new but old camshaft design?..opinions

[Sirshredalot]

Hey yall.

Just wanna say that in all my experience ive never seen more loyal followers of anything short of religion(not that Im not religious).
H-Body guys and gals are AWESOME!...LOVE YOU GUYS.

So Im putting together the motor (again) for my 80' spyder pro-street project and Ive got this dilema.

Car when finished :
327 w/ tunnel ram and 2 x 450cfm holley's.
Th350 w/2800 stall
4.56 gears and posi-rear
4 wheel disc brakes

Car now:
327 w tunnel ram and 2 x 600 Holleys (also have the 450's...just reworking them)
Th350 w/ stock 2.97 rear gears and 14" tires.

Problem:

IM trying to pick out a cam for my new motor combo.
I definitley want it to be a solid lifter cam, but I dont any super radical lifts that are gonna be hard on the valvetrain.

I dont mind the maintenance and like the noise.

I was looking at the Lunati 20109 cam.
Its a "modern" version of the old Duntov cam.

Thing is...I know there are bigger cams out ther...but I dont want "bigger". Will this cam perform up to par?....Im looking for about 370Hp at flywheel.

Car will mainly be street driven to shows and driven to the strip and raced...then driven home. No trailers here. But see very little highway time (over 55 on the street)...(cruise at about 2800-3200rpms).

Engine Specs.
327 w. steel crank
Hypereutectic flat tops (9.8:1 comp.)
Pro topline heads 180cc with mild port and bowl blending, 64cc chamber.

Im looking to lose some low end torque cause the gears will make up for that, and the car is light, but I want an engine thats pretty responsive.
Ive built a few motors but have no experience with the "duntov" cam and I hear a lot of people say that it is antiquited.

What do you all think?
I would like to keep the lift under .500 for valvetrain longevity.
Any comments or suggestions?
Please

Thanks and God bless you all
-Shred

[75TC]

what about the edelbrock cams? They should have plenty of options available for you. And I just so happen to have a link for you on the specs of them.

http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive/cams_chevy.html#rpm

Take a look see what you think

[Sirshredalot]

The edelbrocks are good cams...I have friends that run them with lots of luck but I really am looking for a solid lifter cam.

I wish edelbrock made a solid lifter series.

Thanks and God bless
-Shred

[NixVegaGT]

The 327 is, IMO, the pinnacle of SBC. They really got everything right with this one. Over square bore x stroke and 1.75 rod ratio. Really good for mid range power and higher end potential. I think it is the perfect choice for the H.

You might be looking at more like 10.5:1 with the flattops... I think 370 hp at the flywheel is a reasonable goal. That cam has some wicked duration. Your right about the lift. It does seem a little slim but this grind has history so... Not sure what to think. I'm not familiar with solid grind geometry though it could be that this lift is appropriate.

I think the 327 will respond well to the longer runners of the tunnel ram for low speed enertia. That will help stabilize the long duration. I think 1200cfm might be a bit much. I can't remember, does the tunnel ram isolate the carbs? I mean does it take from a collective plennum or is it isolated for each carb? You can get away with more carb if each feeds fewer ports. That's why 4 webbers work because they are feeding separate ports.

I don't think you need to go all the way to 4.56 for the rear. I would consider something more like 4.11. Mostly because of the lighter H construction. Someone else with more track experience can chime in on that one...

Sounds like a really fun project man.

[NixVegaGT]

You just asked about the cam selection. Sorry to get all wordy with self-important banter. I love the subject...

[Sirshredalot]

Hey man...

Thanks for the reply...I can usually only get people to say "that wont work" or "go with a sigle four barrel"....real short stuff

I appreciate opinions, and really appreciate the support

The tunnel ram has a common plenum that all 8 cylinder draw from.
Although the one that is on it now has been modified (by me) so that it is now divided like a dual plane intake right down the middle so the odd cylinders feed off of one side and the even cylinders feed off the other side.

I reason I am leaning towards the 4.56's right now is that I have a rear end with disc brakes already set-up with 4.56's....although I would like 4.10's or 3.90's.

Well see how it turns out once I get the brackets all welded on and the ladder bars in place.
I rearend is out of a Toyota truck I think....so i dont know if gears are going to be available.
My buddy gave it to me and said that those rear ends are pretty indestructable....plus it came with 4.56's and disc brakes...SWEET!

Thanks
God bless
-Shred

[Troadster]

Hay just going to throw my 2 cents in. Heck yea on solid!!!! You might try Doug Herbert www.dougherbert.com They got at least 4 cams at under 504 lift. Cams are around $140 and for another $150 you can git a kit with lifter, spring and everything to git it together. I heard that his cams are ground by Crane. Good cams if broke in right.

[2lucke4u]

Here's another two cents,tunnel rams were generally made for upper rpm limit engines,we ran one on a small block that saw near 8000rpm with a solid lifter cam,about .600 lift if I remember,guys at the shows/track running small cams with a tunnel setup always seemed to have low rpm problems,,idle,starting,and the like,sounds cool, give it a try,with todays computer generated cam profiles I think things are getting easier to figure out,,good luck,
Charles

[Troadster]

Back in the day we use to run AFB's on them. Or Eddlebrock's the 500 or the 600 run great. But one was 4 speed the other was 3000 stall. The do run good on the street but half to tune on the to keep them up. LOL on my street rod I have a 3 two's on it. A single 4 will out run it but the cool factor keeps it on it.

[Sirshredalot]

I love the wow factor...and I love pro-street for some reason.

When i study the design of tunnel rams they seem like the perfect intake for the street and every article that i find on them is positive.

It seems like the only people that say that theyre unstreetablearethose people that have built them for the strip only with things like 12:1 comp. and cam durations in excess of 250 @ .50.

With an adequate pump shot to keep the lean backfires at bay (with 50cc accel pumps) and proper jetting it seem like the carb singal would be great and the line of sight to the intake valve is straight ahead.
Also tuning the discharge nozzles to keep fuel velocity and volume up helps.

All in all Ive never seen a tunnel ram make LESS torque than a single plane.

I wish the car was a 4 speed (it was from the factory) but the pricesof manual trannies is so high anymore...even for an old muncie or somthing that needs rebuilt its just not feasible for me...although I long for it.

I picked out a solid cam
Herbert cams:
Duration: 235/245 @ .50
lift: .498/.500
range: 2300-6800

I figure I can play with cam timing and valve lash to adjust the torque curve. I thought that the lowerlift would be easier on valve train parts...cause I want some longevity.
Seems mild enough for the street yet potent enough to perform.
If anyone has a desktop dyno and can run the specs Id be tickled pink!

327ci
10:1 compression
180cc pro-topline heads
2.02/1.60 valves
tunnel ram intake
2x4 carbs (dual 600's) or (dual 450's)
1.5 Rocker ratio
Mallory unilite w/ MSD 6A
Hooker super comp 2129's (1 3/4 primary w/ 3" collectors)

God bless
-Shredicus Monzicus

[Troadster]

Yes I got one out in the shop(shop PC ) will run it later and let you know. What stall you running? also got one of those Drag dynos. It is a good one to use. But it like most things like that it is close. My buddies Mustang runs 8.20 in the 1/8th PC said he should run 8.18's. That is close enough for me.

[Fastmax32168]

Thats really not enough data to exactly duplicate it on desktop dyno. My program doesnt have topline in it so I used edelbrocks and made the valve sizes match. Educated guess on some of the camshaft specs.
I came up with 436 Crank HP at 6000 rpm but still holding 433 at 6500 rpm. 416 ft lbs of torque between 4500 and 5000 rpm.
Roy

[Sirshredalot]

Rest of the cam specs are as follows....sorry...I didnt have it all in front of me at the moment

Duration at .50= Int. 235/ exh. 245
Lift @ valve = .498/.500
Hot lash = .016
lobe center = 108
intake Centerline = ?

IM hoping for a 2800 actual stall rpm from a 3000 stall converter just to keep from cooking the trans on the street...I know that smaller cube engines stall lower than the advertised stall rating.

I also dont know if I should install the cam +/- 4 degrees.

[Troadster]

Well here is what I git. I did not know if you portered your heads or not. With unportered heads and the 450 carbs 413hp @6000 and 409tq @5000 with the 600's you only gain 4hp and tq. I personally would go with the 450's on the street. As for moving the cam + or -4 I personally would go +4. Moves the power band down and more street able with the tq being mover down. The PC showed only about 300 to 400 rpm' difference. As for the drag dyno It only list a 74 Vega so I used it. With a 10" wide and 28" tall tire that is a good tire like a drag radial here what I got 4.56 12.02 @106mph The 4.11 11.97 @ 118. With this program the 4.11 would be better in the 1/4 if you run 1/8 the 4.56 is better. There again driving the 4.11 is more street able. Hope this helps and like I said before this is a good program but it does not take in all as specks of the track it has a perfect place to run.

[Troadster]

Also I saw in one of your early post you are running 305 heads. For the money a set of late model fast burn head would be a great performance help. Or The set of 462 heads I got put up LOL