Thoughts?

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Lost Bushman

Lost Bushman

Rich with Anti-Money
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Sep 26, 2008
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Location
Lexington, South Carolina
360LA Block, .060" Over, Magnum heads

Looking to build a respectable street motor, good for mostly cruising and the occasional stop light jump.

Camshaft Recommendations? I was leaning towards Lunati's Voodoo, but I thought I'd get some feedback.

Also, doing the LA to Magnum Head conversion requires lifters that allow oil through the pushrod, I've been told that all new lifters do this, and I've been told that I need to find them seperately. Thoughts?

Thanks!:-D
 
You will need the correct lifters, no doubt.

Camshaft depends a bit on compression. Not knowing the CR you are running, I'm going to address both as a pair, since (IMO) they depend on one another. I wouldn't go over 280 seat to seat, and the lift should be .450" or so. Run 9.5:1 compression, maybe a bit more, but no more than 10.0:1

Thats the general thought. Specifically, I'd go with a 340 reproduction cam (I know, but I really like that cam) and a 9.5:1 CR. The cam is a very streetable factory grind. Its a no-messing-around cam, no figuring it out for a combination, no tweaking to make it run, no playing games when the Nova lines up at the light.

Thats my thoughts. There are literally hundreds of ways to do what you are looking at, and much depends on how much power you want to make and how easy to live with the car you want to have it. There really isn't a wrong way to do this if you are happy with the results. My best advice is to build a package.... don't pull a cam from here, a CR from there, and heads from over that way. It has to work together, so keep that in mind before slapping it together... unless you want the challenge.
 
Lost Bushman I'm running a Lunati Voodoo 60404 in my 360 and it runs great but it did require at least 9.5 to 1 compression and a 2,800 stall converter which I have. They are a fairly fast rate cam and mine did come with lifters that have oil holes for magnum valve trains. But as in all builds you have to match the cam with everything else like Max340 pointed out so if your engine is only 8.5 to 1 and you want to run a stock converter make sure and get one of the smaller grinds like a 60401 or 60402. To give you a more specific recommendation you need to post your complete car specs such as

Car weight?
Rear gears?
Trans (auto or stick) and if auto are you willing to use a aftermarket high stall converter?
Compression ratio?
Are the heads stock or have they had any port work done?
What intake and carb?
Headers or not?
 
Which magnum heads? At .060 over, you did have the block sonic tested, right? It may be cheap insurance at that over bore.
 
YES! indeed, what Fishy said;

Car weight?
Rear gears?
Trans (auto or stick) and if auto are you willing to use a aftermarket high stall converter?
Compression ratio?
Are the heads stock or have they had any port work done?
What intake and carb?
Headers or not?
Click to expand...

These are excellent questions to answer for a good recomendation on a cam.
 
Why would you go .060 over on a street motor, unless it were necessary because of the damage to the cylinder walls?
 
fishy68 said:
Car weight?
Rear gears?
Trans (auto or stick) and if auto are you willing to use a aftermarket high stall converter?
Compression ratio?
Are the heads stock or have they had any port work done?
What intake and carb?
Headers or not?
Click to expand...

Car Weight: Is whatever the factory weight of a '69 Dart GT is, I'm guessing in the 2700-3200lb range...

Rear Gears: They're the standard gears that came with the GT package I guess, it has a 7 1/4" Rear, with the 273 and a TF 904.

Transmission: Is the TF 904, I do have a A999 lying around so a swap isn't out of the question. As far a high stall converter goes, I'm willing to give it what it needs to run right.

Compression ratio: I'm still trying to figure that one out. I'm no good with math, I'm having a hard time finding some of the necessary specs to plug into the formula.

Heads: They're stock Magnum heads, with the "beehive" valve springs, no porting done.

Intake: Is the performance products crosswind, that I have a Holley 650 sitting on

Headers: None yet, but I'm planning on ordering some when I order my cam.

Thanks for your help!
 
Ok. Not knowing those figures makes it nearly impossible to suggest the best cam. Even not knowing the answers to them I'd still think either of the cams listed above would work fine cause their both pretty mild. One big problem I see with what you posted is that anemic (junk) 7-1/4 rearend. I've seen stock 318's trash them. If you plan on putting in a warmed over 360 you definitely need a 8-1/4 or 8-3/4 rearend or you might just get to walk back home from the first test drive with your new 360. By the sounds of it a 8-1/4 rearend is probably fine for you. You only need a 8-3/4 when getting into higher hp applications above 400 hp. I know some might disagree with me but I've seen 8-1/4's hold up real good. I had one in a Dakota that I drove and raced for yrs. turning low to mid 14's and it held up. If you get one a 3.21 (8-1/4) or 3.23 (8-3/4) gear is a good street gear. 3.55 ~3.91 gears for higher perf but they give up cruising comfort and fuel mileage. All depends on how you plan on driving the car.
 
Here's the rub... the factory magnum springs are very limited. They are weak, and short... so you are restricted to choosing a cam under .480 lift FIGURED WITH A 1.6:1 ROCKER RATIO. That's under .450 lift on the 1.5 rocker(most listings are based on this ratio) The Vodoo cams want a ton of spring from what we just went thru on another thread. No Magnum spring, nor the one MP offering will work. I understand you can upgrade to GM 3100 beehive springs and get a little more tension, but no more lift. So soemthign very conservative is what you need. Maybe the summit "larger" cam for $57 and get it with AMC lifters. That's a 276/286 w/.441 lift (at the 1.5 ratio). I think it's tame enough to use those 3100 springs too.
 
First off, for Fish:
The 7 1/4 is just what's in it. It's not what I plan on keeping in there, I'd like to find a 8 3/4, but they're hard to come by around here for a resonable price. Not to change the subject, but any help on locating a good rear for my app, would be appreciated.

As for the Valve springs, they're from MP, I shrink wrapped the heads after I finished putting on new valves and springs about 3 years ago. So lift and such I can't recall.

I do want to point out that this car is an ongoing project that has been unwillingly moved to the farthest burner from the fire many times. So I'd like to it right the first time, but it's not about to be done next week. When this is done I want a good solid saturday summer night cruiser with just a little something extra for a full moon. Any and All help is always appreciated.
:read2:
 
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