I am pulling my hair out trying to figure out which cam to go with with the rebuild. My engine/drivetrain specs:
383 4bolt 1pc seal with Scat crank balanced and eagle forged 6" rods.
Wiseco forged pistons, 10.7:1 compression
Commander 950 900cfm TBI fuel injection with wide band, hooker supercomp long tubes
T-56 with d&d rebuild, spec 3 clutch.
I currently have a comp cams hyd roller 305-8: 220/230 dur @ .050, .510/.510 lift, and 114 lsa and pro-topline vortec heads (170cc I believe) port-matched to an rpm airgap intake. The heads can handle a .550" lift, I also have 1.5rr and 1.6 rr at my disposal.
I plan on swapping to aluminum heads next year(not enough $$ right now), but would really preffer to do the cam now. I definetely want to keep the hyd roller set-up, and would like my powerband to pull to 6,500rpm. I am currently looking at trick flow cam #TFS-31402001. It has a nice flat torque curve based on the dyno chart in summit (w/TF heads), but I'm not sure if that is what I need being as I have the 6" rods

Does anybody have any other recommendations? I've looked at various cams, and given comparable cam specs, the rpm ranges are largely different depending on the company. Because of that I am a little skepticle. Has anybody had any experiance with the trick flow cams?

 

I like the #TFS-31402001 cam you selected but I'm not sure its best for your combo. I would call several different cam manufacturers to see what they recommend. I've had the best luck with Bullit, Crane and Comp Cams tech support..its always good to get several opinions to see how they compare.
I'm not real familiar with pro-topline vortec heads but the small 170cc intake runners might be a slight mismatch for that cam. Heads with small intake runners like that are generally used for low end torque and smaller cams.

 

Yeah, keep in mind I am going to be going with aluminum heads next year, so that is ultimately the deturmining factor. I have actually decided on a Lunati hyd roller cam: 242/252, .525/.540, 110 lsa which is also supposed to be nitrous friendly.
Hopefully the Topline heads flow alright, I ported 'em quite a bit, but who knows, I have heard good and bad things about porting vortecs. I guess we will find out.....it should be fun tuning in the cam, but at least the commander 950 utilizes wide band, and should work very nicely with some trick flow or AFR's.

The cam is rated from 2,200-6,800rpm, though I am thinking the peak power range may be slightly lower on the 383.

On a side note/question, I am guessing I am going to need to go with some 1 3/4" primaries (long tubes) especially taking nitrous into consideration....Or would the hedman 1 5/8" LTs work? I am thinking the power/rpm range of my combo will like the larger primaries. It's ashame there is such a price difference

 

Header tube size should be looked at like this,where is most of your driving going to be done?If it's 90% street,go with the cheaper headers.But if your sprayin it a ton,spend the extra cash for big tube headers.

 

Irockz is right about the headers. The Hooker LT's will be better matched with your combo especially once you go with aluminum heads and an even bigger cam. The larger tubes will make a little more high rpm hp, but it depends on the use of the car it may or may not be worth it to you. For me it wasn't worth it atleast at this time. I bought a set of Hooker LT's and had clearance issues with 2 spark plugs and they sat right on the brake lines. I ended up buying a set of hedman LT's and they fit great and were half the cost. Keep in mind the Hooker LT's fit most cars better than mine, spark plug location in the dart heads seemed to be causing most of the problems. I've had good luck with the Hedmans, I've ran an 11.5@117 using them but I know the larger primaries of the Hooker LT's would be better matched to my combo. I kept the Hooker's in case I want to use them once I go with a tubular k-member and/or different heads.

 

Those are awesome times jbenge, and a very nice car. Your engine combo is pretty close to mine, minus the heads for the time being. Were you running through your full dual set-up for those times? I think for the time being, I am going to go with the hedmans, maybe down the road I will shell out the $$ for coated hookers. But I will think about that next year after aluminum heads.
Thank you for the help

 

You're welcome...good luck with your car. Yea I ran those times through the dual 3in exhaust. The exhaust setup is one of my fav. things I've done with the car...it runs identical mph through this exhaust vs. open headers and sounds great too.

 

TPIS makes a cam that would be good for a nitrous 383 - its the ZZ-X cam and has 226/240 duration with 112 degrees seperation (forget the exact lift specs - check out their website). Its about $375 or so.