I have seen alot of folks recommending the ZZ4 or LT1, but with mods to the stock heads for springs and porting. My question is, are there any cams that will work well with untouched stock heads, and yet still be an improvement over the stock cam? I am in the process of adding a set of Hooker 2055's and a Superram base, and have really been thinking of doing a cam swap since almost everything will be apart. Thing is, I know that the best way to do things is to upgrade the heads, but it is just not in the budget right now. I really hate to waste money on having work done to the stock heads, knowing that in the future, I would love to really do the motor right and do a nice streetable 355, and eventually get into PROM tuning. I need to finish my Chevelle first, so I just wanted a little more pep out of the GTA while it waits in line. Oh, this would be for an 88 GTA 350. Thanks for any info.

Terry

 

If you're going to put in a cam you should really upgrade the springs at the same time. I know you've already been told that, but you may not have been told how simple it is. You can upgrade SIGNIFICANTLY from stock springs even without doing any machine work or needing to buy ANY new valvetrain parts. Many companies make performance springs for your heads that are liteerally drop-in replacements. Crane sells a set of #99848 springs for doing this- they fit for stock in every way but have a LOT more spring pressure than stock (105 lbs on the seat vs. about 70 for stock). Comp Cams, Lunati, Isky- they all sell spring sets similar to this. They're about $60 from Summit. Installation is fairly simple, even with the heads still bolted on the car.

A high performance cam will work the valve springs harder than stock. And let's face it, stock springs are barely adequate for a stock cam when you get up over ~5000. With a harder-working performance cam you could be getting into valve float well below 5000 with stock springs. It's like leaving a good party at 11:00pm- you're missing half the fun.

Once you have these upgraded springs installed THEN you'll really see the benefits of those bigger cams (even the 2 relatively mild ones you mentioned).