Need help with choosing a cam
 

i have a 89 camaro rs with the 305 and im switching the cam out i have been listening to all types of cams on youtube all week that sound great for one for a good price but dont know if thats exactly what im lookin for or if its any better than the stock one its a edelbrock cam and the specs are 3702 Cam and Lifters, Hydraulic Flat Tappet, Advertised Duration 244/264, Lift .398/.442, so if anyone can help i would greatly appreiciate it thanks .

Re: Need help with choosing a cam
 

You should probabbly be selecting a cam for something other than sound, with that said, edelbrock is probabbly not the best choice for a cam look at an LT1 cam or maybe something by Comp Cams. You will also need a Roller Cam if you have a Roller Motor which an 89 should be unless it was switched. What other mods do you have? You should take care of exhaust and take advantage of the free mods b4 putting in a cam.

Re: Need help with choosing a cam
 

:iagree:

I couldn't agree more. The first things you should do are upgrade to headers and a 3" catback. Follow that with with a cold air intake and then the cam and heads. For a 305, if you want a good set of heads, look at the World Torquer heads for a 305. They have a 1.94" intake and 1.5" exhaust. those heads combined with a decent cam, headers and intake could net 60+hp if not more.

Re: Need help with choosing a cam
 

Your cam heads intake exhaust trans and gearing all have to work for the same goal. That being said the cam is should be the most carefully chosen thing you change on a car.

If you must install a cam in the car then get one with less than .550 lift, 112 to 114 lsa (or centerline), and no more duration than stock. You should upgrade your valve springs as well.

If you don't already have a highly modified intake, heads and exhaust you won't be able to facilitate the flow required by the kind of rpm range that would be needed to make decent power in a 305 inch engine.

If you have done all this then you would have to regear the car for the new rpm band and put in a high stall converter.

Alot of people put larger duration camshafts in very mild street cars and what they get is a car that idles like ***, likes to stall, and runs out of head/intake airflow right about the time the camshaft starts working. Making less overall torque (which is what you want in a street car) for a very marginal gain in hp (which is what you don't want in a street car).

Is this thing TBI or TPI? If its TPI building anything thats setup for more than 4000 rpm is a waste of time unless you have lots of time money and energy to invest in getting a TPI system to perform above 4000.

Re: Need help with choosing a cam
 

i deffinately would not use that edelbrock cam. do what the others have suggested first.

Re: Need help with choosing a cam
 

well i have 3 vehicles and this is just something to play with driving record is flawless would like to keep it that way with that being said im buying the headers to go along with the cam i dont want anything thats gonna make me want to get into trouble on the street i just want something that sounds badass and will cruise when i want it to so back to the question is the cam i gave the specs for the right one and will it give me personally what im looking for thanks.

Re: Need help with choosing a cam
 

The only "change" a cam does for your car sound is the lopey idle. And you don't want that on a daily driver. Full longtubes and a good 2 or 2.5 inch dual exhaust setup and performance mufflers will do more for the sound than the cam will. Also you can't get a good sound with oem style cats on a car.

I know you just want a yes or no answer to your question but it cannot be answered that way. Its not that simple.

Going away from a stock cam on a car that doesn't have heads intake and exhaust set up for it already its a waste of time. You will lose power and economy.

Re: Need help with choosing a cam
 

Thanks for your help man just wondering why i would loose power by adding a bigger cam the full tube headers are going on regardless its just a different number of people have told me a range of different things its not going to be an everyday driver just something to mess around with on the weekends what im trying to say is a few say it will give me a few more hp and some say it wont what will the difference be by adding the cam and headers as opposed to adding just the headers please get back to me soon planning on doing this work soon. thanks.

Re: Need help with choosing a cam
 

Ok I've got some questions that will help determine if this setup is gonna work for you by running it through the dyno sim software.

Was your engine swapped? If not you absolutely must buy a hydraulic roller cam. Thats what it should have not a hydraulic flat tappet.

Was your car automatic or manual?

What is your rear end gearing?

Where is the yellow line on the tachometer of the car? This will help me identify your stock cam.

Most importantly is your car fuel injected? If so you will need a custom chip burnt to your application.

Re: Need help with choosing a cam
 

motor was not swapped car is automatic stock gearing and im not sure where the yellow line is im gonna have to take a look in a few car is a 89 camaro rs 305 Tpi

Re: Need help with choosing a cam
 

Ok so you should have 2.73 gearing in the rear.

You can't use the cam you selected. It is a hydraulic flat tappet. You need a hydraulic roller. You should also re use your stock lifters if they aren't destroyed. This will save you some money. I have attached a picture of the comp cams tpi cam selection. The one you probably want is 08-502-8. I would go ahead and upgrade my valve springs while I was at it.

The main thing limiting your cam choice is the fuel injection. You will have to get a custom chip made for your application by someone. You can't put an aftermarket cam in these old fuel injected cars without getting a new chip made.

When I Built my 305 , 327, and 383 tpi engines I had Brian harris at TPICHIPS.com make mine and they worked well. If I recall right they were around 300 bucks each.

Re: Need help with choosing a cam
 

thanks for all your help with that being said on these type of motors what kind of headers are best long tube shortys block huggers etc just wanted to get a feel fot them before i ordered them i think im going with hedman or hooker headers thanks.

Re: Need help with choosing a cam
 

Long tubes are the best, but unless you have the dual cat option, and I th ink even if you do, you are going ot have to have a custom 2.5" dual system made for the car. IF you have the single cat option, with the single pipe going back to the muffler, your best bet would be the Hooker 2055 shorties. They come with a Y-pipe. All you will have to do then is have a single 3" catback made/bought and you are good to go. I went the single catback route. Also, a single 3" flows almost as well as a true dual 2.5" however...shorties are not as good as long tubes. So...it all depends on what you want to spend. :)

Re: Need help with choosing a cam
 

Long tube headers always make more torque over a wider range. Shorties aren't worth using. The marginal gain in torque with shorties is offset by the increased heat in the engine bay. Unless you buy ceramic coated shorties. But then for that price you might as well step up to the ceramic longtubes. Any time you install headers I would strongly reccomend you get them ceramic coated. Thermal paint helps but not enough.

I ran the hooker 2055's with the y pipe on mine with the 305, 327 and 383. I had to extensively wrap the exhaust system and that only slowed down the heat soak. It didn't stop it. The Y pipe on that setup is too close to the oil pan and puts too much exhaust heat in the oil.

If you are going to run shorties I would suggest saving money and getting your exhaust manifolds extrude honed by a local shop. Otherwise save the money and get some ceramic long tubes run into a Y pipe behind the output shaft of the tranny.

On your headers don't get primaries any larger than 1 5/8 inch. Larger than that will kill your torque and won't work in in the same range as your cam, heads and intake. Also make sure your collectors are 2 1/2 inch diameter. The Y pipe should also step from 2.5 to 3.0 inch. This exhaust setup will promote torque accross the widest area and still be pretty easy to route.

Re: Need help with choosing a cam
 

i have some specs on a cam for an 89 chevy camaro rs 305
HR-270
270 214 452
276 220 465
112
im getting the cam for a real good price asap so if anyone could let me know i would greatly appreiciate it thanks.

Re: Need help with choosing a cam
 

If I wanted to recam my mostly stock 150 hp 305 for a bit more horsepower yet have a smooth idle and still use my stock gearing/computer for a daily driver my only choice would be a stock or equivilent L-69 305 HO cam.
30 more horses with no muss or fuss!

A big rump-rump cam in a mostly stock 305, factory gears will be a pig and a gas hog!

Spending big bucks for a stall converter, fat carb, and big gears to go along with the big cam isn't a good "go faster" option on a 305 either.................

Re: Need help with choosing a cam
 

Im not bashing any ideas or anything any one says but if your gonna go through all the trouble to put heads cam intake exhaust on a 305 why not just swap a 350 for damn near twice the HP. just an idea.