I have an 86 camaro, small block 350 with a q-jet carb. I'm honing the cylinders due to some rust, replacing rings and bearings. When I took a look at the lifters I decided they could use some replacement too, so I was thinking, what the hell, why not put in a new cam while I am at it.

So if I replace the cam what will I see for improvements? And what will get worse (economy)? Will I have to tune the ECM? I am on a slight budget but if theres anything else you guys would recommend me to toss in for some more power while I'm in here that would be nice, and some cam recommendations!

 

ECM? Q-jet? You're giving that ECM more credit than it's worth. It's not particularly sharp. I think you can tweak the timing curve in it a bit, or use an L69 chip to get a more aggressive spark curve. But I don't think you have to "tune" them like with FI.

You can get a mild cam that's of a recent design, and improve the economy, as well as torque and HP. Or get a more rough cam, again of recent design, and gain LOTS of torque and HP, but lose a bit of economy.

I highly recommend a mild-ish cam. Like the compxe262. You'd barely notice it's there, except for the power - you'll notice that.

Doing any other performance upgrade? Porting/replacing heads? (valve guides right?) etc?

 

whats up? im also looking for some advice on what do to with my motor. its a targermaster 350 w/ edelbrock carb, and manifold, headers, hei distributer (bad quality). the motor is coming out tomorrow so i need to figure out what im gonna do with it. I know targetmasters arent of the greatest quality, but would it be a good idea to get a top end kit from edelbrock? im looking at heads and a camshaft. so i will probably take the motor in to get the cam bearings put in, then bolt up the heads and put the cam in myself. Im on both a time and money restraint, so im not looking to do anything too crazy. Also, should i take the tranny out with the motor? probably easier that way instead of trying to mate it up under the car.

 

I wouldn't get the edelbrock top end kits, there cams aren't that great. I think Holley has a good one, including a Lunati Voodoo cam in it, check that out. Or piece together parts on your own, that'd be a good idea, unless the kit saves a bunch of $$.
The target master engines aren't too bad, once you replace the heads, cam and intake
The cam bearings should still be fine to reuse, unless you're getting it hot tanked.