N8MAN1068

I've been pondering cam specs for awhile for my 305 buildup.
I can't decide what rpm range i should be looking at. I know I dont want to rev past 6krpms. I know I dont want a cam that makes little low end grunt.
Should I look for cams that give excellent low-mid range torque, and let nitrous work it's wonders on top end/beyond cam range?
is the comp NX268 too much for a 305?

how do these look as well?
elgin
Hydraulic Camshaft Part # E1015
Small Block Chev Elgin Hydraulic Camshaft .465" intake lift, .488 exhaust lift Dur. @ .050 224 degrees intake, 234 degrees exhaust 112 lobe center Medium rough idle, Modified stall convertor required. Street/strip use.

comp nitrous hp: dur. @ 0.05 224 int., 234 exh, .477/.490 113lsa

Hydraulic Camshaft Part # E922
Small Block Chev Elgin Hydraulic Camshaft .443" intake lift, .465 exhaust lift Dur. @ .050 214 degrees intake, 224 degrees exhaust 112 lobe center Mild idle, good torque. Improved Power
Price: $52.95

Hydraulic Camshaft Part # E1166
Small Block Chev Elgin Hydraulic Camshaft .453" intake lift, .480 exhaust lift Dur. @ .050 216 degrees intake, 228 degrees exhaust 112 lobe center Lopey idle, street/strip use.
Price: $52.95


thoughts?
thanks

N8MAN1068

anyone?

nytrus1

Hi guys,

I am new to this board, but I have been playing with this stuff for years, and I have some experience/opinion that I can offer.


Well, nitrous will not extend your rpm range. Your engine's power band will still be the same but you will have greater torque output thru it. Nitrous will be most effective in the midrange as that is where the greatest torque gains are realized.

If you want good driveability stay with a shorter duration cam. At this level a dedicated nitrous cam is not necessary and would be a little soft in the lower rpm range. Out of your cam choices the # E1166 would be a good choice to take advantage of the lt1 intake you are contemplating. With your th350, and If you have 3.23 or less gears, driveability around town would be better with the #E922. A 100 shot would work just fine with either cam.

I am doing something similar with my 88 305 tpi, although I will be using a stock lt1 cam. I am planning on converting to a lt1 intake as well. why?, because I have the stuff and somehow I can't leave it stock.

N8MAN1068

thanks for the reply.

i'll be putting an order in to get a bunch of stuff. taking a few days off next month, so hopefully i can get my heap at least started next month.

83 Crossfire TA

iTrader: (2)

Without sufficient exhaust flow N2O could actually limit your top end rather then extend it.

WRT to the rest of this, you really didn't provide enough info to even come close to answering the question correctly. We know you have a 305 that you plan on running the LT1 intake on (should we consider something else in the cam decision for now, stock TPI or something?), but what else? Heads, exhaust, tranny/converter, gears, compression, intended use, how much spray??? If it's injected are you willing to/can you burn chips/reprogram (aftermarket ecm?)?

N8MAN1068

stock compression
NX kit up to 150hp
8113 heads int/exh gasket matched
hooker 2460's to a mpp2
3.42-3.73 rear through a th350
3k stall
lt1 intake. no use planning on tpi because i'm not going tpi. I'm doing research on what parts will be best to use with my intended combo.

the car is a weekend toy. cruising on weekends, some track use.
anything else?

83 Crossfire TA

iTrader: (2)

Wow, get different heads…

As far as the cams go…, I don't think that you'd be happy with the first 2 at all, they'd be too big on your little 305 without more stall and gear.

The second 2 would be OK for that engine NA, they'll work as well on the spray as any other NA cam but there are better choices.

If I was optimizing for spray I'd probably go with the comp NX256H-13 or the NX 262H-13 (basically, one and 2 steps down from the cam that you listed). If I was optimizing for NA performance I'd run something like a comp XE versions of the same cams (basically, same intake but smaller exhaust), custom ground to a 112LSA unless you're really good with custom ecm tuning.

N8MAN1068

the 2nd cam listed is a comp nx 268?
man, no matter how much i read about cams, i still dont fully understand them...

so the comp nx262 is a good way to go it seems. I'm tilting towards the NX series because they do have more exh. duration, which from everything else i've read and the little i comprehend on n2o, that works better.

the elgin cams seem pretty good too and are far cheaper ($60, compared to the comp nx series at $180)

i had comp fax me the cam cards on a bunch of cams, and elgin the same..i'm trying to run them through dd2000 for a guestimate of stuff, but the wife 'moved' them somewhere, now i can't find them.

thanks for your imput

83 Crossfire TA

iTrader: (2)

Yes, the second cam you listed is the nx268.

Just make sure you're fairly certain of what's most important to you when choosing your cam. For the most part, the more normal, NA grinds will give you a similar power band to the nx grind but they will feel crisper, more drivable and give you better mileage on the street. If this is 90% of your driving I'd choose that over the nx grind and then you can just run a 10hp bigger shot of spray when you need it and make up for the difference in power between the 2 cams.

They Elgin cams seem to be decent grinds, there just isn't that much information out there about them. Like I said, if you're optimizing for NA performance the last 2 elgin cams seem about in the range that you should be looking in. Since you're building a 305 I'd probably go with the smaller one.