ive been looking at 4 cams, the isky mega 270, crane 274h06 and xe 256 or 262 and completely undecided. i dont wanna do any machining on the heads since gas prices goin up and its a daily driver but i wanna get the most power i can from it, which cam is the way to go? any other better sugestions?

 

I run a XE270HR in my engine with vortec heads. I have 3.42 gears and a stock converter and I have plenty of power throughout the range. You will need new springs and retainers. I used the yellow LS6 springs and comp retainers and I have no problems. No machining required.

 

i dont really want to go over .490 lift, im asking which of these cams i listed is best for good low mid range but still rev up decent

 

i really wanna be able to bark the tires hard off the line and not run out of good useable power until atleast 5000, which of these cams is where its at?

 

Just telling you what I have experience with. The xe270 is just over .490 lift. And I can lay rubber through 2 gears. But out of your choices I would say the xe262hr.

 

What is your compression ratio?

And I assume you mean hte XR270? Regardless, if he's looking at flat tappet cams Im assuming there's a reason he isnt looking at roller cams.

 

For some reason I had it in my mind he was looking for roller cams. I think since its for vortec heads I just assumed it was a roller vortec motor lol. Reading fail on my part. And yeah I meant XR.

 

im going to get the heads planed down so hopefully about 10:1 and im using flat tops. i really like the idle of the isky270 and the crane 274 but you say the xe262 would be better? why?

 

Vortecs and flat tops with a stock 350 stroke will net you 9.8 to 10.2:1 compression depending on your quench distance. No need to "plane the heads" down and I would strongly discourage it.

 

It depends on what flat top pistons they are. You really need to measure how far into the hole they are to know what you've got. Some sit .040" into the hole, which is a compression and quench killer. Some sit .025" into the hole, which when combined with a .015" head gasket, gives you optimal quench, and about 10.4:1 compression.