i have an edelbrock cam its has Advertised Duration 308/ 318, Lift .488/ .510, is this a good cam i really cant drive this car where i live because of the open headers but the idle sounds good, o yea and ive never taking to the track do you think it will perfrom well in my setup, the engine is 355 vortec rpm air gap 600 holley th350 and 3.42s what do you think

 

how high are ya gonna spin it . Might need a bigger carb me thinks. What are the .050" duration figures and LSA,etc

 

@.050 234/244 and right now it will onlyspin to about 4800 because i dont have 6 al box thats the next purchase lobe seperation 112

 

I would pick a different cam . Spinning it only to 4800 ...and haveing an Airgap manifold is a contradictory setup . It's ment for higher RPM . Maybe go with a performer intake and smaller cam . Or even a torquer manifold.... they don;t rev that high either.

 

how high would it have to spin up to to optomize performance like i said iam only going that high for now

 

It's not a very good cam. Any number of cams that have been designed in the 35 or so years since that one was, can either produce more power at the same level of "big cam" difficulty; or conversely, can produce the same power with a whole lot less of that.

And, I sure hope you didn't pay the Edelbrock price for that. If you did, you ripped yourself off. If you had bought it as this right here, you could have gotten the EXACT SAME el cheeepo cam, except for about $50 less.

Send it back and get a Comp XE274. Your car will go faster, use less gas, idle better, leave harder, and otherwise outperform that Stone Age relic in every way.

 

you don't need an ignition box to run over 4800RPM, don't waste your cash yet, you (your brother?) has a tuning issue.
I agree, an xe274 would rock the kazbah in that setup. 5500RPM rev limit with normal distributor.

 

this is my car well i dont doubt that tuning issue. do you think the differnt cam will be night and day like 50 hp or just minimal i dont care about economy or idle. i guess i should have looked better but it looked good i thought stupid on my case well do you think i should buy the comp camxe274 thanks

 

Well hey, it's not MY money, so sure! OF COURSE you should!!

Seriously, the reason it will only go to 4800, is more likely the valve springs. It's NOT the ignition, or lack of a 6AL, that's for sure.

As far as what the difference will be, that would depend greatly on what the rest of the car (note that I said CAR, not just MOTOR) combo is. Heads, exhaust, converter, gears, weight.

 

well iam sure the car will go higher then 4800 but i am kinda scared to put it up high. also the car is a 85 firebird gutted with th350 2500 stall and 3.42s. yea sorry for the confusion with the rpm i just didnt know how high i could rev up to. what do you think i could rpm wise safely

thanks for the help i am a newbie to the hole right cam for the car

 

Should spool up to 6000RPM with 234/244. Maybe a bit more. Vortec heads? Yea, should hit 6000RPM without a fuss.

What's in the bottom end? Stock vortec motor?

I really assumed that you used aftermarket, fairly high end valve springs. Heck, most any respectable springs should go over 4800RPM. What do you have?

 

the springs are edlebrock and are match to the cam the machine shop that cut my heads said they would work fine. the lower end is a 1988 truck block all factory but the rods were machiced along withe crank and the it was line bored i know its hillbilly but moneys tight

 

Doesn't sound hillbilly, sounds like it was done right.

Line bored? Not line honed? Huh, weird, wonder why they'd do that?

Anyway, the springs spec'ed to that cam should work fine. Maybe recheck your valve lash, check ignition strength, plugs (you're not running platinum plugs or anything right?), and finally, carb tuning. Maybe fuel pump. The last 2 are probably not your problem, but they were mine for my most recent tuning issue, so they're fresh on my mind

Does it just hit a wall at 4800RPM, or sputter and stop accelerating, or....?

 

i didnt know the proper term for the main caps machine work well the engine will rev up there i justed never took it past 4800 like i sadid i was scared of tearing my engine apart but heres another ? when i go to get on it the engine kinda hesitates then its ***** to the wall open headers down my street util the cops come but why do you think it stumbles maybe carb or timingalittle off fuel presures fine sorry about this like i said iam new just want every thing to be perfect

 

holy punctuation batman! Use it, let it be your guide !
timing, or more likely fuel (pressure, or carb). Check timing curve (it's easiest), start tinkering with the carb.

 

yea sorry about that i dropped out of school and when i was there never gave a ****. there is that better, just playin thanks for the help