could someone who knows alot about cams please tell me what would be the best cam i could put on a stock 1988 350 tpi with a 700r4 tranny. and how much more horse power and torque would it give me and how bad would the idlin be?and when you put a cam in do you have to add anything or do you slide the old one out and put a new one in?i like the sound when a car has a nice cam in it and it has a bit of a gurgle to it.

 

I'm not sure you're heading down the right path. A lumpity idling cam (like we've come to know in carb'd engines) does that because it runs better at higher RPMs than a smooth idling cam does, and the carb doesn't handle that very well. If you put such a cam in a stock TPI engine, you're going to have a very narrow power band because a stock TPI is only good to about 5000 RPMs; above that it will start hurting what the cam is trying to improve.

Have a bud who has a ZZ9 cam with 1.6 roller rockers in a ZZ3 crate engine. He's done all the things you're supposed to do to a TPI (Bigmouth base, short siamesed runners, ported plenum, 58mm TB, customized chip, etc.). It winds easily to 6000 RPMs. Guess what? It idles smoothly.

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82 Berlinetta, orig V-6 car, now w/86 LG4/TH700R4, 2300 stall TC. Ported World 305 heads, Crane PowerMax 2050 cam. ZZ3/4 intake, oil pump, pan & baffle. Accel HEI SuperCoil & module. Hooker 2055 headers, 3" Catco cat & 3" catback w/dual-opposite Flowmaster 80. 2.93 limited slip. Spohn SFCs waiting to be installed. AMSOIL syn lubes bumper-to-bumper. Daily year-round driver. Best ET, speed TBD...
57 Bel Air, my 1st car. '66 396, 9.7:1 forged TRWs, Weiand Action+, Holley 750VS w/4150 conversion, GK 270 cam, Magnum rockers, Jacobs Omnipack, 1-3/4" Hedders & 3" Warlocks, TH400 w/TCI Sat Night Special conv & Trans-Scat shift kit, MegaShifter, 3.08 8.2" 10-bolt w/Powertrax, AMSOIL syn lubes bumper-to-bumper. Idles smooth @ 700 RPM in D. Best 15.02/95.06 @ 5800' Bandimere (corrected 13.93/102.4 @ sea level).