First off, why is a rolling cam better than a regular one?

ZZ-9 Hydraulic Roller

Intake Exhaust
Advertised duration 282 287
Duration at .050 212 226
Gross lift .483 .520
Lobe separation 112

I want the ZZ9 cam , but I am not dishing out $375 for it. I'm pretty sure Crane Cams makes it anyway. I was looking through summitt and jegs today and came across about 5 different cams for my application. Please tell me which ones would work (and which ones would be the best) on my 92 5.0L TPI 5speed. My mods are listed below thanks.

Should I go with any of the following..which would be the best:

CRANE CAMS 270110592= 284/290* (adv. duration), 480/494 (gross lift)

CRANE POWER MAX 270109831= 284/292* (adv duration), and 509/528 (gross lift)

CRANE CAMS crn109831 = 222/230*(duration @.050), with 509/528 gross lift

CRANE CAMS crn109831 222/230 (@.050) with 509/528 gross lift

CRANE CAMS crn109841 234/242 (@.050) with 539/558

Can I use my stock rockers with a new cam ?


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'92 Formula
305 TPI
Mods: SLP headers,SLP catback,SLP air foil,ported plenum,Crane AFPR (50psi),MSD6AL,homemade cold air,K&Ns,3:73s,JET fan switch, Macewen white face gauges...ZZ9 cam is coming!

[This message has been edited by theformula (edited November 08, 2000).]

 

Those are some BIG cams. Unless you got some heads or headwork and headers, you are going to choke off anyone of those cams.

The key to choosing a cam is to match you application ... and a wise decision is to pick one smaller than your ego wants.

Stock heads can not handle too much lift for a couple of reasons. One is that the springs are weak. Two is that there may be physical reasons as in retainer to guide clearance. I would not go past .460-.480 lift on a stock head without measuring it. And really a stock head does not flow past 0.450, so why pick a cam that has that lift.

Check your heads out. Find out where they flow. Then pick a cam to maximize that area. Don't forget to consider a higher stall if you have an automatic. And with all the flowing heads and cams, you will need some work on your intake track. $$$$

I run a ZZ3 cam. 208/221 duration at 0.050, and 0.484/0.510 lift. Tons of torque and a nice idle. Cheap too as I recall there were take offs for $50.

And to answer the question as to what a roller cam is good for:

1. The roller wheel on the lifter uses roller bearings and thus there is little friction. Less friction is less heat, and less resistance and thus more power and fuel economy.
2. The roller wheel can ride up a cam lobe that is steeper. Therefore you can achieve max lift sooner and hold it longer that a flat tappet cam. So a roller cam with the same specs as a flat tappet cam, but with a shape of the lobe designed for a roller cam, will make more power.
3. Roller lifters do not wear out in normal situations. So you can change your cam and leave the lifters alone.
4. And I am sure there are other reasons.

... I have a complete roller cam setup for a 305/350. The cam is a #773 which is a 305 5spd or 350 auto TPI cam. 202/207 duration I think and 460 or 480 lift. ... if you are interested (for sale complete or without the cam).

Mark.

 

Thanks for the info. I already have headers on my car. Also, a friend of mine was running the zz9 cam on his 87 305 TPI and it reduced his et by nearly 5tenths. (the specs are above).

Will I still pass emissions?

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'92 Formula
305 TPI
Mods: SLP headers,SLP catback,SLP air foil,ported plenum,Crane AFPR (50psi),MSD6AL,homemade cold air,K&Ns,3:73s,JET fan switch, Macewen white face gauges...ZZ9 cam is coming!

 

Check Comp Cams website and Cranes website. Better info than Summit or Jegs. Also, I was considering this cam on Ebay until an LT4 hot cam popped up for me http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/aw-cg...item=489770900
Make sure that when comparing cams, you compare the same numbers. duration at lash (adv duration) and duration at .050 are totally different. There are a couple of tech articles by Paul Huryk that really are a must for picking cams.
Good luck....

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Bob '89 Formula CC350
Last(lost)Member of the Elusive Great Lakes Crew
My car's homepage

 

What can you tell me about the LT4 hotcam? I think I want that badboy. Will it work well with a 305 speed density?

thanks

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'92 Formula
305 TPI
Mods: SLP headers,SLP catback,SLP air foil,ported plenum,Crane AFPR (50psi),MSD6AL,homemade cold air,K&Ns,3:73s,JET fan switch, Macewen white face gauges...ZZ9 cam is coming!

 

When I went looking for a cam for my 305 tpi I got all different type of stories. I search high and low to find someone who knows what the hell they are talking about. I could not find anyone who knew the tpi motors well enough to recommend a cam.
After reading a couple of article in GM high tech I decided to go with the comp 08-304-08 for my 305 5 speed. Be careful with cam selection for your tpi these motors are very sensitive to lobe separation to operate properly. Allot of the GM cams out there like the zz4, zz9, and hot cam have 112-lobe separation and their intake centerline is not good for tpi motors. These cams were designed for shorter based intakes your tpi as an 18 inch intake vs. a LT1 which is about 3 inches. I would stick to a cam that has no more then 219-intake duration and 220 exhaust and 114-lobe separation. If you follow this rule you will have a strong running motor and still retain good low-end power.
As I said in some other areas of this sight this was the best mod I have done. I have all the bolt ons you can think of and could only pull a 14.4 out of the 305. BUT!!!! When I changed the cam I went from 14.4 to 13.9 at 99.9 just under 100 mph out of a stock head 305!!!!! And still running the stock chip! Of course I need to change to a custom chip to get the fuel and timing right but until then this car flies for being a 305. If you need more in e-mail me
Thanks,
Jim


[This message has been edited by firebird87 (edited November 09, 2000).]

 

Your totally right when you say to research the application. It can be tricky. Being if you have a manual tranny you can usually go with a higher lift cam than as with an automatic unless you have gears and a higher stall converter. I have a 305TPI, I do have extensive mods, but I'm running an SLP cam with 218/224 @114lobe seperation and am only using 3.27's with a rebuilt 700r4 w/ a 2400 stall converter and it runs all over most 350's, so it can be done, and to the hell with TPIS's tech, sure I have some of there parts, but for cams go with SLP, there're cheaper too. Good luck

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88'TA 305TPI 330HP, NATURALLY ASPIRATED, PASSES N.J. EMMISIONS. "I AM JUST THAT GOOD"

 

this goes to 1badazta yes the slp cam is pretty good but I found them to be just as expensive as tpis. The comp cam was $248 and the slp and tpis was over $300.
I also found after talking the the reps at tpis and slp that they have know idea about the products they sell. They are all willing to sell you everthing in the book but can't give you sound info on how everthing is going to work.
The rep a tpis said to me before I bought my comp cam that it would be to big and the motor won't run. This turned out to total wrong. the motor runs great and as nock off about 5 thenths of my 1/4 time.

 

To firebird87, I had the same problem with them, TPIS. They told me also that the cam I got from SLP was too big and it runs great. And it depends on who you talk to at SLP and where. If you called Toms River, NJ kevin is the man to talk to and if he doesn't know, he'll find out for you. By the way, I got my SLP cam for $200.00 new from them. I got connections with them. See ya

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88'TA 305TPI 330HP, NATURALLY ASPIRATED, PASSES N.J. EMMISIONS. "I AM JUST THAT GOOD"

 

At least TPIS responded to you. I sent them an e-mail a long time ago and they never responded to my question. Glad I don't have any of their stuff. I have a feeling that if I had a problem they would probably never respond.

 

Im not sticking up for tpis, but I have Not had any problems with them at all. When I got my miniram I needed some extra stuff to make it work, than was included with the kit. They sent what I needed no charge(I know I was reemed a new ahole for the price of the intake). And they are the only ones that make a high rpm intake for our cars. The ram jet only bolts to two different heads.

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87z 383,afr 190's, crane hyd roller(224/230-.509/.528,112 sep),Ported and polished mini ram, 24lb inj, 3.42 gears, strange 12 bolt, tremec 5spd, , 1,3/4" slp headers.(stock 305 hypercrap chip), other stealth goodies.
Runs 14's all day long.