Thread: i need cam selection advice..

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I'm new to this forum and this is my first post.anf i don't mean to beat a dead horse here posting something you guys are probably tired of talking about.i have a 66 c10 swb.trying to pick a cam. Truck has 355, flat tops,186 humps with screw in studs and pocket ported,650 holley, torker 2. Or performer intake .I have both.truck has 373 gearing th400, stock converter truck weighs 3500 with me in it. I'm really new to this stuff.i have helped my father build small blocks in the past.but sadly most of it went in one ear and out the other.i want a cam that has a very Lopey sound. But I have pb,ps,vacuum advance and vacumm secondarys.so still needs to make enough to run the items listed.oh yeah and my current setup is hydraulic flat tappet.and because of prices that's what I want to stick with...Thanks for any help

Welcome to CHR, and hope you enjoy a long run here. I'm not one of the engine guru's around here, but I'll offer you a couple of comments on what you've tossed out for consideration.
First, you don't want to pick your cam for the sound it makes at idle, or you're just wasting your money. You select your cam for performance, and let the sound take care of itself. If you get too wild with the cam you'll need to add an electric vacuum pump to be safe with PS & PB, as you won't have enough vacuum in the idle range to keep them fed.
Second, the oils sold today, other than a few select racing oils, have very little zinc and won't support long term operation of a flat tappet cam. You're not looking at "...if it will fail", you're only looking at "...when's it gonna happen?" Save a few more bucks and go roller lifter cam. If you're stubborn about staying flat tappet, never use anything but Brad Penn's Racing Oil or something equivalent that has the full complement of ZDDP to handle high pressure point loads. No matter what you read, the off the shelf oils don't cut it any more - Uncle Sam restricted them to eliminate potential CAT damage, and roadside levels of heavy metals from exhaust.

Thanks for the advice man.i didn't mean to sound like I just wanted a cool sound..I really just want the best cam for the items I described earlier.if I can get a cam with a Lopey l.s.a. then that's just a cherry on top.as for a roller setup.i bought an ls1 with the intentions on building it.but block turned out to be trash.so I'm out the money spent on that stupid ls1 venture.that I had no business trying.so now I'm short on cash.but, this motor only needs to get me by for a year or so.i currently have a big block I'm trying to build that I hope will be done in a year or so.
But anyways. Here are some of the cams tjat have been suggested.in case you or any one else could suggest one

Colt cams flat tappet
216 intake
225 exhaust
At 50 112 l.s.a.

Crane cam 100132
222
222 at 50

Crowder cam
00223
214 intake
224 exhaust at 50
110 l.s.a.

I have no idea which of these cams to go with.all 3 manufactures say theirs are the best.but the guy from Colt seemed to think that the pet cams listed would not supply enough vacuum. And thati don't have enough stall to run them..

Any help is greatly appreciated

Welcome to CHR!

Hope your stay here is long and that you find the answers you’re looking for. The heads you mention are actually decent in their stock form – used on a lot of high performance Chevies including the legendary 290 horsepower 302 as well as the 350 horse 327. When you say “pocket ported” I hope that means at a machine shop by someone who knows these heads as you can find water real easy if you don’t exercise caution. I hope you also had the heads surfaced as their age almost certainly would require such to get them perfectly flat. A couple of questions:
1. What block did you start with?
2. Did you have the block decked and do you know the final measurement (Stock would be 9.025”)
3. Are their valve reliefs cut in the pistons? Do you have a manufacturer and part #

Before we can help you select a cam, it’s critical to accurately determine compression. If you ask Techinspector1, he will provide a very detailed explanation of how to determine your static compression ratio (SCR) which, along with the rear end gearing, transmission info and weight that you’ve given us, will assist in a recommendation. You want to be in the 9-9.5:1 with these heads to run pump gas. As much as it pains me, much more with iron heads (on today’s gas) is just not practical and you’ll be subject to detonation that can wreak havoc with your new engine.

Hydraulic flat-tappet can be fine as long as you assemble with good lube and follow break-in instructions exactly. Use Brad Penn’s oil - it's is a good one.

Most here will tell you that you do not want a “lopey sound” as that’s evidence that you have picked the wrong cam. I know, people might tell you that, “it sounds cool” but those who know engines just smile and shake their heads – knowing that your engine is very inefficient. Better would be a cam that makes your car pull like a mule to 5500 RPM and still idles with enough vacuum to operate your accessories.

Torker is the wrong manifold – Performer is better but if you could e-bay both and get a Performer RPM it would be ideal. The Performer RPM matched with a well build and tuned Q-Jet would be a monster and a kick in the pants when those huge secondaries open.

Good luck and once again, welcome!
Glenn

Thanks for the above Glen.and yes the 186's were professionally ported.with screw in studs and Guideplats..i bought this motor from a buddy who built it for his race car 10 years ago.he never did get to race the motor.dropped it in his tow truck and there it sat driven about once a month on the occasional tow.hints the current rv cam and stock stall in th400. I'm not sure what the deck height is because motor is a long block now.all i planned on doing was a valve job and cam.can still see all crosshatching.also I currently have 2 carbs.holley 650 vacumm sec.and quadrjet spread bore.you like the quadrajet from a performance standpoint?

Oh yeah its a 2 bolt 0010 block.with 4 valve relief flat tops

if you do not want to go roller cam way. look at howards cam they have the best warranty on there hydraulic cam sets . i would go along with what glen said as someone who cuts heads and blocks and just about any thing i can get in my head and block mills. many for get how poor the finish and surface on heads that been on something for 30 years plus . its just is not worth skating a wizer wheel on a hand drill then saying the heads and deck is flat this will not take place of the fine finish cut of a mill with a cbn or carbide cutter head mill .i seen many times were it would be betting not touching the block or deck with them 3m wizer wheels. i would go with the rv hi torque type of cam like howards mc 110931-11 @050 213/213 lft 450/450 lc 111 should fit good or ERSON cams E111021s @050 214/214 lift 449/462 lca 111 .or isky 264 mega 201264 @ 050 214/214 lift 450/450 lc 108 see a pattren here ? all cams will make vacuum and as big as you can go with a stock convereter and lower cr engine and sound good

Thanks for all the info man..I will definitely have the heafs cc ' d and milled if needed..but.in order to have the block decked.wouldnt I have to tear the bottom end down.and what do you think of carb selection.i have a quadrajet, and a holley 650 or 700...Can't remember.someone earlier in this thread mentioned the quadrajet making great power when secondarys opened.i have had a couple quadrajets, being that's probably my father's favorite carb for tunability..but I have learned some very basic things about tuning my holley.which do you guys think makes more power.if I ask my dad.he tells me Rochester all day
So he's bias..

Ok so I took the 186 heads to my machine shop today.turns out they were not just pocket ported.they had a full port and polish.the machinist said they did a very good job so that' s a plus. But on the down side. 2 exhaust valves were ground down to far.so we decided to up the exhaust valves to 1.6. He also told me that the head surface looked good and thati should not need to mill them.we also ordered a cam. Ordered z 28 Springs and traded my stock converter.for a 2200 stall.. Thanks for all the advice guys.

Originally Posted by 4200chevy

Ok so I took the 186 heads to my machine shop today.turns out they were not just pocket ported.they had a full port and polish.the machinist said they did a very good job so that' s a plus. But on the down side. 2 exhaust valves were ground down to far.so we decided to up the exhaust valves to 1.6. He also told me that the head surface looked good and thati should not need to mill them.we also ordered a cam. Ordered z 28 Springs and traded my stock converter.for a 2200 stall.. Thanks for all the advice guys.

Glad that you made decisions and moved forward! IMO it's better to move forward with a plan than to sit idle analyzing a hundred different paths, and wondering which one to take. Let is know how it works for you!

Thanks spears.and all of you other guys for helping me out.whenever i try to talk to oldskool guys and ask questions or get tips.seems like most of them look down at me.because I'm young and dumb.its cool to know that i can come here and ask questions and get answers.anyways to all of you guys that can read these cam specs let me know what you think

sealed power cam cs-1169r
218
218 @50
458 lift
110 ls a

Sound good?

Speed-Pro Performance Hydraulic Camshaft Chevy 262-400 2000-4500 RPM Part #: CS1169R
Chevy 262-400 cid Hydraulic camshaft, 2000-4500 RPM Range, 292 intake/292 exhaust Adv Dur, Duration @.050 218 intake/218 exhaust, Valve Lift .458 intake/.458 exhaust, Lobe C/L 110. (I'm sure they meant to say Lobe Separation Angle 110 degrees).
Very lazy lobe design, obsolete design, Hydraulic Intensity of 74. Current cam grinds are in the 45-60 Hydraulic Intensity range. Will work OK if motor is between 8.75:1 and 10.0:1 static compression ratio. If motor is less than 8.75:1, it will be a pig with that cam. If motor is over 10.0:1, it will probably detonate due to excessive cylinder pressure and the inability of iron heads to shed heat as well as aluminum heads. You fellows who just pick a cam out of thin air without figuring the exact static compression ratio are shooting yourselves in the foot. Could work, could not work. That's one hell of a lot of money and labor to put your faith in a "maybe".

Here's some info for you concerning choosing cams.....
http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/w..._compatibility

And here's some info for you concerning the care and feeding of flat tappet camshafts. Read and heed or risk losing a lobe or 3....
http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/w...ips_and_tricks

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Tech inspector, I just want a cam that makes the most power that I can get.with the equipment I listed earlier in this thread.i am new to this like I said.i had no clue that a Lopey sound bled off cylinder pressure.i just thought it sounded cool.did not know it would have negative results.maybe you could help me then?..I do not want to detonate my engine with this cam.because my machinist told me that my heads are 68 cc and he also told me that they had been previously milled.and I have 4 valve relief flat tops.so I have a feeling that I might be a little bit over 10:1. I really need help ..

Or there is the old stand by for a build like yours:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pE_WeIInNs I ran the L79 in a build similar to yours in a '65 C-10 used a Weiand Stealth and a Carter 625 CFM Competition Series Carb( now Edelbrock 1405) and it was wicked fun.

Originally Posted by 4200chevy

Tech inspector, I just want a cam that makes the most power that I can get.with the equipment I listed earlier in this thread.i am new to this like I said.i had no clue that a Lopey sound bled off cylinder pressure.i just thought it sounded cool.did not know it would have negative results.maybe you could help me then?..I do not want to detonate my engine with this cam.because my machinist told me that my heads are 68 cc and he also told me that they had been previously milled.and I have 4 valve relief flat tops.so I have a feeling that I might be a little bit over 10:1. I really need help ..

As I said, you need to know the static compression ratio of the motor before you can intelligently choose a cam for it. Did the machine shop guy cc the chambers? Can you get a photo of the piston crowns and post it here? Not trying to bust your chops here, just want to teach you how to do it correctly so that you can teach others.

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