I used to run 151's in everything, 283's, 350's, 400's even. Nice lope in a 283, the extra cube engines were smoother, but still sounded great. They were cheap back then, 75 bucks a throw.
Another vote for the old L79 327 300hp cam. I am running one in a .60 over 283 and very pleased with it
Go with the great old -097 solid lifter cam and rpm her high!! Or an Isky Z-20... What a hoot! Yes, install Fel-pro's #1094 shim head gasket. At .015" thick, it will up your CR a schosh OR just go with a stock or MrG .020" thick shim. pdq67
We ran the Crane Fireball RV cams years back. They had a nice bite to them and a good off the line response. And they were cheap too.
that's what I was wondering about... is the lobe centers. I looked up comp cams clone of the L79 and it's not as radical as I thought it was... it's on 114 centers, with .447 lift and .222 @.050 aside from a bit heavy on the duration, that's not a wild cam. with the 114* centers, wouldn't this be a smoother idling cam?? the 268H is 110* centers with .470 lift with 224*/230* @ .050 seems like it would be the high end?? I started playing with the comp cams "cam quest" software this morning.... what a can of worms I just opened lol. not that I believe the numbers that much but with my motor plugged in, it's giving numbers in the 275-300hp range which is about 25hp more than I figure is realistic.
If you want a blueprint cam of the L-79 you want the crane, they have the genuine blueprint of the original GM camshaft. The 114 lobe center is OK and the duration 221 and lift of 447 is good if you have the right cam profile. it is not so much lift on an L79 as it is the ramps that make this cam work. As for wild camshaft I am currently making around 400 HP with a 355 and this cam shaft. Your mouse won't approach that but it is more then enough camshaft unless you are building small displacement fuel altered.
I ran a set of 186 heads on a. 040 over 283 I had in a 56 GMC. I ran a Crower " hot street beast " cam, which was 278 advertised duration, and .465 lift. Stock springs, rockers etc. I wound it past 6,000 rpm on a regular basis with no problems. It was a fun little mill, with plenty of spunk, no problems whatsoever.
Also just remember that a smaller size engine, like 283, will sound like a bigger cam than a larger engine, like 350, with the exact same cam. I think the Summit 1102 would serve your needs, and provide the idle sound you want. Also without killing the low end too much, the short stroke 283 will rev fine. I like the 500 cfm carb choice, should be a nice match.
Good call Bob-- For clarification purposes only, (Most) L79 engines were factory rated at 350 hp. 67 Novas (only 6 or 7 made) and 67 Chevelles were 325 hp. 68 Novas and Chevelles were 325 hp. Corvettes--can't remember, Google it. GM probably sold more l79 cams across the parts counter than were installed in production motors, they were just a great all around cam.
another good one in a 283 is a Crane--don't know the number buts it's 266--440 lift--have installed several.-good vacuum and good response thruout the RPM range to about 6000.
I know this thread is about cam selection, but, are you aware of what 64cc heads have done to your CR?. Right around 8:1, and that's not going to work for any kind of power. It's hard to build any compression with these small bore, short stroke engines. I'd say swap your heads out to a pair of casting number 601 heads, with 53cc chambers, and hopefully they'll have the 1.84 intake valve size to boot. If not, update them to those sized valves. The exhaust seats will also be hardened for this rotten gas we have these days. Pay attention to your quench also. Maybe you had the block decked, and the heads you're working with milled, that would help a lot, starting out with the 64cc chambers. I'll be assembling my "283" this summer, and I've done everything I can to bump up the CR without going "too high"; decked the block, 55.65cc 56 Power pack heads with 1.84 intakes installed and the heads milled, 2 valve relief pistons, and I'm still looking at somewhere around 9.5:1 CR. Good luck with your project, and camshaft selection. I am Butch/56sedandelivery. Too bad you're on the complete other side of the country, I have a fresh pair of 58cc chamber, 305 heads I'd let you have dirt cheap.
yes, I'm very aware of the CR.... I'm not trying to build any serious power.... I'm looking for the best cam for the combination of components I have to work with... I ran the numbers on my combo and with the shim head gasket I'm looking at somewhere between 8.5:1 and 8.75:1 I'm looking to pick up the complete kit with springs and timing chain. bolt it in and go. comp cams has the XE262H going for $300 with springs, lifters timing chain, and locks.... thoughts??
I have had comp cams lifters come apart on me. That doesn't mean that they all will but that is my experience with them. With the stock GM cams or stock type GM cams mentioned you don't need any special springs or keepers. All stock is good.
hmm. just looking for a decent setup that I can bolt together without mixing and matching. I'm going to need new lifters and springs anyways... the springs are an unknown and 30 years old. I dont know that the cam I listed "needs" special anything, summit and jegs sells em separate, or as a package kit..... figured I had a lot of negative comments on the summit brand so I would look into comp... this is basically a junk yard motor I'm trying to limit what I'm questioning when its on the road.... if I can make it sound cooler and run better than that's a bonus...
That software is pretty good, even if its just on a relative basis. The more accurate the input info the more accurate the out come. It's fun to see how the changes change the out come. Shoot for the highest average power numbers and not the highest peak numbers. Almost all info from manufactures pertaining to characteristics is based on 350 cubic inches. So if you put a "mild" 350 cam into a 283 it gets more radical. The best thing you can do for that small cube engine is to keep the velocity up in the intake runners and don't oversize the exhaust primaries. Now most intakes are sized for 350 velocity, not 283 velocity. If you were to take an optimum size runner for a 283 velocity and put it on a 350, the 350 will be choked and drop top end power. Opposite is true, if an optimum runner for 350 is put on a 283, the 283 drops low and mid range power because the velocity lags until the 283's RPMs come way up. Your description of how the car is used, well you want the low and mid range power. The worst thing you can do is over cam and chase the sound. The lope Idle is an un intended consequence of an engine built to run hard. If you leave out the "built to run hard" and just want the sound you won't be happy.
Agree with 31 Vicky--velocity is needed with the small inch motor. Big valves, intake,etc will kill the low to midrange power.
Well its like I said I have had a problem with the lifters but that doesn't mean that they are bad just that I have had a problem with them and even at that it was '03 and maybe just a bad run. Lifters are easy enough to come by as are springs. But if you are looking for one stop shopping then a kit is the way to go. I am currently running a mix and match setup on my small block but this is something that I have been playing with for a very long time and it is way easier for me then say someone who is just stating out if that makes any sense to you. I know what works and it has taken me years to develop the knowledge. baby steps my friend, if you can do with a kit what someone else does without one and that is what you are comfortable with that is the way you should go. for the most part Comp Cams has a good reputation don't let my bad fortune scare you off from a reputable company by no means. Oh and while I am thinking about it, if things get pear shaped on you don't expect an I told you so from me either. I don't live that way.
I bought the comp 268 last year and they "recommend" a set of their springs So I bought them to go with it, and new push rods and rockers and the lifters. Runs nice.
well, running a comp cam or not, the XE262H they list seems to put out good numbers on that software. 293hp @5500rpm and 315ft/lbs of torque at 4000rpm. avg. hp 173, avg torque 203... seems to be about the best numbers within a couple either way on the website. don't think I would want to go more than the 262 from their numbers. unfortunately the l79 cam they have does not work correctly on the site... puts out like 100hp so something is jacked lol. porknbeaner, not to be a jerk, but if you would give me a list of part numbers I'd gladly chase them down to make my own "kit" based on your knowledge! that's why I'm here and asking.
Really those peaks mean nothing unless you're racing. For a street car, It's the highest average you want. Your peak is it 293, and your average is only about 60% of that. Seems like you should be able to up the average quite a bit. What's the graph look like? Play around with the software, some and change things that you'll be buying or changing anyway. When I was playing around, I found that I greatly increased the average and only slightly reduced the peaks. I could get really high peaks too, but that drastically decreased the average. Since it wasn't going to be a all out racer and spend 97.6% of its time well under the red line the peak numbers priority wasn't that important to me. The highest numbers in the rpm band took priority. One thing I found was that an common aftermarket dual plain intake raised the peak but dropped everything else - runners were too big. A more shunned intake with smaller runners really upped the average. 1-1/2" primaries were the smallest I could find to buy, but 1-3/8 software headers made more average power, 1-5/8 dropped the average but raised the peak. This was a little 307, 305 HO heads, 262 cam with 10.4 compression though. All the gear heads around here are really impressed with it, when they find out what it is they don't believe me. I certainly wouldn't go more than the 262 cam in that 283 unless you really upped the compression, in fact I'd take it a step down. Down in the cam because it may sound nasty but it will be down on power till about 3000 rpm and your peak torque is just 1000 more. The fun range will be from 3000 up to 4000 rpm.
The 305 heads : • work quite well on the small bore engines •have small combustion chambers that up the compression with flat top pistons. •are pretty cheap You can even run them on your stockish dished piston 350 for nice compression boost, they flow pretty good up to 4500 rpm or so on a 350. A screaming, ass kicking, trophy collecting, name taking SBC engine - no but a nice healthy fun to drive custom on a budget-oh yeah! With An understanding of where and how they work well its easy to use them for your benefit. No, they won't work well in every situation.
It's great Vicky. Thanks for the help on it. My '39 pickup weighs very little and it really shreds with the 307 and 4 speed. A couple details- proper seatbelt and an overflow can mostly - and I'm gonna take it down to the local drag strip and see some real numbers. I'll report back to you somewhere-- thanks for asking by the way, good memory.
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