carb is holley 600, diff ratio is 6.55(need to verify that tho), rpm to max HP hmmm dunno, is say 4000+ a good figure
wellabolla,
Dec 2, 7:44am
What is the motor in! and what do you want to do with it
mellisa2000,
Dec 2, 10:47am
Best Q yet.
hyphen,
Dec 2, 12:30pm
Kelford in ChCh reground my 389 cu in Pontiac cam to mild street spec which makes it run better on todays pump gas, cost $268 inc gst & freight to Hamilton.
74nova,
Dec 2, 7:33pm
Your gonna get no where if you want to put in a decent cam with standard heads and only rev to 4 grand. Heads are the most important part to make good HP, after that its making everything else in the engine keep up like decent pistons, forged or hyper, rods and crank and lots of $$. I built up a 350 a few years ago, 2 Bolt mains, standard crank/rods, flat top ACL hyper race series pistons 9.5:1 comp, Comp cams xe274h cam with matching valve springs, 2500 hi stall, fuelie heads with large valves and had porting work done on them ($1500 to have them built up and I supplied the valves/locks/retainers and springs) could have bought a complete set of alloy heads for less them what I send on the heads.Anyway.ARP bolts everywhere, always had the rev limiter set to 6 grand, Edelbrock rpm air gap manifold and 750VC carb. cost me $4500 to have it all put together and I supplied all the parts. The engine made 300hp at the wheels.
I've just finished my Big Block, 2 bolt block standard rods/crank, forged pistons 9.5:1 comp, good standard heads with large valves and a bit of flow work, comp cams xe274h (same as the small block but the big block grind) with matching springs etc.2500 high stall, Performer 2 manifold and the 750VC carb, ARP bolts everywhere. And this cost me $6500 to have it put together and I supplied just about everything. I built it up the same as the small block cause I liked the small block, haven't had it dynoed yet but pissis all over the small block. The small block went like a 1300cc starlet compared to the Big Block.
mk3zephyr,
Dec 2, 7:49pm
its in a speedway saloon car and i want to race around the track in it. we are only allowed to run standard heads, rockers etc etc to keep costs down. If i wanted to run a huge $$$$ engine then i would run a super saloon. we can run either pump gas or avgas and thats about that. just wanting to run a better cam than a standard one . Cant run a big block as we are limited to 361 ci.
wellabolla,
Dec 2, 7:51pm
You could build it up like a top fuel motor and it would be a waste of time and money.you really need to answer the question of "Whats it going in and what do you want to do with it".you will get cam spec after cam spec on here.that will just confuse the snot out of you.if its a street motor ya dont need a big cam unless ya only going for sound.if its an off road motor you want to run a "torque" grind.(probably suit your heads).Start with the Basics.Whats it in and wha are you wanting to do with it
wellabolla,
Dec 2, 7:55pm
Lol i was writing that as you were.Ok.well id be ringing Camshaft services in Palmy North and asking for Snows "Stump puller" its a torque cam but still gives you a few revs to play with.if ya limited to stock head gear then ive personally seen this cam perform in a stock motor and it was really good.huge amounts of grunt for pulling out of corners etc. But this is just my opinion.do you have a working rpm range!
guider1,
Dec 2, 8:11pm
I dont fully agree with what has been already said. I've played with LOTS of Chev & Holden V8's over the years & some of the cheapest builds with low compression were the better engine. Some examples. 1) LH Torana, 355 chev, 2 bolt main, flat top pistons, balanced, stock 400 smog heads, Isky 505-T solid cam & tunnelram with twin 600's; 311rwhp, revved to 7500 all day every day, effortless burnouts & never gave a problem for many years with alot of beating. 2) HZ Statesman, bog stock low compression 454 import motor, Isky Z55 solid cam, matching springs/retainers/locks, 7/16 pushrods, tunnelram with twin 600's; a tad under 400rwhp, 7500rpm all day every day, many burnout comps (top gear 7500rpm burnouts), 13.0's at every drag meet on Eagers (hazing the tyres off the start line), towed my racecar to Hastings with it. The myth about having to adjust rockers all the time when running a solid cam is exactly that. a myth! If you are having to adjust your rockers then something is wearing out or bending. A low comp motor will not wear out as fast as a high comp motor simply due to the fact that there is less load on rings & the bottom end.
guider1,
Dec 2, 8:13pm
Both those engines had stock rods & rod bolts too.
whqqsh,
Dec 2, 8:18pm
I had a Crane Commander in a relatively stock motor, went extremely well, comes in at 3000, tails off at 6-6500, a high stall converter helped it heaps though
guider1,
Dec 2, 8:25pm
Yep, high stall is a help for sure. Crane just had some funny rev range's. quite narrow power bands. I used to grind cams at Franklin Engineering with Adrian before he bought the cam grinders & became Franklin Cams.
Dont always believe what a book tells you. i've put huge cams into applications that they were not designed for & they've performed exceptionally well. My old 310ci Group-A engine was a good example. The tuner told me it wouldnt make any decent power because of my cam choice. made 322rwhp at 6800rpm. He was very surprised & has now used the same cam in other engines.
mk3zephyr,
Dec 2, 8:33pm
To be honest i have no idea what revs the engine was pulling. It has a tacho in the car but didnt have time to look at it and cant remember what the peak rpm was from the recall button, yes i agree about needing a torque cam
guider1,
Dec 2, 8:36pm
mk3. how heavy is the car! Any sbc will happily run 6500rpm for a long time.
mk3zephyr,
Dec 2, 9:03pm
Not very heavy, spaceframe chassis, Fibreglass Corvette body, prob around the 600 kg mark, havnt got its logbook handy with its weight in it (couple of hours away from my place at the moment. I'm taking this season off racing and have stripped out an engine that i will rebuild, just want to put a decent cam in so this engine can keep up with the other cars
the-lada-dude,
Dec 2, 9:07pm
if your serious about hp mk3, there's a zillon things you can modify, correctand check, that will probably give better results that cramming another cam in it ! might be 40 + hrs work but very little doh.
mk3zephyr,
Dec 2, 9:12pm
well the cam in it is farked (rounded off lobes), so either need to get it reco'ed or bung a new one in
74nova,
Dec 3, 2:19am
That changes everything.
wellabolla,
Dec 3, 6:27am
From my experience.you really need to "soup" the block now.or atleast flush the oil galleries so all the worn cam paste doesnt start the whole drama over again.why did the cam flattn! you might need more or better gates in the sump! im guessing its not dry sumped! Gav
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