Most of my motor is in my sig. Just wondering if maybe a bigger roller cam like .580-.600 Lift would really help my motor out for the money and time it was take me. My cam now is a 305h Magnum .525 lift and .305 adv. duration. flat tappet. If so how much power gains might i get? ( Car is daily driven now but won't be after christmas. )

 

What heads do you have? I would say at this point if you want more power a solid roller cam would be the way to go if you are not driving it everyday but I do know a guy who runs a solid roller as a daily driver.He only adjusts the valves every 3000 miles and he says he could let it go to 5000 with out any adverse problems.The comp 300AR might work 255 255 dur 575 575 lift. It will definitely bring the power up.The guy I know with a solid roller went from a 383 with a comp Xtreme Energy Hyd.roller XR282HR-10 230 236 dur. 510 520 lift to a solid roller comp magnum 280AR 236 236 550 550.The car picked up alot of power just from that cam swap.I am not sure how much but it was noticable for sure.Look into a solid roller or try a more aggresive hyd.roller like the comp Magnum 304HR or 314HR 244 244 600 600, 252 252 600 600. The only thing is what type of heads do you have?

 

I'd change to this Isky cam
http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku
Its a solid mechanical flat tappet cam with roller cam performance for half the price. requires new mechanical flat tappet lifter and periodic valve lash adjustment.
You will wanT to "degree it in" and install it on a 99deg intake centerline to maximise torque. that would be 7 deg advanced from straight up. You should check valve to piston clearance before fireing up the engine.
You have to "degree it in" yes, it makes a difference.

With any cam bigger than the one you have now, valve to piston clearance should be checked.
Your present valvesprings may or may not be good enough for this cam. This cam works expecially well with ported SportsmanII heads. A bud of mine has a stack of dyno sheets to prove it. Combine the two and you will make more power and torque and go faster. You will still need to do all the carb and distributor mods I outlined for you in the carb board.
Sportsman II heads need to be ported. They are capable of over 300cfm intake and 210ex. The outof the box unported flow numbers are modest for a big port head thou. Lots of room for improvement with even simple porting.
Getting the flow up on the cylinder heads is where its at. Then, match the flow with the right cam.
Isky #201549 is just right.

Don't know how your 400 is built but if you're using stock style 5.7" connecting rods you should check and verify cam lobe to rod bolt clearance.
You can order this cam on a "small base circle" as a custom grind direct from Isky cams or possabily thru Summit racing.
You will have to verify rod clearance on any roller cam you install anyways. these are available in Small base circle versions also. This cam has more overlap than the 305H. Yes, ya have to check.
www.iskycams.com

 

you have a lot more tuning to do before you even think about running a new cam IMO.

listen to F-bird'88 in that other post and fix those issues first and get some higher octane as well

 

Oh ya power brakes will be marginal. A power brake vacuum reserve canister is nice to have with this cam.

When ya get 'er all set up, make sure ya got 'er pointed where ya want to go!..... 'cause

 

Oh yeah thanks for all the info. I already rejetted, put it new plugs and locked the timing out and now im playing with the those the little platic cams. So i am gonna wrap that up today. Go 108 fuel ( 5 gals of that and 5 gals 93 ). I should be getting on the right track.

Only reason i ask about the cam is that before i buy a major part i do tons of research so if im thinking of buying the cam, after talking to the great members on this board and some machine shop guys and so on and so on. It will be a 2-3 weeks before i get anything. I don't want to make it seem like i blew off F-bird i'm doing everything he told me.

Isky cam looks nice

And about the rod to cam clearance, i have 5.7 eagle h-rods and i had them ground down a little to clear the cam. Should have got a small base cam but live and learn.

Sportsman II Heads

 

This is what i would do to see if I needed to get a small base circle cam.
I would take the cam I have now 305H and bump the top camgear over 1 tooth on the chain advanced. then slowly rotate the crank around by hand...Then bump it back (retard) 2 teeth. again rotate the crank around by hand If there is no rod contact or piston contact with the valves You should be good to go for the isky cam.
You still need to degree it in and check clearance.