Hi i have searched around for a cam that would be good for a stock tpi intake but with upgraded heads im looking for a cam between .500 and .550 lift and a range of 2000 to 5500 rpm thats stock tpi computer compatible.this is for a hyd roller lifters but i want a good lopey or choppy idle it dont matter to me and i do have a upgraded torque converter preferably looking for commenters who get straight to the point thanks

 

Super choppy idle comes from a narrow LSA, which isn't really stock computer compatible. 112 LSA is as narrow as you really want with TPI. It's what I run and it's not exactly super choppy.

https://www.enginelabs.com/engine-te...-relationship/

 

LSA has no bearing on stock computer compatibility, its more a function of duration and overlap. The stock 305 peanut cam is on a 109 LSA. The 300 hp Vortec marine cam is also on a 109 LSA and idles with 18 in/hg vacuum.

Really any change from the stock cam and heads is going to require tuning to run correctly.

 

Just going off the decades of posts here.

Saying something is computer compatible isn't saying it won't need a tune. Any change like a cam should be tuned for.

It's also a bit hard to go into detail of 100% the function of LSA vs overlap vs everything else when the person you are talking to (OP) doesn't seem to be knowledgeable in it. So providing the baseline LSA of 112 is pretty.. common when speccing out aftermarket TPI cams.

 

Stock TPI extremely limits your upper end airflow potential, choking the heads out.

You really should list the ENTIRE combo. Heads/intake/exhaust...etc. all the parts in the chain.

If you want a good recommendation, members here need to know what you already have, and what you want to do with it.

I can already tell you with a fully stock TPI intake, you are very limited. In fact, I would say forget spending ANY money on a cam at all. A fully stock TPI top-end will starve an engine with heads/exhaust, or more displacement.

Either ditch the TPI intake entirely, invest in upgraded TPI parts, or go aftermarket style TPI intake like the First.

With upgraded TPI parts you can easily unlock another 30-50hp, and extend the power band by several hundred RPM. You'll gain power and torque everywhere, and stay relatively close enough that the computer will still function happily enough.

 

Super 23 heads 1.6 rocker rollers 3200 stall converter and all the stock tpi garbage

 

The reason I don't recommend a cam with a stock intake is that the cam will move the power-band further to the right, right into area's that the stock intake will start to restrict it. So you'll be giving up torque, and starving the cam/head combo. If those are the Trickflow heads, then the TPI is definitely choking them. Even the 175cc port version is listing around 250cfm max flow.

The original heads typically flowed less than 200cfm on the intake, and the exhaust flow was truly terrible.

I would invest first in the TPI upgrade parts. You'll be a lot happier with the performance. All of the bolt-ons from intake to exhaust can bump HP by as much as 50hp, and even more torque.

Here is a great article that compares the Factory stock TPI intake on a modified 383. You can see how each intake affected the engine and the gains it provided. Granted a 305/350 will require less airflow, but the charts are a good example.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0...jF4WjlGbzhXSUk

There was an other article that had the SLP performance pack on a formula 305/5spd, to a stock TPI 305 5spd. And the gains were something like .5s and 3-4mph trap speeds. All with the stock cam/displacement. It was just pure bolt-ons. But unfortunately the links are dead and I didn't save it. I'll have to digg through my HPP magazines to see if I have that particular issue so I can scan it. I actually have an entire crate of magazines I intended on scanning for posterity.

 

Just not familiar with fuel injection if this thing dont work out i'll just drop my built 455 rocket down in there

 

This is your time to learn fuel injection.

 

The cam I got from these guys had quite a lope. It was a 216 or 219 cam w/ .525 lift on both side, then I added 1.6 roller. It was a great cam, and only required (or responded) to a slightly looser convertor. 500 RPM looser, I recall.
The cam was in the engine I bought, which was a 383, but would still do well on a 5.7L, I imagine. But there's also probably other choices in the 25 years since I bought this... Here's a link to current offerings on their camshafts,

https://www.lingenfelter.com/CTGY.ht...er&Per_Page=-1

 

The SLP Cam I installed did nothing for my 5.7L. Not a thing. Perhaps on other years, maybe. But on a 1989 where the camshaft was already the most aggressive of the TPI camshafts, not one tenth of a second. None.

 

The SLP Go pack did not include a cam, it was bolt-on components only. CAI, Runners, Base, headers, cat-back exhaust.

The go pack was enough to make a 305/5spd blow the doors off a L98 at the time.

 

Okay. But I never saw an SLP car run numbers much better than stock at the track. On the other hand, the factory cam w/ rockers, AFR 195 heads, JL1 intake and base, plus tri-y headers got me from 14.3 down to 13.1 in the 1/4 @109

Changing to the 383 short block w/ aforementioned cam took me down to 12.2 @ 115. This was all on 245/45/16 radials (not drag tires)

 

Imo nothing is computer compatible unless it’s extremely close to stock specs. They all benefit from a tune

i did a cammed L98, brand new fresh rebuild on stock heads freshly machined. Cam i think was comp 218/224 but could also have been 212/218 with near .480-.500” or so. Long tubes and dual exhaust. It only did 226 whp but made good torque i think 330’s or so

i have seen stock cammed bolt on cars made 254. So the cam doesnt seem to help much with stock heads and stock tpi

 

Might as well do the 455 at this point thanks

 

That 455 belongs in a big heavy Oldsmobile. A 350 or any an LS smallblock can be built to run circles around that dinosaur.

 

What is said above is correct. If your intake limits you to 45/4800, spinning to 5500 won't get ya anywhere. There are some cams-contact Comp/etc, that can give you some low/mid range boost.

 

I ran the CC305 cam (220/230 .540/.540 w/1.6 rockers) with afr 195s, the stock tpi intake, on a stock L98 short block many years ago. Ran 12.20's in a full weight car, shifting at 5700. I wouldn't call upgrading the heads and cam while keeping the stock intake a waste at all. Even the dyno results in the link posted show that power remains pretty flat in the upper rpm's with the long runner setups without any big dropoff. The stock heads and cam leave more to be desired then the intake runners do. There's definitely more power and rpm to be had with large tube or short runner intakes , but that combo wasn't short on power by any stretch for how simple it was, and leaves a good foundation for future intake upgrades (a swap to a miniram netted 11.80's and almost a 10 mph gain)

 

10 mph is huuuge on a car already that quick. Cant fault ppl for leaving tpi with gains like that

 

No you can't, the top end pull from that combo was great, and it actually picked up in the 60' too. But for the guy wanting to keep a long runner setup, it's not the end of the world, as long as they know there are compromises.

 

Pretty sure you didn't run the stock converter, or if you did, how was the ride?

You mention later about the limitations, sure..,but you were also running AFR's...little more help there?

So, are you saying the OP wold be happy with a .550 lift cam in his otherwise stock L98?

I think he'd wonder why he did all that work for a 300-500 RPM oomph around 4K-up.

But hey, I'm old and practical, lived through the days of a rumpity cam in an otherwise stock engine.

 

He mentioned that he already has aftermarket heads and converter, the cam I mentioned, or similar cams, would absolutely wake it up. Gaining 700 rpm and picking up a lot of mid range power with no appreciable loss in low rpm power or driveability for a saturdays worth of work doesn't seem like a bad idea to me.

 

Treat it like restrictor plate style intake or 2bbl carb classes, they have heads and cam but intake restrictions yet still can make some power.

i missed the part he said upgraded heads.

 

I have a feeling you guys are gonna put more effort into this than OP, no offense of course. He sounded pretty sold on his 455 there.

 

Thats an exercise of futility. Swapping a boat anchor into a 3rd gen.

 

Unless he happens to have a Pontiac SD455 laying around. That could be fun if you hate tires and love hanging out at gas stations.

GD

 

I would not even waste my time. If you want big torque and big cubes. Go with the big block cadillac. With an aluminum intake it is almost as light as a 350. The 1970 Eldorado 500 was 400 hp and 550 tq. I would run a stone stock 70 472 or 500 over any of Pontiacs performance offerings. Geared correctly from GM with 2.53 rear gears the big 3-ton cadillacs would get 17 mpg with a Q-Jet.

 

Meh why not a 8.1 late model or 7.4 vortec 96+ if you are going big block. Good hyd roller and intake upgrade you got some hp

but this is off topic lol

 

While those are good platforms to build off, the heads are not great and the factory intake manifolds are even worse. The 8.1 is also a tall deck block which means more clearance issues. The cast aluminum oil pan is also difficult to work around in swaps.

 

Yeah but *supposedly* the SD455 was in the neighborhood of 650 HP with a cam and distributor recurve. I was merely speculating on if this OP has an SD455 already laying around..... but being a "Rocket" it's most probably an Olds motor that should be melted down to make Kia's. All that pig will do is crush the front suspension.... because that's what boat anchors do.

GD

 

You know those engines are great for nostalgic reasons in the old cars they came in. They look good and are cool. Kind of like our TPI engines are to us. I will keep my car a GEN1 SBC because its primarily a show car. But.. if I were to build a hot rod it will be an LS, they are so light and they haul a$$.

 

You probably never even ran a 455

 

Actually **** this the level of retardation on this site is so profound its unreal the sum of you mother****ers dont make sense i was just asking for a part number or some **** not a gdamn summary of **** and to the decent folk on here im sorry you got dragged into this cluster ****