LG4's came with the peanut cam if i remember correctly. Anyone know of a nice cam thats not to expensive to get a little more hp? thanks

 

Its a 5 speed with 3.23s. Its gotta be emisions legal. I just want something with a little more performace, i was thinking of a stock 350 cam.

 

Stock 350 what? There are a bunch out there, and most aren't any better than the LG4 cam.

I passed emissions with lower numbers than stock in November with the setup in the sig. You need to assume new valve springs, though, because stockers float at fairly low RPMs.

 

Read my setup in under the post "Horrible Gas Mileage" I am running a Federal Mogul cam. It has the same torque from idle-1,500 rpm but really wakes up compared to the stock cam @ about 2,000 rpm.

 

Thanks, by stock 350 i ment L98 .. my bad on that. Whats the power range of your cam? Im probably gonna keep the 305 for a while so that sounds like good choice.

 

crane 2030

 

I have a similar 84 LG4 with headers/catback. The cam I put into it measures .420" lift on both intake and exhaust. It's of unknown make and model as it was pulled from another engine (400 SBC) that came out of a motorhome - would you consider this an 'RV' cam?
Anyhow, it really starts to pull from about 2800-up; I don't go over 5000 too much, as the engine has nearly 250k miles on it, with the original valve springs.
This engine in my 83 SC with a T5 and 3.42 gears has run 14.494 seconds and 98.7 mph in the ¼.

Pete

 

Stock L98 is roller lifter, stock '84 is flat-tappet.

The Crane 2030 is pretty mild. The 2050 is certainly streetable and sniffer-friendly, and with a 5-speed, won't kill you on the low end. The 3.23's might be marginal, but again not a killer.

About $155 w/lifters from Summit http://store.summitracing.com/partde...t=CRN%2D114142 . Would certainly cost you a lot less than what it would take to put a stock L98 cam in a flat-tappet block.

They state the power range as 2200-5200. It certainly starts to pull hard at 3000, and easily revs to 5500. I've taken it to 6300 several times (note the 1-2 shift problem), but power starts to drop off above 6000. My best 1/4 time (without a whole bunch of runs) came when I launched at 2200 & shifted at 5500.

 

You can get a cam equivalent to the 2030 from Summit or PAW, among several others for at/under $100. They spec out around 204/214 dur @.050, .420/.442 lift. It would be great IMO for a near stock 305, just looking for a little more pep. I've run it in my 86 IROC's 305 TPI for awhile, nice cam... Just slightly bigger than most of the stock L98 and 5spd TPI cams and is a huge improvement over the peanut without driveability or emissions problems. Can still work with the stock valvetrain (assuming the springs and such aren't shot already which is entirely possible), etc. The 2050 is a little much IMO for a near stock 305. You'd lose bottom end, and without exhaust and intake mods you won't take advantage of it's better top end either... The cam in between these specs, the 2040 wouldn't be a bad one either though... I'd personally look into a intake upgrade to something like a Performer or Performer RPM and a set of headers if you wanna run the 2050, oughta be a nice performer but without the supporting mods I don't think it's the optimum choice... And emissions issues may pop up with it, not sure...

 

Certainly supporting mods help the 2050 do its thing. If you don't improve the exhaust and air cleaner, then even the 2030 will be held back (the stock air cleaner holds back a stock LG4). A Performer is not an upgrade, and an RPM is not emissions-legal. Go Action+ or GMPP EGR q-jet (what comes on a ZZ4 crate) if you feel an intake upgrade is in order.

As I said, though, I passed sniffer cleaner than it was when the LG4 was stock. Emissions is not an issue with a 2050.

 

A performer will gain 15-20hp and 15-20 ft-lbs over the crappy LG4 intake with a decent exhaust to support more intake flow, I'd call that a decent upgrade for $140ish... The Action+ may still be better (doubt the GMPP intake is...) but I haven't seen any dyno comparos for it so I can't comment...

On a LG4 the Performer and exhaust mods made it a decent performer, even with the stock cam: http://www.dcpnet.org/stuff/305Buildup/page1.jpg Through page 5 for the whole buildup...

 

When you see an article like that, go to the back to the advertisers' index. Guess what you'll see every time?

15-20 HP/lb-ft is completely attributable to exhaust upgrades.

The LG4 manifold is not "crappy" (at least not the aluminum US 3rd gen version). Basic gasket matching and clean-up will make it as good as the Performer could ever be, and for a lot less money. The GMPP is still an improvement over either (different height & plenum design approach).

 

The cam Ray described is known as a Melling MTC-1, that who makes it for everone else so you might as well buy it from melling. Any parts store should stock it #MTC-1, very good cam for a 305, best Ive used.


The 20+ HP gains in the advertisments are like 57 is saying, "we made 20 more hp then stock with a XXX cam and a 750 carb. Stock engines dont come with a 270H and a full exhuast setup, wish I was wrong but.....

The best legal manifold would be an Action+.

 

How is that when they dyno it before and after the intake swap alone and pick up 20hp/20ft-lbs? Maybe the LG4 intake can be ported to match, I'd be interested in a real dyno stock/ported comparo...

Who said anything about advertisements, that is a dyno buildup with before/after dynos of each mod... The Performer intake gained 19hp/20+ ft-lbs over the LG4 intake on a LG4 with the stock heads/cam...

 

That article is comparing a stock Iron manifold to an Al Edelbrock. Many later LG4s came with the Al manifold, which is probably better then the stock iron ones of early LG4s. Its is unknown how a stock Al compares to the Al Edelbrock. IMHO, the GMPP ZZ4 manifold is the best EGR manifold available.

Anyways, Compcams XE256 and XE262 cams seem to be popular with the flat tappet 305 crowd.

 

After pulling a couple of 305 apart I have found that the 1984 HO van motor was much better than the 1983 HO camaro engine. The van 305 cam with a 350 intake and 305 heads with the 350 port size "601"s. I like running the federal mogul CS1014R cam that I have in 2 305s. Great cam for daily driving and good performance. I like the Weiand Team G single plane with EGR. It is a single plane but has small cc runners which help low speed torque.

 

I did. Follow the money. Magazines are hardly unbiased. They want their advertisers to look good. They aren't above "forgetting" some details in order to accomplish that.

 

Never heard of a 84 HO van motor.....what kind of van did they come in???

 

Yeah, Tim, but you're reading things into this that are not at all certain. Having used both the LG4 iron intake and the Edelbrock Performer, I'll take the latter every time. More power for sure. Especially where a crossover heating passage is required for winter driving.

I'm using the Crane PowerMax 260 cam, .427 and .454 lift, and it works very nicely on my 305. Perfectly smooth idle and lots of top end grunt, right up to 5000 rpm. Tim (five7kid) uses one with even more lift and his works well, too, by all accounts. Can't loose with the 260, though. Certainly not too big for a nice 305

 

Came in the 1982-1984 G20 3/4 ton vans RPO LE9 vin code H. The one I have came from Canada and engine has Canada stamped in the rear of it. The stock cam was from a 350, had a 4 barrel quadrajet, "601" heads, the OLD z/28 style manifolds, regular HEI distributer and 9.5:1 compression ratio. If you question the compression I have 185 psi cranking compression in every cylinder with the cam. Factory output was 180 HP @ 4400 and 265ft/lbs @ 2000. Mine has 4-bolt mains from the factory. Supposed to be a Canadian medium duty truck engine.

 

Ah, that would be the original engine in my '84 G20 van that died at 71k miles from overwork.

Has a Goodwrench 350 in it now.

Back on intakes: I'll grant that the iron manifolds aren't as good as the aluminum. But, I know what kind of power the GMPP manifold supports, and the difference it made on a stock LG4 vs. the stock manifold. The Peformer simply isn't going to make 15 HP difference on a stock motor all by itself (unless the stock manifold was iron).

Hey, Punk, haven't heard from you in awhile. What are you thinking? If all you really want is "a little more hp", then go with headers and a high-flow exhaust system, and dual-snorkel air cleaner. For substantially more power, change the cam and whatever else you need to change to support it.

 

Ahh the rare 4 bolt 305.

Actually all the 305 trucks were rated with higher numbers. They had slightly better cams, 601's are 55cc heads that flow in stock form more then 416's, exhuast is wayyyy better, the intake manifolds......... aghh I see no real difference between any of the smog ones even the supposed HO ones that came on Vetts are fairly lame. I personally have not seen an OEM cast iron intake on a 3rdgen, I'm starting to doubt if they did make any.

 

I'm running that federal mogal cam mentioned above in my 83, it works pretty well. Do yourself a favor and replace the valve springs with that cam insatll. I don't know the answer to this since emissions is not an issue here, but couldn't he go tothe L69 cam over the LG4 and still be emission legal? As I recall the L69 was identical to the LG4 except for the cam and exhaust manifolds, I'm not sure on the intake. Anyway, it seems to me he could turn his motor into an L69 including the ram air tubes and still be emission legal.

 

You're too far south, and don't end every phrase with "eh"...

 

Almost true. Through '84 LG4 had lower compression and didn't have knock sensor, plus engine-driven vs. electric radiator fan. Carb and ECM calibration were also different. And, obviously, the air cleaner. But, the intake, heads & block were identical.

That's basically what I did with mine (you'll have to see my sig in the post way up there).

 

The LG-4 had smaller valves 1.74 vs. the 1.84 on the HO. The Federal Mogul Cam is smog legal and has a Carb EO # and sticker. Passes smog better than the stock cam in my 305s. The factory L-69 cam is just a stock 350 cam, aka nothing special. The factory aluminum intake is no better than the stock cast iorn except it is lighter and easier to port. I would swap to a set of DR rods and F hanger if you plan on using the Q-jet with this cam. That is what is in both of mine.


five7kid-
I can't believe yours died @ 71,000 miles???? Mine has been run hard, pulls heavy trailers all the time and has almost 200,000 miles on it. Transmission, engine, rearend all originol and unrebuilt. Still burns no oil, just did the mods for more power, better mileage, etc.

 

Not true on US 3rd gens, anyway. Non 3rd-gen and non-US, it's anybody's guess.


My sister & bother-in-law bought it with 35k on it. No clue as to its treatment/maintenance before that. It died on them, I bought it from them when the odometer read 79k (8k on the engine). We've used it to tow a 2-horse trailer since 1997, it has 137k on it now.

I also don't know for a fact that it was a "real" RPO LE9. It is a conversion van, VIN code H; came from GM as a cargo van, then the conversion company gussied it up. But, it does have the q-jet, and a weird vacuum/mechanical/ECM distributor. The exhaust is really poor stuff (I often daydream about what headers would do for it), and the air cleaner is a really small single snorkel.

 

Hey, p icked up the car today and she fired right up ... which leaves more money for performance stuff. I was looking at the comp cams extreme energy cam ..$96. It doesnt say the duration or anything though. Do you know this cam? If its no good im probably getting that crane you have in your 305.

 

The Xtreme Energy 250 or 256 would work well for your 305.

 

I slapped a Crane 2050 cam in my 305 LG4. It ran awesome too.
Here is a vid of the car with the new cam,
http://www.transamws6.com/video/ZepherWS6.mpg

 

Zepher!...you car sounds nice......what kind of exhaust you have on it? I wish I could get my car to sound like that.....TPI wont do that huh? or is it the cam? LT1 cam wont do that either, huh?

LOL....anyways you car sounds great!

 

Actually, the car was converted to TPI at the same time I did the heads and cam. I just put on a set of 87 TPI heads since they came with the TPI setup I bought.

Exhaust consisted of Dynomax Shorty headers, custom y-pipe, 3" hi-flow cat, 3" stainless steel Pacesetter catback and 4th gen WS6 tips. the catback came off of a friends 95 Trans Am.
Here is the engine bay when that video was shot,

 

Zepher,

I know this post is kind of old and this is way off topic, but can you tell me what materials and procedures you used to make that cold air intake setup that you are using? I want to make something very similar to that but I am lost on where to begin and what materials I need. Also, did you relocate your battery?

Thanks again.

 

SLP makes it IIRC.

 

Yep, it's from SLP and sells for $299.99. Must be used on a Speed Density setup.
I had my MAF setup converted to SD so I could use it.

I did have to relocate the battery as well. Stuck it in the spare tire well.