O.k., I need a healthy cam for my L69 (305)... im looking for at LEAST 10 mpg city (my current setup: holley 600 4160, vac. distributor, performer manifold, no egr) and power wise i'd like to be about 2k to 6k RPM...

cheers

 

headers or soon to be headers = Comp XE262

no headers in the plans = XE256

My opinion - and I have used both - 262 makes for a bit of a lumpier idle on a 305 (obviously) and I never used it with headers - only without, so for my purposes, the 256 that a friend installed originally was better. Unfortunately, I don't think that the 256 will continue to make power at 6000 rpm, but the 262 should be okay - in fact, from what I understand, it will be great if you have headers and a quality cat back.

 

ur setup isnt that radical you should see some better gas mileage then that with that cam..

 

I agree with Rob116.

 

cat whats a cat soon im putting in long tubes and duals out the back.

 

I've heard the ZZ4 is a good cam for a 305. I think its 208/218 and the lift is around .450'. Don't quote me on the specs, but you can do a quick search of the boards and find them pretty fast.

 

Isn't that a roller cam? I can't use it.

 

dan,

Unless you plan to port and polish your current heads, I'd stick to the XE256 cam.

The problem with 305s is that they run out of rpms by 5000 to 5500 rpm. Most probably have a hard time hitting 5000 and many won't go past 4500. You can improve that by reworking the heads with better springs but then again, if you do that why not do the whole enchilada, i.e., port, polish and enlarge the intake valve?

I think a Crane PowerMax 260 or 266 would be great choices, too. I use the 260 (.427i and .454e) in my 305 and it pulls to 5500 very hard, indeed

For all practical purposes, even L69s were never intended to be turned past 5500 rpm.

 

I'm in the same situation as him, except I'm going to be getting some '601' heads with 58CC chamber and 1.94/1.50 and a Performer EPS intake manifold. I also was wondering what cam to get. So far I'm looking at a powermax 2050 272/284 Dur 454/480 lift or a Lunati 290/290 dur 460/460 lift. I saw someone made 343 hp with a 305 and a Lunati cam that had slightly more duration and 017 more lift. I want something that's gonna make some good HP numbers but also isn't TOO radical.

 

The more radical you go with a cam, the deeper the rear gears you need--not to mention a loose torque converter.

If you can't do all of those then stay conservative on the cam selection. The more duration you go for, the higher up in the rpm curve your power will develop. Conversely, the lower rpms will not produce good power, thus the need for gears and a loose torque converter.

By "conservative" I mean the Comp XE256 or 250, or the Crane PowerMax 260 or 266. Anything larger will require 3.23 gears at the least.

 

Yeah I should've attached signature. I do have 3.73s so I can use something a bit more radical.

 

well damn man, i'm gettin a set of heads to port and polish so thats not a prob... got heddman full lengths just waiting to go on those too and i've got a 5 spd with 3.73's out back