Comp Cams...trouble in paradise?

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Captainkirk said:
Oooh, a banana-flavored GSX! I love those cars. One of the biggest sleepers ever!
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Also the only "real production" muscle car to boast over 500 RATED LB FT of torque. Git U sum of THAT. lol
 
If you're givin' it away, send some on by.
I'll take me a big ol' helping of Banana Split.
 
Back in Feb 1974 I bought a new GTO. I call it a GTO - izzed Nova. Had the hole in the hood for a shaker scoop Trans am style. 350 big block 4bbl with a rated 200 horse. It was a nice looking car and a super nice driver at that, but wasnt a real good runner. It wasnt a real dog but got killed in most street races. 340's ran away from it (why I have one) 351 fords too but not as bad. My brother had a '73 poncho Lemans with same 350 2bbl. I beat him but one car length embarrassed me. Again it was a good looking car but not much under the hood. A decal musclecar. Mid 15's @ around 88 was norm for this car. had a good exhaust note I remember. JFWIW .

Terry
 
Back in 78 or so,I had a 71Demon 318 2bbl all stock,and mega miles,that went 89 in the qt @ 15something(dont recall).The 340 that I had almost new in 71, tickled 100 all stock @ 14.4ish.
I was 17 and thought that car was FAST. Looking back, and comparing it to other cars of the day, it was. It wasnt hard or expensive to get a 340 car into the low 13s, and twelves were only a few bucks more.
 
mikedevore said:
Bottom line, modern engines got better, so motor oil didn't have to.

Use an oil that has at least 1200PPM of Zinc in it.
Follow the cam makers recommended break-in proceadure, yes that means you may have to remove the inner valve springs on some cams.

Do this & there shouldn't be any problems.
I have never lost a camshaft by following this guide.
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1200PPM is a tuff oil to find these days................I just spent the big bucks once,:coffee2: and got a Hyd Roller.
 
Its nice to talk about horsepower and torque. But the bottom line is how that power is put to the ground. That's why the 340s Mopars A bodies would wup up on most anything.
 
When I ran my shop and had motors built for customers, my 2 engine builder used nothing but Comp Cams. NOT ONE ISSUE. I broke all cams in with either Brad Penn/Comp break in lube Or just straight Comp break in oil. Then once the car was shut down after break in, we would change oil and filter(BTW ONLY use Wix filters. Use a Fram and wait for pending disaster).

So after break in use Brad Penn, Joe Gibbs, Lucas Hot Rod/Classic, etc. YOu'll be fine.

Important tips.....

-Fill the bowls in the carb
-Pre prime the engine with a priming tool
-Bump the engine over to #1, set balancer to 10-15* BTDC, then drop distributor directly at #1 position.
- break in engine with mechanical oil pressure gauge, & watch temps with laser gun.

All this will ensure a clean start up with possibly zero issues.
 
D-mailman said:
Old Man Mopar , Yes the 350 was same block as the 400 .
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Yep... Actually all Pontiac V8's from the 287 all the way to the 455 (except the late 70's early 80's 301) were the same size block. The only way to tell them apart was to look on the side or under the distributor to see what size it said it was. People called all of them big blocks because of their large physical size
 
my brother had a 68 firebird with a 350 big block, done a bit (cam headers intake) matched with a 3400 stall and 410 gears , car was pretty sick off the lights! actually if you look for a movie called supercar showdown from the 80s , a guy named joe mino with a 68 firebird 400 ram air 4spd ( I believe stock ) takes the trophy at the end.Im a mopar nut all the way! but I have a little soft spot for the old firebirds because I grew up around one and it was the first musclecar I had been in, but wouldn't trade my mopar for nuthin!
 
dropshot1 said:
my brother had a 68 firebird with a 350 big block, done a bit (cam headers intake) matched with a 3400 stall and 410 gears , car was pretty sick off the lights! actually if you look for a movie called supercar showdown from the 80s , a guy named joe mino with a 68 firebird 400 ram air 4spd ( I believe stock ) takes the trophy at the end.Im a mopar nut all the way! but I have a little soft spot for the old firebirds because I grew up around one and it was the first musclecar I had been in, but wouldn't trade my mopar for nuthin!
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Mino's Ram Air 2 four speed car,was bad ***.....
 
I've told this story before and I'll post the short version here. In 1974 I traded a 67 Valiant 273 4speed project for a 1966 389 4bl 4 speed,convertible GTO. The GTO had 4.30 gears, headers,cam,intake and a 850 Holley spread bore. A guy that owns( still does) a speed shop in Brandon Fl. and is a friend of mine had a 1966 Hemi Satelite with 4.88 gears and also a 4speed. He installed a tunnel ram and two 660 holleys on it. Well one day we just happened to leave this bike shop at the same time and wouldn't you know it, a drag race broke out. Just East of Brandon on Hwy 60 ,a 4 lane road we lined up. I left on him a little at the start and power shifted thru 4 gears, I kept expecting him to blow by me , but he never did! Said he missed a gear. But then he didn't want a rematch! That old Goat would haul ***!
 
I'll ad this to the discussion. I just sent back a comp cams XE268H cam and lifter set as two of the lifters had small holes in them. One was on the face of the lifter and the other on the side near the bottom. I took a couple pics with my phone but it doesn't focus well on such small areas.



IMG_5285.JPG


IMG_5286.JPG
 
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sence were taking about brand X cars that kicked but. my buddy had a 67 firebird that came originally with a 326. he found a wrecked GTO in the bone yard with a freshly rebuilt eng(old timing chain, piston and cam in the truck.
He broke two Munch 4 speed with it before he finally when with a turbo 400 auto.
We didn't race it much but every time someone wanted to we did. never lost a race. My 73 318 was one of those victims.
From the number on the block, we determined that it was a XX 400 or a xx 428 the letter that decide the eng was 400 one year and a 428 another year.
It would rev and pull to 6500, But ran faster shifting a 5500. was a real big torque monster.
 
I've always found that every once in awhile, you come across a Pontiac that can really run. Always go 2 out of 3 with him cuz I've never seen a fast one make 2 hard passes without tossing some parts through the block
 
Dartish said:
I've always found that every once in awhile, you come across a Pontiac that can really run. Always go 2 out of 3 with him cuz I've never seen a fast one make 2 hard passes without tossing some parts through the block
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Pontiac did good engineering,for street car stuff..The one thing,I liked about Pontiac? Swapping 72 7k3 turd heads,for '68 400 16 castings..Actually zero decked: 7k3 castings was 8.4 to one compression,16 castings": actual 10.1 to one compression ..What ,a difference !... (Yes it ran fine on pump premium..LOUD,but good...)
Edit : 400 inch mill... Pontiac stock stuff works....
 
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