I currently have a 350 in the garage with a 210/215 (@ .050") roller cam. I want to put the engine back together and throw it in the car.

Right now the engine is mismatched as far as cam and compression...too much cam and not enuf compression. At this point I'm going to get a new cam to match the pistons I have, or use the 210/215 cam with new flat top pistons.

If I use the current cam with new ~9.5:1 pistons, am I going to regret it with 2.73's?

 

The LSA doesn't really mean much without the duration @ 0.050" data. Stock TPI cams were as low as 108° LSA, but the durations were something near 190° and 200°, so overlap was nearly nonexistant.

It's tough to call based on one specification only.

 

It's 210/215 (@ .050") 110°LSA .465"/.480" lift

 

Thats a pretty small cam. Do you know what the total/advertised duration is?

 

What is it going into? The Caprice or the Astro? If the it is going into the caprice it should work fine. It is a little too much for the Astro's aerodynamics with 2.73 gears.

 

I'd say you would be just about perfect for iron heads?

 

Sorry but what does LSA stand for? It's the lobe separation, right?

 

Yes lobe seperation angle.

 

ME Leigh...I believe the adv. duration is 284/288 but I'm not 100% sure.

Fast355...haha you caught me It's going into the Caprice.

The cam did have a little rump to it, but nothing I would call wild.

I have a set of worked 083 heads that I want to use on this engine. Unless I can sell the 350 and put a Weiand 142 on the LG4 lol.

 

284/288 adv, 210 @ .050? That is one horrible lazy cam. I would say you may want some more gear, or ideally, a different cam.

 

True...it may be lazy but lazy is how I like it. I like the engine to come on like a ton of bricks all the way up to 5000 rpm.

The roller cam I had in my '92 van was 196°/206° @.050 .431"/.451" 109°LSA. It was the stop light king with 3.42 gears. I love the way it drove. The 196/206 cam is the alternative to the one listed above.

 

lopey is good, lazy is bad. That cam has slow ramp rates causing poor driveablity and less power than a lot of other cams