will the rods/bolts clear the base circle on a LT4 Hot Cam installed in a 388ci?

 

I have the Hot cam in my 383 and dont have any problems.I have a scat 9000 crank and scat I-beam stroker rods with 7/16 cap screws.FYI the hot cam is mild in the 383 you might want to bigger if you dont allready have it.

 

maybe, maybe not lot depends on the rods as well as the cam. rods with bolts work a lot better than rods with studs and nuts

 

Well I don't know if I really should go much bigger than a Hot Cam. The 388ci is going in my '91RS. I'm going to be running a Holley 700cfm 4bbl TBI with my stock ECM running the TBI(with some programing of course). So I don't really know if I could go much bigger without driveabitaly problems, you think?

 

A "bigger" cam actually has less chance of hitting the rods.

Cam lift is the difference between the height of the tip of the lobe and the height of the bottom. They can't just keep making the tip taller, because eventually it would get so tall you couldn't install it, it would hit the bearings. Stock cams are actually already about as tall as they can be. That's why you can re-grind a used cam and restore its original lift, or even make it "bigger".

Rod-cam clearance is heavily dependent on the rods you use, like ede said. If you're running Scat parts, you'd be very wise to dummy everything up and check everything very closely like how much material you'll have to grind out of the block, before you end up in some unforeseen gotcha. Any kind of bolt-and-nut rod is going to be more hassle than almost any kind of cap-screw rod.

 

I wasn't worrying about going bigger than a Hot Cam and hitting the rods. I'm thinking that if I go any bigger that I won't be able to Tune the car, since I'm using a TBI unit and the GM ECM. I think I'm going to call Comp Cams Cam Help Line and tell them my set up and see what cam they think would be best, since I've decided to run all Comp Cams valvetrain. So far I've got the block boared .060, will be running a 3.75" crank, some P&Ped Vortec heads with 2.02 intake and 1.60 exhaust valves, Comp Cams Pro Mangum Roller Rockers( not sure if 1.5,1.6 or a combo of both), the Holley 700cfm 4bbl TBI, a Moroso oil pan with a Milodon diamond windage tray, not sure of the rods or pistons yet but I do want 10.0:1 or a little less compression. I have the first idea on what intake to use. All said and done I would like around 400hp and 450tq, do ya see this possiable?

 

Chevypower my combo should make around 450HP.I modeled it after this combo http://www.sallee-chevrolet.com/Chev...eeZZ450HP.html Get H-beam rods or the stroker I-beam rods that I got and you should be ok.Like RB83L69 said you are going to have to check clearances no matter what parts you choose.I would talk with some of the TBI guys on the prom board about the programing.

 

It's real unlikely you'll hit the base circle. If your're going to hit anything it will be a few of the LOBES that happen to be facing roughly downward as that rod bolt head goes past- remember that the lobes at the bottom of their rotation are going in the OPPOSITE direction as the top of the crank. That's why you have to mock it up using the actual cam, rods and timing chain you will be using in final assembly.