1. I've seen flow numbers on almost every other head created for a SBC engine except for the stock ones on say a '91-'92 RS LO3 engine. Has anyone seen or know of where to find the specs? I'm sure they're not impressive cuz that's what everyone says, but at least I'd like to know what I'm working with.

2. Has anyone installed the HT383 cam in an LO3 yet? Care to share your SOTP/track results? Looks like a good piece for the little 305.

 

How does that cam compare to a zz4 cam? palric got a L03 to hit 13.9 without touching the heads, a zz4 cam, 7525 weiand intake, 670 holley TBI, and some other stuff. No nos or charger.

 

not sure of the specs on the ZZ4 cam but it's probably longer in duration and lift. The 383 cam is 196/206, .431/.451 (1.5:1 rocker), 112 LSA, 109 intake centerline. Should be a torquey little thing from idle to redline...

 

how much are one of those cams?

 

I don't know but I'd like to find one that somone has taken out of their HT383 or ramjet 350. I think it would be the perfect cam for a vortec headed LTR 383.

 

I got the cam brand new from GMPP for $135.00. You can't find a cheaper new roller cam anywhere, Believe Crane makes it for GM.

 

Holy christ thats a good deal. I'm on it, do you know the part number?

 

gmgod: PN14097395. Make sure you check around, the dealers seem to have different prices. general range is from 133-145, but saw a couple at over 200. I used Victor George Oldsmobile in Flint Michigan.

 

The other cool thing I forgot to mention is that I contacted Jet about using their stage 2 chip with that cam and they said it would be fine, so no special chip burning required!

 

Before you waste a penny on a custom chip, maybe you should look at this comparison to a jet stage 2 chip. Yeah it's TPI, but you really think they spent more time on the TBI?

I also wouldn't go through the trouble of a cam swap to put that little thing in. Cheap or not, it's a lot of work to go through, make it worth your while. The cam is the heart of the engine, why not get the right cam in that car. Something like the ZZ4 (208/221) or Comp264HR (212/218) makes a lot more sense.

 

Ed,
Thanks for the detailed response/link to the chip explanation. Unfortunately or otherwise, I already have the chip installed with no knocking or pinging experienced. I got a few tenths at the track which is in line with the 10-15hp gain advertised.
As to the cam, I don't think duration over 200 degrees is that great for the 305. No experience to back that statement up, just what I've read. I wouldn't call .431/.451" lift, 'little': it's right up there with the LT1. If you want/need more lift, use the 1.6:1 lifters like they do in the 350 RAM engine. Finally, GM feels the cam is good enough to run a 383cu engine, get a butt-load of hp and torque out of it and idle like a purring kitten.
I've seen some good track numbers posted for cams of LT1/LT4 origin, so they obviously do work. Of course most of these guys have big slip converters and huge gearing to take advantage of it.
Anyway, the 383 cam is sitting in my living room and it'll be a big improvement over the stocker when I get it installed. I'm not looking for top end speed anyway, I want a wide torque band for autocross. That cam ought to do it.

 

Check out the june issue of chevyhiperformance, they made some dyno pulls on the HT383 with 1.6 rockers and the low rpm torque is impressive. The motor gets more impressive with each issue.

Lonnie

 

I completely agree with Ed. First, if you NEVER did a cam swap, you are aware that the BEST way to change a cam on a SBC AND not leak oil is to drop the oil pan. That means lift the engine so you can access the oil pan.

The other (lazier) way is to pry the timing cover from the lip of the oil pan. AND, if you don't do it right (and most guys don't, unless they've done it a gazillion times), you will have an oil leaker. So make your choice right now, do you want a leaker or not? And if you don't want an oil leaker, IT IS A LOT OF WORK.

Secondly, that duration is so pathetic, a stock L98 cam with 1.6 rockers will beat it in EVERY department. (lift and duration). The effects of the lift is not as great as the effects of duration. And high lift will also wreck havoc with your vacuum.

As for a Jet eprom, they are worth even talking about. Completely useless. By properlly tuning my eprom, I gained .5 seconcs (about 35-50 HP) with my stock L98 PLUS I increased my gas mileage to US 30 MPGs. I had my car running so perfectly, I had to "fix it".

So I just installed a Miniram with Aluminum L98 heads AND a stock cam. I did it for a variety reasons, 1) Everyone says a Miniram on a basically stock engine kills torque with minimal gains (I plan to prove them wrong), 2) I wanted to fine tune the eprom for the different intake before I tackled the "lump cam issue", and 3) I need to save up more money to beef up the tranny and rear-end FIRST because once I install the "right cam", its most likely going to break the tranny/rear-end. I am think something between a LT4 Hot Cam (218/228) to Comp Cam (224/230).

PS: With the Miniram and Aluminum L98 heads (and a detuned eprom while I am still checking out the engine), it definitely has not loss ANY torque and even with the stock cam, the engine just screams past 4,500 rpm to 6,000 rpm. Don't believe the rumor that you loose bottom end torque with a Miniram, even on a stock engine. It isn't true. My only regret is that I purchased my Miniram before John Millican came out with his LT1 conversion. At $400, that's the best bang for the buck.

 

Genn91, we're talking about a 305, not an L98 350. If I had a 350, I'd go with an LT4 cam for sure. Nice work with your eprom. 30mpg is really impressive. I can't get that from my TBI 305.

 

Does the LT1 intake have the vortec head bolt pattern? Also is there a lot of eprom work to be done to get one (LT1/miniram) to run well. The only reason the HT383 cam looked so good to me was because of the short duration. I don't want to spend the money on siamesed tpi parts just to be dissapointed and have to spend more money on a short runner intake of some nature. So I planned on building a LTR 383 and with the LTR I did'nt want to miss the fat of the torque curve with a cam with too much duration.

 

John Millican's modified LT1 intake only works with standard Chevy. As I understand, the Vortec ports are too tall - best to talk to John about that.

As for "tuning" the eprom, it is still a "draft". Which means I have done NO optimization. I only developed a "fuel curve" based on my experience and played with the injector constant to get it reasonably close to 128/128. I am NOW taking scan tool data captures and "fine tuning" the VE tables and then Spark Tables (the key to power). And yes, this is SD. My "draft" eprom is closer than most MAF systems I've seen and once it's optimized - hang on baby.