leezickmund

http://www.compperformancegroupstore...Code=K12-209-2

Decided this might be a decent cam for me, just wanted to see what everyone thought.

Motor is a L69 305 HO from a 1987 Monte Carlo SS that I am putting together to go into my 92' Camaro RS. Ill be using my current T-5 and I have the Edelbrock Performer Intake and a Edelbrock performer 650 carb. Bottom end will be stock chevy with around 65,000 miles and I need to get the heads into the machine shop for a thorough cleaning and I want them to assemble the heads for me so I need to make a decision on a cam and accompanying components such as springs.

I'm looking for decent response around town and a good lopey idle. If anyone has a better recomendation, i'm deffinently open! Thank you in advance!

leezickmund

http://www.compperformancegroupstore...Code=ChevyKits

And this...

D_Smith87

well stock bottom end so ur gonna wanna stay under 6k rpms forsure, unless u wanna get stronger rod bolts/ and also upgrade to hyper pistons, yeh theres circle track guys that spin the hell outta stock sbc's but they get lucky and it doesnt matter to them if there motor only last 1 night lol. so id say get a set of springs set up for a roller cam with .500 max lift, its a 305 cams feel huge in those little suckers, a 1500-5800 rpm range cam would be perfect for that motor with like .490 lift and 225 duration, just some numbers im throwing out there

D_Smith87

oh just noticed your cam specs, and yeh 6k rpm way be a bit too high, but thats your risk and totally fine if ur not pushing your motor to that kinda rpm on a regular basic, factory cast pistons have been known to break at the skirt at that kinda rpm.

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

"Lopey idle" in a 305 is not a good combo. Lope and torque are enemies: if you want one, can't have the other. They are already a coupla sticks shy of a cord in that dept.

I'd suggest a MUCH SMALLER cam: the XE256 if it still has the stock 3.08 gears, or the XE262 if it has 3.42 or better.

D_Smith87

but then again someones version of lopey can be a huge variance from someone else, a 220 duration cam with a 112 lobe sep will be just fine on a 305, i wouldnt go any bigger. however, i run 232/244 on my 350 and it runs nice and tight. as long as u keep a 110 minimal lobe seperation it should idle just fine and have nice throttle response especially if u keep the 650 carb and dont over carb like so many people do. your biggest holdback is the internals of a 305 and the cost of trying to make one tough is where u run into spending a crapload of money since the stuff isnt massed produced. i swapped my 305 for a 350 and never looked back. and that tranny, if it is stock is very limited in how much power u can put to it, hence why they never hooked one up to a tpi350, the torque would have overpowered the ability of that trans.

leezickmund

Gents,.this is exactly what I was looking for in responses. The T5 is actually why i stayed 305 for now and the motor was freeish. Do you have a certain cam you would go with in my case smith as well? I have been deff looking at the xe cams sofa, good power for town and sound decent.

D_Smith87

well 305 heads unworked with stock valves on a 305 will run outta power hard around 5500 rpms, doesnt mean u can build power to 6 k with em just that it wouldnt be as impressive and isnt worth taking the hit on low end drivability, howards has alot of cams that would work for low rpm, and good torque build, first question i forgot to ask ur motor is a roller motor correct? or is it flat tappet, or do u want a flat tappet? i can reccomend a cam for either, for a roller within the same rpm range of a stock 305 and good power and driveability id reccomend the howard cams 181145-12, advantage of a stickshift tho is that u can choose a higher starting powerband without affecting streetability its got .510/.525 lift with 219/225 lift, with 112 lsa so it will be super street friendly, for a flat tappet, def one of those lunati cams

D_Smith87

219/225 duration**** sorry

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

His motor isn't a roller. (unfortunately ) Also, won't accommodate a cam with that much lift, without some head machine work.

leezickmund

Well the motor will honestly not see much over the 4500 to 5000 rpm hardly ever. The only component holding me back on finishing is choosing a cam! Gah. And sofa is deff right. The tbi in the car is a roller but mine is a flat tappet.

leezickmund

Motor going in is a flat tappet, just wanted to specify.

redneckjoe

id go 262-272, with under .450 lift. should put you in the ballpark.

D_Smith87

how much lift can those handle then? my 305 tpi heads from my 87 block handled .509 lift just with propper shimming and an upgraded spring assembly that handles .550 lift which i had the guy at the machine shop do when he did the comp valve job.

1gary

Too much lift/duration on a compression not matching is a bad combo.

D_Smith87

his motor is factory like 9.3-1 right? which would be just fine with 220 duration and maybe .480 lift

leezickmund

Yes it is a a 9.3:1 compression, but that is static. Got to buy the cam today, wifes orders. Ha.

Johnny Blaze

iTrader: (15)

I would suggest this one,

http://www.compcams.com/Company/CC/c...x?csid=84&sb=2

Ran it in my 1969 c-10. Have a great idle, turned heads. Ran great with a 4 speed and 3.73 gears, performer intake, and a q-jet. Truck was 3400 lbs and without OD I still averaged 15mpg.

Did not sound like a dragester, but definatly sounded like a muscle car. My dad loved the idle sound. I had it in a 350 with stock heads and about 9:1. It will sound even more aggresive in a 305 but will still have very good manners.

D_Smith87

• Advertised Duration (Int/Exh): 262/268
• Duration @ .050 (Int/Exh): 219/227
• Gross Valve Lift (Int/Exh): .468/.489
• LSA/ICL: 112/108
• Valve Lash (Int/Exh): Hyd/Hyd
• RPM Range: 1400-5800
• Includes: Cam Only

Part Number: 10120702
Previoius Part Number: 60102

this cam would run real nice with stock heads with boatloads of low end torque.

D_Smith87

its a lunati flat tappet.

D_Smith87

any bigger than this cam and your completely overpowering your heads in stock form

Johnny Blaze

iTrader: (15)

That much lift would require new springs and probably machine work.

D_Smith87

no machine work, just springs and hardware, anyone who cams a motor is dumb not to put in new or better springs with a new cam, and only issue is hes gonna have to shim them correctly, my machinest did that part so i didnt have to worry about it with my 305 heads. summit sells a kit for like 60 bucks that will handle that cam, with hardened retainers and the good seals.

D_Smith87

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-174000
70 bucks and good to .550 lift which will work just fine with that cam

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

There's more to springs than just some "max lift" spec.

Whatever cam you end up with, use THE RIGHT SPRINGS for it. Not least because, the mfr won't warranty it if it fails, and you used some cheeeeeep substitute.

Johnny Blaze

iTrader: (15)

So your saying a 305 head can handle .489" lift with no issues?

D_Smith87

yeh i did it and ive had no issues, i used better springs than those summit ones, but i mean they are decent bang for the buck, yeh some people try and put rediculously high spring pressures and rev 7500 rpms and pull studs out on stock heads, something i know better than to do, and something that cam if ran correctly and shimmed correctly to those springs lifted above will have no issues with. .550 lift is designed for cams in the .480-.520 range and up to .550, optimum range is always lower than the max with worries of bind and other possibilities of catostrphic failure lol. and im certain machining is only needed if he upgrades to a bigger o.d which is unnecessary with a cam that small.

D_Smith87

springs on my heads are setup to handle .570 lift, uncertain about the pressures i lost that information, my cam is .487/.509 with a rev limiter set at 5500 ( so it sneaks up to like 5650) and ive had no issues at all, zero. and my heads are a pair of 305 tpi 081 heads from my old 305 i did up with comp valve job/ port/ polish/bowl blend/ gasket match to ports, and slapped on my 350 with impressive results for a true budget build.

leezickmund

Wow, i haven't been able to look at this in awhile and it took off. Thanks for all the reaponses everyone!

D_Smith87

yeah no problem, did u select a cam yet?

leezickmund

Due to time constraints, I have not been able to build the motor. Getting irritated lol.

D_Smith87

yeh i feel ya on that man, im on the same boat with starter problems, im never buying a valuecraft starter again. lol

Jason Sharpless

what cam is in a 1990 camaro rs 305 moter is it a flattappet or a maichel

SLEEPER 86

Just DON'T re-use those oil shield cups that ride between the valve spring and retainer if your heads have them now!
Wounded a perfectly good 350 with .490 lift cause I thought they might be helpful. All they did was bring me just barely into coil bind. Measured ok but mushroomed the valve stem tips pretty good! Looked like bullets recovered from ballistic gelatin. OOPS!

1gary

Cam and compression compatibility are key elements in cam choices.

http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/w..._compatibility

D_Smith87

list is decently close, best resource when picking out a cam is just talking to a tech and figuring out what C.R they reccomend for that select cam, cams are one of those things that can have so many variations so a chart will get u close to where u need but the information from a rep will let u know what it was designed to be ran at.

D_Smith87

yeh those retarted unecessary piles of crap that they are, those are bad news on anything over stock.

1gary

One of the points of the link I think is the days of slam a cam and go are gone.If you do the leg work in research even in the lowest dollar builds matched parts builds pays off large dividends.Bigger than any one part does.

D_Smith87

yeh forsure gary when factor such as head capability and the fact that a cam 3 steps up will only give 25 horse do to poor flow quite often i see people doing. and lots of slamming cammers out there, i mean its sweet if you dont care about driveability haha. i believe his compression is 9.5 to 1 right? totally safe up to 225 duration in my personal opinion, just watch out rpms, u dont want a cam off the charts, stay around 5.5k max with ur bottom end and u are golden, a cam thats a 1200-5400 or 1400-5600 would be alot of fun.

leezickmund

Smith, its been a minute or two since i have responded to this thread but I ended up totally going a different route than anticipated. The L69 came back to me from the machine shop with a crack in the lifter valley and I sent that back and as of now they replaced the block with a .030 over Vortec truck block 305, kept the 081 heads and ended up running the #22301 cam that is in the attached list link. My engine builder said I should be happy with it and I am taking his word on it I suppose lol. Bottom end is totally rebuilt, all new rods, flat tops, bearings, ect. The heads are also. What do you think?

leezickmund

http://www.melling.com/Portals/0/Cat...cs_223-227.pdf

D_Smith87

yeah decent cam, one thing i hate about those type of cams is that they are all generic grinds and fail to make a nice powerband, id guess that cam would be like a 2000-5200 rpm cam, reliable, never will destroy sling a rod kept in its appropriate powerband. run a mild stall like a 1800-2200, yeah sorry its been a long time since ive been on here, i was dealing with melling with their cams for my ford 400, and the power bands sucked, for a street engine i like to make as much low end as possible without needing a stall, but stalls are fun too.