Cam & head upgrade 360 mag
Truck weighs about 5000 pounds, give or take a couple hundred pounds.
I'm guessing the converter has the stock stall, whatever that may be.
I did have the transmission re-built and it got a new converter, idk what the stall is on it but I do know it's a non lock up converter and it does have the transgo Jr shift kit in it.
Right now I normally shift at 4500-4800 rpm whenever I'm running it against someone in the mud or on the street.
I realize that cam does have quite a bit of duration, but if I do decide to get the camshaft I'm also going to get the new heads and I will run a thinner head gasket, a .028 thickness head gasket which will bring the compression up from 9.0:1 to 9.5:1.
What camshaft would you recommend for this truck?
I have a cam I use in our stage II magnum build running FI but will be a great carbcam for your weight, shift points and factory converter. 213 @.050 525" lift 112 deg LSA. Works great with compression of 9-1, lots of vacuum for quick throttle response, makes torque right off the bottom.
If it were my truck, or at least my customers truck that said "this is what I do, build it for me" I would recommend OOTB EQ heads(brace for *^#% storm..), Stage II spring package , Stage II cam and either our stainless roller tip/stud/guide and pushrod package or step up $100 more and go same package with stainless full rollers, NGK Plugs gapped at .050 w good coil, good DP intake and nothing more than a 750 cfm.
At your shift point and converter stall I would save porting $$ or larger valves for your gear swap. I know it sounds conservative but your truck weights 1 1/2 times an a body and the more important factor, your tire/wheel combo weights 2-3 times of car tire/rim combo and drive train requires much more torque to spin 2 axles and a transfer case. These are torque vampires, compared to 904, 8 1/4 w 245r60 15 in a car.
Now before people start throwing rocks, let me explain. It has been proven by flow bench and dyno that port work on EQ heads makes huge power gains BUT these gains all seem to be in the part of the power band that is very close to your shift point and higher. This comes at a sacrifice of lower end power. The torque required to start spinning 4 33" tires and transfer case is huge and needs to happen right away, not in the middle to upper power band. You need it right away to get everything moving, just like in sand or a sled pulling truck. If you had a HS converter, bigger cam and more compression you could get what you need but up higher in torque curve ie start launching at 3K shifting at 6K . Your stock converter should stall at close to 2K with enough torque which should be a good launch rpm if shifting at 5000-5500 rpm. You will probably find yourself shifting closer to 5500-5700 with this new combo as it should pull hard past 5K.
I have built many many pulling truck and tough truck engines, some were high revving huge cam and some were a very sensible but beefy build like this. With your combo I feel the low end torque beast would suit you better. It also leaves you very open to future upgrades without wasting any hard earned cash. With a $199 roller you could always sell to a buddy if you decide to move up in converter, displacement or compression later. Here is the best part, the cost.
$1139 shipped EQ heads with Stage II spring upgrade good to .575" cam
$179 Roller cam- reground. $199 but on sale for $179
$89 Pro Gear Timing set 3 key. (yours might be roller, might not)
$299 Stainless Roller Tip Rockers, CC studs/guide plates, CroMo .080" hardened pushrod kit
Add $100 if you want Stainless full rollers.
You can save even more by reusing your factory rocker arms and only replacing the pushrods which are $99.
$1700 if you need timing set. If it has roller set in good shape, reuse it and save $89 .
$1418 if you reuse MP rockers and timing set.
I would guess you should end up around 375 HP and 425 ft lbs TQ. We have yet to dyno this combo. We can also give Racer Brown a call to "fine tune" your grind on the cam for carb use.
PM or call the shop if you want more info, 541-955-0363 9-6 pacific time Evan
