1992 Camaro RS
3340 race weight
355
World products sportsman II heads
weiand x-celerator single plane intake
edelbrock 750 CFM carb
bottom-end is more or less a stock rebuild - dont want to spin it past ~6000 RPMs
700R4 stock convertor - will be replaced by a proper stall speed when the cam is picked out...
3.73 rear gears

Ok, I think those are all the basics. Let me know if yall guys need any other information. I'm looking for a hydraulic flat tappet camshaft that will give me the best power curve. Because of my stockish bottem end I need power where I can use it (READ: no peak HP at 7500 RPMs type of thing)

Here are a few of the cams I am looking at:

230 Intake Duration
230 Exhaust Duration
.480" Intake Lift_______________Cam # 1
.480" Exhaust Lift
109 LSA

--------------------------------

235 Intake Duration
235 Exhaust Duration
.507" Intake Lift______________Cam # 2
.507" Exhaust Lift
108 LSA

--------------------------------

234 Intake Duration
244 Exhaust Duration
.488" Intake Lift_______________Cam # 3
.510" Exhaust Lift
114 LSA

-------------------------------

222 Intake Duration
234 Exhaust Duration
.467" Intake Lift________________Cam # 4
.494" Exhaust Lift

-------------------------------

230 Intake Duration
236 Exhaust Duration
.490" Intake Lift__________________Cam # 5
.490" Exhaust Lift
110 LSA



Cam #1 = Lunati Bracket Master II
Cam #2 = Lunati Street Master
Cam #3 = Crane "Blue Racer" (Summit Racing sells it also)
Cam #4 - Crane PowerMax
Cam #5 = Comp Cams XE274


I think that all of these cams would work pretty well and make decent power with the heads. All durations are at .050" lift and all lifts are with 1.5 ratio rockers (when I do go with roller rockers I will be using 1.6's).

Click here for the flow information on the Sportsman II heads.

Which camshaft would best meet my needs. This is a street/strip car with no AC, heater, defrost or any of that. So it's not like it needs to idle perfect and make lots of vacuum. The car is driven daily sometimes.... Needs to run on pump gas etc....

Thanks for the help in advance...

Brady

 

Based on what you've provided I'd go with cam#5 first.
This cam always works well on the street, in the real world.
It will have enough torque to work with your stock converter and will really come alive with a 3000/3500 stall.
Strong power to 5800 rpm.
nice moderate sounding idle with ok vacuum for brakes.
This cam is easy to live with. Good drivability and street power.
Doesn't mind the shorty headers.
Very nitrous friendly.

Cam#4 will make a little more top end power at the expence of
flexability, vacuum and low end grunt. But with the right converter its a powerfull cam. Needs good exhaust system, favours long tube headers. Rougher idle than #5 May need a power valve change and will want more initial timing at idle.

Cam #1 stinks compared to the other two. Pass on this one.
its not that it is so bad, just the other two are better.

The other ones are ok about the same as #4 but will need the high stall and long tube headers and compression even more so.

The Weiand single plane is a mistake on a street motor like this.
Especialy if you don't end up getting the converter.
A Edelbrock Performer RPM will have a much wider powerband and flexability. and give up little or nothing at all up to 6000 rpm.
The right intake manifold will make or break this combo.

The Weiands' big top end power needs a lot bigger cam and very high stall..

It favours a big solid cam say 250/260@.050 and 106 LSA
A 3500+++ converter and open long tube headers. lots of RPM and gear.

See the flow figure at .400" lift? that is the out of box flow on these heads. typicalily 225 cfm@28"
To get the flow figures shown requires some bowl work, but not a lot.

These head were meant to be ported by the builder.

These heads have great potential in ported form. If you do anything at all I recommend don't bolt on these head without doing at least routine pocket porting and gasket matching.
Flow is modest in out of the box form but really comes alive with porting. The exhaust port does not need to be made bigger. its allready big. But will respond to blending and smoothing work.
same with the intake side.

At any rate any of these cams will work much better if the compression ratio is optimized. Get it up to 10:1.

Its all about details.......

 

of those, i'd use #4.

 

Avoid 1 - 3. 3 (familiarly available also as the Edelbrock RPM) is an ancient design. i would not put that in anything I own. #1 & 2 will run OK in a motor with big tube headers, at relatively high RPMs; all 3 of those will drink gas severely by modern standards in city driving.

#4 & #5 are of similar design. #5 is the more aggressive. If this motor will see daily driver duty I'd use #4; if it will see Saturday night usage only, #5. Cam #4 also works better in a motor with small-tube headers. Cam #5 will make the most power in a well-built (good flow) motor, by far.

I've only owned 3 out of the 5 in my own cars, but I've built motors with all of them.

 

I HAVE #5, and I love it. I think it would compliment your setup just as well also.

 

I like the looks of #4.But the last time i suggested a cam everyone made fun of me, but i am a mild mannered guy and stick to the mild side!

 

Thanks for the advice guys...

On a different note what about the XE284 cam from Comp????

 

Well, as I said I have the #5 cam, I also have the crane gold race 1.6 roller rockers, thus making my lift a .527 .530. However the 284 grind XE cam sounds like it would have a really bad idle, and a tough shoot off the line. I have heard a lot about the #5 cam, that's why I got it, and that's why I back it up.

 

My machinest has been trying to get me to use the 284 in one of my builds. He claims its an awsome cam and has has nothing but good luck with it in all the builds he has done for his and his freinds junk. He claimed one in a 84 4x4 passed emissions jetted lean lean and still ran very strong.

Had a 274 in my 402 but that doesent count does it? ran freaking strong.

 

ehhh, Im going with the XE284

 

I have the 274 and it is great. Not a daily driver bet I have been driving it to work everyday for the last couple weeks while the weather is stil good. Idles good and runs around in traffic all day with no problems. Put your foot in it though and your off to the races.

 

What are the best rockers to use with the XE274? Summit suggests 1.52 ratio. However Stingraye says hes got 1.6's. if i get this cam, should i stick to summits recommendation or get 1.6's?

and then i guess it goes without asking the intake for this cam is the RPM (Air Gap in my instance)?

 

Well like I said, when you put the 1.6 on the XE274 cam, it increases the lift to .520 .523 (I wrote it wrong with I put .527 .530 earlier). So it's a matter of how high performance you want the engine to be, and mostly, what can the heads handle? Some heads cannot handle more than .500 lift either side, and can ruin springs, pushrods, and cause valve to piston clearance issues. As I said, I had to have $500 worth of work done to my vortec heads to make sure that it would give me no problems. I love the 1.6's, and the added lift and lopeyness of it, however if you just wanna increase power and not risk too much by not being able to take precautions, just stick to the 1.5 roller rocker, it'll still be a great cam.

 

I ran 1.6 rockers with it on my motor. Of course, I had a set of heads with large springs, short guides, etc. so that they could handle the lift; and it was a 400, so it needed all the flow it could get. It ran great.

 

that being the case, i think i will stick to the 1.52 recommendation