Camshaft to Small???

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For a pump gas street motor, the Elgin cam would be edgy in your build, for what I would consider a safe dynamic compression. The above Lunati grind I would consider safe.
 
I re-read the OP. It says street car. "Very driveable" and "spunky"

I actually think that while that cam is very mild, it will meet your expectations. Probably exceed them by a good margin with the tremendous bottom end torque it will generate.

That cam is small for 400 inches and a 4.10 gear. You need more cam and converter.

I love these forums........sometimes. This is one of those times. Though both of the gentlemen appear to be at odds over the cam choice, really neither one of them is wrong. Due to their expertise at tuning/setting up an engine, they could make both cams work. Either way or something else, this ought to be fun.
 
Which can thr Elgin or Lunati


Well, I didn't see the lunati, but I like that one much more than I like the Elgin. Here's why.

The Elgin is 20 and 22 degrees bigger than the lunati at seat timing (288/298 vs 268/276).
The Elgin is 12 and 10 degrees SMALLER than the Lunati at .050 (214/224 vs 226/234).

The Elgin is on 114 LSA and the Lunati is on a 110 LSA.

The lunati has faster ramps. I'm not always for faster ramps...but in you case the 4.10 helps you out a bunch.

With the 2 choices you've given, the lunati looks better to me.
 
Update: i contacted Howard Cams and gave them all the parameters of my build, as well as told them that I wanted the hottest cam that will give me enough vacuum to run my brake booster. This is what they recommended.
I also will be upgrade
Ing my valve springs to dual springs with comp cams 10 degree super lock retainers, because of the lift. This is based on comp cams' recommendation.

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I would sell off the rotating assembly and stroke it. Ur heads will love u for it. And ofcourse a properly matched camshaft Kim

I’m with Kim. The motor is out. And you know how it goes. Woulda, shoulda, coulda.

I’m no cam expert, but that one above from Howard seems too small. And I like Howard’s stuff. ... maybe with the “vacuum” requirement they were being a bit conservative.

What about getting a little aggressive with the cam and putting in a vacuum pump? Did it on wife’s car and it’s still extremely streetable ... but has that awesome “cammed” idle and performance.
 
I’m with Kim. The motor is out. And you know how it goes. Woulda, shoulda, coulda.

I’m no cam expert, but that one above from Howard seems too small. And I like Howard’s stuff. ... maybe with the “vacuum” requirement they were being a bit conservative.

What about getting a little aggressive with the cam and putting in a vacuum pump? Did it on wife’s car and it’s still extremely streetable ... but has that awesome “cammed” idle and performance.

That would be the ideal, but I have a finished rotating assembly for a stock build now. Also I have an unmolested 72 long block assembly that will be my 500 stroker build. You guys aren't wrong that building the stroker now is the most desirable out come, but finances just dictate a stockish build.
 
That would be the ideal, but I have a finished rotating assembly for a stock build now. Also I have an unmolested 72 long block assembly that will be my 500 stroker build. You guys aren't wrong that building the stroker now is the most desirable out come, but finances just dictate a stockish build.

Understand completely. Especially since you have another block in the wings for future !
 
I wouldn't use any of those, but I know nothing about BBs,lol
The Elgen ramps are too slow. Sure it makes plenty of torque, probably way too much. But the advertised is gonna steal vacuum.
The first and last are on 112s and I'm no fan of that on a streeter.
The other two are practically identical, except for the LSA.
>If I had only these three to chose from, it would be the 268/276/110 and the reason is because;in at 108 the ICA is 62*. And that leaves 118* for compression and 110* for extraction. And I particularly attracted to that 110 extraction. It is 16 more than the gas swilling Elgin, and 5 more than the pressure dropping Howards.In a streeter getting more than 8mpgs is a pretty big deal,, so to that end;
>if I wanted a spunky 400 to still operate the power brakes,I would get a solid flat tappet about 1.5sizes bigger on the .050Tappet Lift, so say a 274/280/106. (236/[email protected]).. In at 104 the ICA is 61 so that is gonna make a lot of torque compared to the Elgin, and similar torque to the Lunati. But the 67* of overlap is 15* more than the other two, and only 2* less than the Elgin so it's gonna make a nice bump in the power curve. The 119* of compression is the largest of the lot and so is the 114* of extraction. And best of all......it might have a nice spunky idle. Now all you gotta do is engineer the compression around the 61* of ICA, soz it can burn whatever octane gas you think you can afford. Me? I'd set it up for 87E10,lol. Why? because it's gonna have more torque than the chassis can handle .....with any compression ratio..... so I might as well save some money at the pump. And If something happens to the supply of hi-test, well,you can still run your car, it won't affect you.
It's a solid-lifter cam tho, so you have to keep your eye on the lash.
This is a serious street cam.I know it doesn't look serious at 236/242, but with long-tubes and a free-flowing exhaust, that 67* of overlap is gonna make a nice little bump starting at the torque peak and rocking up the curve, and extending the power a little past where your typical 110 cam would roll off. Well that might be deceptive. The 110 will kindof flat line for a ways with a gentle roll-off, whereas the 106 will wham up to a higher power-level and then kindof crash, but a little further up the curve. This is perfect for a streeter who rarely takes the speed run into third gear, or even into second.
With 4.10s it will wham thru first gear in a heartbeat, but if you can control yourself, First gear will get you to 50plus mph.On the 1-2 shift, the Rs might drop to 3850, wait what was your stall again? no matter, it's a high torque 400 with extended revability, so it will pull just fine from whatever it drops to.I'd call that capital S-Spunky.In fact, I can see this working pretty good with a lot less gear. Ima thinking the 3.55s are more than enough with a 2500/2800stall, or 3.23s with a 2800 or a little more. 32mph would be 3600in low with 3.55s, so I can totally see the tires erupting in flames on the 2-1 backshift,lol.
But I know nothing about BBs so I'm just speculating,

But I think I might order me a cam like that for my 367 4-speeder.Yes-sir, I'ma liking it.
 
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I wouldn't use any of those, but I know nothing about BBs,lol
The Elgen ramps are too slow. Sure it makes plenty of torque, probably way too much. But the advertised is gonna steal vacuum.
The first and last are on 112s and I'm no fan of that on a streeter.
The other two are practically identical, except for the LSA.
>If I had only these three to chose from, it would be the 268/276/110 and the reason is because;in at 108 the ICA is 62*. And that leaves 118* for compression and 110* for extraction. And I particularly attracted to that 110 extraction. It is 16 more than the gas swilling Elgin, and 5 more than the pressure dropping Howards.In a streeter getting more than 8mpgs is a pretty big deal,, so to that end;
>if I wanted a spunky 400 to still operate the power brakes,I would get a solid flat tappet about 1.5sizes bigger on the .050Tappet Lift, so say a 274/280/106. (236/[email protected]).. In at 104 the ICA is 61 so that is gonna make a lot of torque compared to the Elgin, and similar torque to the Lunati. But the 67* of overlap is 15* more than the other two, and only 2* less than the Elgin so it's gonna make a nice bump in the power curve. The 119* of compression is the largest of the lot and so is the 114* of extraction. And best of all......it might have a nice spunky idle. Now all you gotta do is engineer the compression around the 61* of ICA, soz it can burn whatever octane gas you think you can afford. Me? I'd set it up for 87E10,lol. Why? because it's gonna have more torque than the chassis can handle .....with any compression ratio..... so I might as well save some money at the pump. And If something happens to the supply of hi-test, well,you can still run your car, it won't affect you.
It's a solid-lifter cam tho, so you have to keep your eye on the lash.
This is a serious street cam.I know it doesn't look serious at 236/242, but with long-tubes and a free-flowing exhaust, that 67* of overlap is gonna make a nice little bump starting at the torque peak and rocking up the curve, and extending the power a little past where your typical 110 cam would roll off. Well that might be deceptive. The 110 will kindof flat line for a ways with a gentle roll-off, whereas the 106 will wham up to a higher power-level and then kindof crash, but a little further up the curve. This is perfect for a streeter who rarely takes the speed run into third gear, or even into second.
With 4.10s it will wham thru first gear in a heartbeat, but if you can control yourself, First gear will get you to 50plus mph.On the 1-2 shift, the Rs might drop to 3850, wait what was your stall again? no matter, it's a high torque 400 with extended revability, so it will pull just fine from whatever it drops to.I'd call that capital S-Spunky.In fact, I can see this working pretty good with a lot less gear. Ima thinking the 3.55s are more than enough with a 2500/2800stall, or 3.23s with a 2800 or a little more. 32mph would be 3600in low with 3.55s, so I can totally see the tires erupting in flames on the 2-1 backshift,lol.
But I know nothing about BBs so I'm just speculating,

But I think I might order me a cam like that for my 367 4-speeder.Yes-sir, I'ma liking it.

I think u guys are making way too much out of this. I have always picked the RPM , I want to run at, and matched the convertor , and rear gear to it. No big deal, unless gas mileage is more important than H .P . , one can help gas mileage w/ tall tires to some extent too.
 
i put my specs into a CR calculator. and it looks like it's going to be closed to 10.5:1. My question is, how does this related to cam choice?View attachment 1715124673

This thread popped up when doing a general online search for something else. I am planning a similar build. I know this is an old thread, but you transposed two numbers in the rod length. You used "6.835" in the calculator and the correct rod length is "6.358". That will make a pretty big difference in the computed static compression ratio. Just thought I would point that out. Did you ever get this build done?
 
I ended up going with a Howard's cam (see attached cam card) and this is how the car sits presently(see attached photos) I had the trans rebuilt and mated to an ultrabell, and rear third member rebuilt with 3.73 gears since my last post in this thread. I am hooking up an american shifter company dual action shifter to the 518 and then patching the floor back up correctly this time. Hopefully everything works as intended...

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I re-read the OP. It says street car. "Very driveable" and "spunky"

I actually think that while that cam is very mild, it will meet your expectations. Probably exceed them by a good margin with the tremendous bottom end torque it will generate.

Rob it may be a less choppy alternative to my "ultimate street B-motor cam," the Dual Energy Comp Cams DE275H (219/235*@.050" .462/.482" 110LSA). I just love that cam in a low compression (8-9.5:1) 383/400. Pulls from an idle with a 11" factory 727 converter and is pretty deadly with 3.23 gearing in a heavy B or E-body.
 
I wonder if the part number for the pistons used is known, along with the actual deck clearance.

Unless some parts are not like what was originally described(pistons), I calculate the CR at well below 9.5:1.

Stock replacement pistons would theoretically sit down the hole .093” in an uncut block.
At .060 over, 81cc heads, composition gasket, etc...... it would be more like 8.3:1cr.

30+ years ago I reringed a few 400’s.
I used the MP 484 cam in both of them.
They ran pretty good for what they were, even though they were technically over cammed.
No power brakes, no highway gears though.
 
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Looks great so far, Similar to my setup. 383 with a custom Hydraulic roller with 264/272 gross, 217/225 @.050, .544 lift (with 1.6 rockers) 109 LSA. I run the sniper and an A518 with a 2400 converter and 3.91 gears. Pulls hard and made 400HP on the dyno and 431 ft/lbs of torque, over 400 ft/lbs from about 3K-5200 RPM.

I like the serp belt setup! who makes that?

Also if you need any help with the sniper you can hit me up.

Garth
 
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