ok people, i got a 385sbc stroker.. heres what it has
0.040" overbore
4-bolt main block
forged h-beam rods with arp bolts 5.7"
probe forged pistons about 11:1 comp ratio
forged eagle crank 3.75"
high volume oil pump
milodon oil pan with windage tray
brodix race rite 200 heads with 67cc combustion chambers & 200cc runners
summit racing 1.6 intake/1.5 exhaust aluminum roller rockers w/ poly locks
edelbrock rpm airgap intake manifold
soon to be mighty demon 800 cfm carb w/ annular boosters
hooker supercomp LT headers
now i need help with the cam.. i'm thinking of going with a solid roller cam.. comp cams grind # CS XR280 R-10.. its got 280/286 adv duration.. 242/248 duration @ 050 lift... .570 intake and .576 exhaust lift with 1.5 rockers (note i'm using 1.6/1.5 rockers).. 110 LSA and and rpm range of 2500-6500.. i'm really leaning towards this cam..
this car will be a drag race and street car.. hopefully going into the 11's.. need input on how this setup sounds.. the reason i'm going to a solid roller is because i want the power and my heads came with a solid roller spring setup.. i dont mind adjusting valves.. i had to do it with my last motor.. also, this is a manual trans car and will be on pump gas.. no spray or boost..
any words of advise will be taken into consideration.. blew 2 motors already and want to do this one the right way..

 

sounds like an awesome combo.

iron or AL heads? 11:1 CR, is that a guess off the pistons website, or is that calculated, and correct?

Perhaps use a stud girdle, it'll help you keep your lash settings for longer, along with the poly locks of course. Look at BTE.

Should be one fun fast car alright.

 

thanks sonix,
the 11:1 is a rough estimate.. numbers from website are 10.8:1 with a 68cc head and 11.6:1 with a 64 cc head.. so 67cc would be around 11:1.. the heads are aluminum with cleaned combustion chambers and were cc'd to 67cc.. if i have time i'll be polishing the runners as well.. hopefully i can get a few more hp out of that..

 

What's the deck clearance?

All of those "book" compression ratios are calculated with ZERO deck clearance. Unless you SPECIFICALLY PAID to have your block "zero-decked" to your pistons, you probably have something other than zero deck clearance, probably the stock .025" minimum, and your CR will be lower, maybe ALOT lower, than what you look up on a spec sheet. Make sure you REALLY have enough compression to use that cam. It will work best with mid-high 10s to low 11s of ACTUAL CR, not "book" specs, with aluminum heads.

To give you some idea of the variation you can expect, if you built it with a .039" gasket (FelPro 1010 for example) and an untouched block with .025" of deck clearance and 68cc heads, and your pistons have 6cc of valve reliefs, your CR will be 10.01:1. If on the other hand you have a zero-decked block and use a .015" (shim stock) gasket and 64cc heads and your pistons have 4cc valve reliefs, your CR will be 12.07:1. There are alot of variables that can throw you off, if all you do is look in the book and it says "11:1" or whatever and you just take that and run with it.

You have to know WITH CERTAINTY what the measurements of YOUR MOTOR actually are, otherwise those "book" CR figures are as much a bunch of misleading monkey-spank as most people's "estimated" HP numbers. And the motor will not care about what the "book" says; I guarantee, it didn't read it, and it won't act accordingly. Instead it will respond to what's actually there. If you want to predict its behavior accurately, you need real facts, not "book" guesses.

 

thanks sofakingdom.. you were actually a very big help.. i've been looking at wrong numbers for a while.. i looked at the website for info and the actual specs are 10.36:1 with a 68cc head, 0.038" gasket, and 0.010" deck.. 10.83:1 with 64cc heads.. i'm not too sure about the deck on my block but i'm assuming its zero decked.. i did send it to a shop to balance my rotating assem, clean, bore, and i believe deck.. i figure if i use a 0.030" gasket, my 67cc heads, and the block is zero decked, i get roughly 10.92:1.. in the high 10 range..

 

measuring the piston depth yourself with a feeler gauge and straight edge will tell the true tale on that spec. Then punch in all your specs in a calculator, and finally buy the head gasket dead last, to get your exactly right CR & quench.
A little pencil & paper work now is a lot nicer then the alternative.

 

That's a word that SHOULD NOT be in your vocabulary right now! That's the short, direct road to rude surprises and major disappointments. Don't EVER do that while building a motor!!!!!

If your invoice from the machine shop doesn't say "ZERO DECKED", then they didn't zero-deck it. If you didn't hand them your crank, rods, bearings, & pistons BEFORE they did the block work, then they COULD NOT POSSIBLY have zero-decked it. They might have tried, and maybe even come real close, if they decked it to, say, exactly 9.000"; but if they did, the invoice will say it. That takes extra work, which means it cost the shop more to do it, which means they charge extra for it. If it doesn't say it, then you're not paying for it, and they didn't do it. Period. Believe it.

Look at your block. If the factory stamping is still there at the front of the pass side deck, then it hasn't been decked AT ALL, and still has the stock deck clearance. That's one clue you can access with the naked eye.

Or, if it's already built and the numbers are gone (i.e. it has been decked at least somewhat), use a dial indicator or piston stop, and set it EXACTLY at TDC; and measure the deck clearance with a straight edge and a feeler gauge, on all 4 "corner" cylinders. Yes they can vary QUITE A BIT from one cyl to another.

Once you have the ACTUAL measurement (NOT some "assumed" one!!!!) you can then make an intelligent informed decision about the rest of what way to go from there.

If the motor has high 10s of CR and "quench of .035" - .040", then that would be an excellent cam. It matches the other things well. If the CR or the quench is something else.... well then, who knows.

 

ok update on the zero deck issue of mines.. i checked the invoice and it was zero decked.. so i am not assuming anymore.. its for real..
on to other things like my cam.. i asked my machinist about the cam i wanted and he suggested i go with a solid flat tappet.. my machinist is a racer as well.. ok heres the specs on what he recommended.. this route is cheaper than a roller.. and my machinist will change the valve springs for free..

solid flat tappet
306/306 adv duration
260/260 duration @.050" lift
.555 int/.555 exh lift with 1.5 rockers, .592 int lift with 1.6 rockers
110 LSA
RPM range 3000-7000
recommended compression 10.5:1
this is a kit so it comes with springs, retainers, etc, etc..

he says that a solid roller will be too much for the street.. and a solid flat tappet will be more street friendly.. i can back the solid flat because this motor used to have one.. and it was very street friendly.. i dont want to have to clutch this motor all over the place.. do you think this is a good move going to flat?? i'm not worried too much about the power because if i dont have enough for my taste, i could just buy thicker head gaskets down the road and procharge the motor.. i'm just worried if i will be able to drive this on a daily basis without throwing a leg muscle or burning the clutch.. and one more thing, could anyone give me an estimate on how much hp and torque this combo is gonna make?? also any 1/4 mile times i could be looking at.. i run slicks with a 5 speed and 3.89 gears.. i'm thinking around 500hp and 500torque.. and maybe high 11's.. just a guess..