Hey to all Camshaft Gurus, I am curious to know, I called around today to get a price on a cam. The one shop has them on sale for $198 for a XE 272/454 w/ lifters. I am not sure what the #'s all mean, I know that it is 272 duration with 454 lift. Pardon me if I got this backwards. He said that this is the most cam I can go without changing my TQ convertor and still keep it emmission legal. With the mods that I have done so far, what reasonable gains can I expect. I ran it on my Desk Top Dyno and it showed that I would peak 258 HP at about 4,500rpm (Flywheel HP). I don't know how true that really is. Anybody have any thoughts on this?

 

Hey Kev,

First be sure pick up a unit built by a reputable manufacturer, Crane, Comp Cams, etc.

The .454 lift is easy on your 305 you could probably get away with not changing the springs for a few ks as well although everyone would advise against this in the long term. Best just to factor new springs into the overall cost -- they are pretty cheap but a pain to do. Oh yeah I have a tool if you want to borrow it.
Down the road you may want to use some 1.6 rockers to add some beef to the lift, to around .480.

The duration they have given you is advertised and does not clearly indicate how aggressive the cam is. The .050 numbers will tell the real story. IMO anything above 214-216 on a 305 auto has the potential to introduce you to other issues you might want to avoid (torque converter, idle, gas mileage, emissions).

The issue with up-camming is this -- if you go too small your payback for the purchases and re & re effort are minimal in terms of increased power. This is balanced against going too large which may introduce all kinds of unwanted engine and driveability issues -- issues that you will be forced you to spend your way out of...

I'd say go with something in the 268 range which is typically 214-216 @ .050. and around .450 lift. There are numerous success stories on this site with 305 autos and that range of cam.

My .02 cents worth,
RP.

 

lol..
not all 305's are the same..

carb or FI?,weight of the car,gearing?,auo or manual?,intake, RPM range?heads?

Also the suggestion above will only be good if you have good flowing heads,high stall torque and low gearing..Its an OLD design cam that will be bad on emmision (if your concerned with it),not ideal for computer and choppy handling..Heck even the ZZ3(4) cam has less duration than that..Go for the highest lift that will max at your max head flow,duration at the RPM band youre gonna b eusing and a 112-114 LSA..Also the smaller the cu inch the bigger it will look at a cam..IMO..BTW Im no guru

Daz

 

Kevin,

i had the crane energizer 272 H10 cam in my 305.

.454 lift on the intake and exhaust with 216 duration @ .050 on both intake and exhaust. i had a stock convertor and 3.23s. my motor liked this cam, and it pulled pretty strong for a 305.

this cam and lifter set cost me 175 bucks.


as for the emission capatability, you dont listen to the speed shop guys. if your car has a catalytic convertor on it and is in proper tune you will be fine. plus you got that erg on intake too. you got rid of the computer controlled carb all ready so, computer compatability is not a concern.

 

oh, by the way...this is the mod that will wake up that 305. if you thought the car pulled harder after adding the headers, wait till you put a cam in there that actually has some lobes on it. a heavy porting job and bigger valves on the 305 heads would make even a bigger difference.

 

Here is a link to a Canadian Performance Cam Company.

www.amotion.com

He has all the popular grinds from mild to wild.
His cam and lifter sets are A-1 and garranteed for life.
Thats hard to beat. Prices are low too.
Pick the cam(s) your interested in and e-mail him for the current
price.
He ships COD to your door. (postal COD)
Like posted above I would keep duration less than 216@.050

Carb/TPI 210/216 .440/.454 270/276 114 19811-20844

This one looks good to me.

 

Thats a pretty good price for the Xtreme Energy Cam. I priced them out when the first came out on the market, and they were closer to $300 then. The stock springs would be fine with a cam that has .450" of lift, but the Xtreme Energy cams have a more aggressive lobe, and stock springs might not cut it. A cheap upgrade would be to "Z28" springs, which are good to around .500" and should be under $100.

I think you would be better off with the XE268 or the one below it.

 

Kev, you might beat me to it, but I was kinda thinking about cams lately too...

 

if it wasn't for the 50 ft/lb torque curve gap b/w kev's and my car I'd might be worried...

hint hint.. get the cam

 

Talk to me at Dyno day, dude. I had some problems the last time, I think you might remember that... Since then I have put in a new secondary spring so that the secondaries now open earlier, and I have added the headers and a higher flowing exhaust system. The car is alot better than the last dyno session, seat of the pants dyno, that is...I just need to see the numbers. The cam is the weekest part of my setup, so I will now look to getting a remedy for that. First I have to come up with the money and time to do it...as always.
I also have a couple of other upgrades that will help things along...we'll see in the spring.