Hello everyone. I'm trying to decide which cam to buy for my new motor.

Chevy 350 SB
Holley Street Dominator High-Rise manifold. (~5 inches of rise)
Holley 600CFM 4bbl
Electric Radiator Fan
Steel shorty headers & dual-pipe exhaust (with a cat and 20" glasspack on each)

Now, if I were to get a cam like this:

Hydraulic Flat Tappet, Advertised Duration 300/300, Lift .515/.515, Lift at .50 246/246

What horsepower neighborhood would I be in?

Thanks,
Tony

 

I have that same cam I am around 400hp the question for you is what kind of heads are you going to use and you might want a bigger carb also.

 

That's a BIG cam. Got a part # for it?

And yea, you left out the most important piece for giving advice, the cylinder heads. What compression ratio do you have as well?

 

Well, I didnt want to mod my junk to the point where I need new heads. I was planning on running the stock ones. Would that work with a cam that would get me in the neighborhood of 350 hp? Thats really what I was going for, and this is a street/strip application so i dont need a carb that will feed my motor up to 9,000 rpm. I used the formula tofigure out what cfm would be right for me. If i've been mislead, please let me know. I'm not sure what my compression ratio is.

 

Well, ok, you can probably use your stock heads - WHAT are they? The 350 wasn't stock in an '84 camaro, so....?

Yes, you were mislead about the carb. A 600cfm feeds a mild 305 quite nicely. A 350 hp 350CID likes more in the range of 700-750CFM generally. It'll probably do for now, you can always upgrade it later, all of 4 bolts right?

If it's a sad old truck motor with 8:1 CR and junky smog heads, no cam will get your near 350HP. That cam you listed would just make the car run DISMALLY. See what heads are on there, then go from there. There are relatively inexpensive cylinder heads that'll get you to your goal, you don't need $1400 AFR aluminum heads.

 

I'm not exactly sure what it's out of yet because the guy I'm getting it from doesn't know for sure. It's getting rebuilt, of course, and he believes it was out of a late 70's Nova.

 

Right. The heads is the key to power. Cam should match the heads. What you have listed is not a good match at all.

 

oh ok, 624 heads probably.

If it's getting rebuilt, then you can go any direction with it. If you don't want to spend much, and the bottom end was staying stock (big soup dish pistons), then some ported 305 heads would be cheap, and bring up the CR to a nice level. If it's getting rebuilt, flat tops and 64cc heads in the 180cc intake port range would be fun.

 

What would my compression ratio and horsepower be in the nieghborhod of with that?

I was going for the neighborhood of 350-375 horsepower.

 

Bad match for shorty headers. Needs free flowing long tubes and 2.5" dual exhaust. Won't like the restriction of the cat(s) either. Needs increased head flow and compression ratio. 10.0:1
Either port you stock heads, port some other stock heads or buy aftermarket heads. That cam likes high rpm. 3200-6000+rpm Will needs some valvesprings a modified distributor curve. A very high stall converter 3500+rpm (10") and a high rear gear ratio 4.10+. Won't like a overdrive trans. th350 or manual trans best.
Has a rough idle , manifold vacuum at idle is much less than stock. Power brakes will be marginal.
Find out the casting number on the heads you have ( under the valve cover) What other heads do you have laying around? Use a 750cfm carb.
You can reach and exceed 375 hp with a well matched motor built around that cam and go fast but not with a bunch of thrown together stuff.
You will need improved head flow (porting and big valves) and maximim practical compression ratio for pump gas.
A cam is like the conductor of an orchestra. But unless all the players (other parts of the engine combo) are on the same sheet of music and know the tune, it doesn't matter how he flaps his arms around.
Better find out what you have to work with, and what you're willig to do to bring the combo together before you rush out a buy a cam like that one.
You need to think along the lines I outlined to bring it off sucessfully. If you just bolt it into a stock like rebuilt motor with poor heads and compression you'll make about 315hp with a very sad torque curve. Takes more than just a big cam to make it go.