grumpyvette

look at this dyno graph, it is from a 355 running a very restricted exhaust,once he corrects that with headers he will get much better high rpm power both the zz3 and zz4 cams are not ideal ,they seriously lack the duration necessary to make good hp/tq the dyno above showes a CROWER #00471 hydrolic roller in a 355 engine with 11:1 compression, for a 355 its a killer combo with over 530 ft lbs of tq,yet because its got a resticted exhaust power falls off quickly that cam in an 11:1 cpr 406 has made more than 500hp and 500tq over a very wide rpm range compression,headflow and cam timing must match, the 11:1 cpr and the crower #00471 cam are well matched, yet the engine should be also matched to other components that allow a 2700-6400rpm operating range heres the CROWER CAM http://www.crower.com/misc/cam_spec/cam_finder.php?part_num=00471&x=34&y=7 heres the CRANE CAM I RUN http://dab7.cranecams.com/SpecCard/DisplayCatalogCard.asp?PN=119661&B1=Display+Card the differance is my tq curve comes in faster but starts to drop off slightly by 6000rpm wher the crower grind can potentially add about 400rpm to the curve but loose that same 400rpm lower down where the CRANE grind starts both the chevy cams start to fall off badly bt 5500rpm but have slightly better low rpm tq

Now the questions... My main question is- in a torque and midrange HP motor is it of any benefit to use a roller camshaft? And how much benefit. Also does it matter if hydraulic or solid? And again, how much difference. first read this http://www.idavette.net/hib/camcon.htm then keep in mind that theres no real advantage to useing a solid lifter because the engines stroke, the heads ax lift potential and port flow plus piston speeds all tend to keep the power peak under 5500rpm where the hydrolic lifters work with less maininance[/b] zero gap rings? worth it? Id say NO but its close Carb? Demon, HP holley, holley double pumper, edelbrock AVS, etc? Do I need the more expensive carbs to make the power? not really to make a set power level because most carbs can be moded to make good power but the better carbs are normally easier to tune and adjust and the tend to have a better mix Roller rockers, worth it? Id say the steel full rollers like crower or comp cams sell are wort it ON THE ENGINE YOUR PLANING Needed? NOT REALLY BUT I THINK THEY WILL HELP A guy on ebay sells directions for how to adapt an LT1 hyd roller camshaft and associated lifters, retainers etc into a pre 86 SBC. I think it involves drilling and tapping a few holes to mount the spider valley retainer thing. Anyone try this, and does it work? not that well, thats why chevy did not do it that way, the main problem is the pre-1987 non-roller block lifter bores are to short and lack support Anyone with similar combo have any ideas or experiences. yeah, carefully port the heads, do a good valve job,use good full length headers with a merge collector, a hydrolic roller cam and a windage screen with an 8 qt oil pan to insure good oil flow look at this 350 build, built as a 406 with a similar roller cam,your almost sure to be 50 hp PLUS and 50 ftlbs PLUS higher Displacement: 355 cu. in. Carburetor: Demon Road Demon 625 Heads: GM L31 Vortecs, with 1.94/1.50 in. valves Intake: Edelbrock Performer RPM Vortec Camshaft: Comp Cams Xtreme Energy 268° hydraulic, with 268/280° of duration, 224/230° of duration @ 0.050 in. of lift and 0.477/0.480 in. of lift.(Corrected valve lift with 1.6:1 rockers is 0.508/0.512 in.) Rockers: Comp Cams roller, 1.6:1 Headers: Hedman Elite 1 5/8 in. Pistons: Speed Pro dished Rods: stock Crank: Scat Distributor: Pertronix HEI Timing: 36° Comp. Ratio: 8.75:1 MAX HP: 390 @ 6000 MAX Torque: 426 @ 4000 _________________ heres a good matching hydrolic roller cam but you should be useing about a 2500 stall and 3.73 rear gears, and you MUST CLEARANCE THE HEADS/SPRINGS ETC. and use about 9.5:1 compression http://dab7.cranecams.com/SpecCard/DisplayCatalogCard.asp?PN=119831&B1=Display+Card

if its 90% dailly driver , yeah your correct that ZZ4 cam will be a good choice simply because its designed for a reasonable idle, mileage and low rpm torque, that makes it much better for daily transportation, luckly a (Z) is lite weight enough that even 330 hp makes it very competative with most performance cars

heres the zz4 cam http://www.sdpc2000.com/cart.asp?action=prod_detail&catid=989&pid=1438 if your looking to make big hp that zz4 cam has far lower duration than ideal heres a chevy cam that produces better hp http://www.sdpc2000.com/cart.asp?action=prod_detail&catid=989&pid=1848 if your willing to install a 383 rotating assembly with 11:1 compression this cam will make a much better power range http://www.sdpc2000.com/cart.asp?action=prod_detail&catid=989&pid=1849 and yeah before you ask yeah youll need to install the correct valve springs, check and correct all clearances plus youll need to do the required tuning to the EFI or carb and a higher stall converter (3000rpm) is mandatory with the larger duration cam

check list http://www.chevytalk.org/threads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=581940&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1 tool list A set of quick release tools for late model gm fuel lines and a/c line disconnects. ACETYLENE TORCH ADJUSTABLE LENGTH PUSH ROD ADJUSTABLE POINTER , Adjustable stand, for dial indicator Assorted pliers/vise grips Air compressor Air ratchet Allen wrenches ASK QUESTIONS ASSORTED FILES ASSORTED SOCKETS,OPEN AND BOX WRENCHES 1/2",3/8".1/4" DRIVE Ball joint press tools Ball joint separator forks Battery charger(full size shop type) Bench grinder w/ wire wheel Big huge screwdriver which doubles as a pry bar BORE GAUGE Brake spring pliers and retaining spring tool CAM BEARING INSTALLER CAM DEGREE WHEEL CAM HANDLE CARBIDE BURRS CC Buret Kit/PLUS STAND Checking springs chisels (assorted sizes/types) clamp for compressing calipers CLUTCH PILOT Coil spring compressors Compression tester COMMON SENSE CRANK SOCKETS Creeper Crows feet CYLINDER HONE DENT PULLER DEPTH GAUGE Dial indicator, Die grinder Differential Set-up Kit Distributor wrench DRIFT PUNCHES (assorted sizes/types) Drain pans all sizes Dremel tool set to cut rivets etc. DRILL PRESS Drop light (florescent preferred) Dwell meter for the older cars EASY OUTS ELECTRIC SOLDER GUN Electrical tape Engine hoist ENGINE LEVELER ENGINE STAND Feeler Gages FIRE EXTINGUISHER Flexible dwell key for point distributors FREEZE PLUG INSTALLER FUEL PRESSURE GAUGE Full set of assorted hammers all the way up to 5 lb hand held full set of tap and dies metric and standard Full set of torqze tip screw drivers and sockets male and female all sizes Full size vice Gasket scraper Gear Pullers GM disk brake caliper Allen key 3/8 and 5/16 Grease gun Harmonic balancer puller HARMONIC BALLANCER INSTALLER HONING STONE Jack stands and a 2 1/2 -3 ton full size service floor jack JEWELERS FILES LAPTOP COMPUTER Leakdown tester LIFTER BORE HONE LIFTER GROOVE TOOL LUIS TOOL Magnet MAGNETIC PICK UP TOOL MAGNIFYING GLASS MANUAL LUBE PUMP MICROMETERS MIG WELDER Mini Valve Spring Tester MIRROR Multimeter Normal screwdrivers all sizes NUT SPLITTER OIL CAN Oil filter and regular spin on filter wrenches. Oil filter wrench Oil Pump Primers ONE NEW SOLID LIFTER PB BLASTER OIL Pipe cutter PISTON RING COMPRESSOR Piston stop, Pitman arm puller Plasma cutter PLASTIC HAMMER Pneumatic chisel Pneumatic impact guns 3/8 and 1/2 drive Pressure bleeder for brakes PRY BAR PUSHROD CHECKER Putty knife Ramps Rear caliper piston turning tool REFERENCE MANUALS RIFLE CLEANING ROD AND BRUSHES FOR OIL PASSAGES Ring expander pliers RING GAP FILER Rochester idle mixture adjusting tool ROD BOLT GUIDES ROD BOLT STRETCH GAUGE SCAN SOFTWARE Sledge or mall hammer SMALL FLASH LIGHT Snap ring pliers internal and external SPRING COMPRESSOR Standard set of drift pin punches,alignment punches,[censored] and centering punches. Steering column lock plate compressor Steering wheel puller Stethoscope STUD INSTALLER TAPE MEASURE Test light Three or four of every size socket and wrenches Timing light Tire Pressure Gauges TORQUE WRENCH Transmission jack Tubing cutter Tubing flare tool Tubing bender Utility knife VACUUM GAUGE Wire crimper Wheel chocks (keep cars from rolling) GOOD KNOWLEDGEABLE FRIENDS Other things to keep handy -------------------------------------------------- Gasket scraper battery charger Plasma cutter Drill press Allen wrenches 12pt sockets Deep sockets Impact sockets Compressor Retracting extension cord Safety glasses Bench grinder w/ wire wheel Die grinder Wire crimper Valve spring compressor Breaker bar Distributor wrench Taps & dies Oil filter wrench Line wrenches Crows feet Shorty wrenches Tire iron Cutting torch FIRE EXTINGUISHER Throw-away vinyl gloves Plastic zip-lock bags Permanent marker Duct tape Electrical tape Torque wrench Oil pump primer Speed wrench Carburetor stand Tire pressure gauge Compression gauge Sandblaster Paint gun Utility knife Transmission jack Mallet Stethoscope

THE HEAD BOLTS REQUIRE the use of THREAD SEALANT ALSO if your useing aluminum heads don,t forget you need to use OILED steel washers under the bolt heads or on the studs under the nuts to get the correct torque readings On small blocks I normally run the bolt tq up in stages 55lbs then re-torque in sequence to 60lbs then re-torque in sequence to 65 lbs BUT FOLLOW THE CYLINDER HEAD MANUFACTURERS ADVICE ON TQ SETTINGS AND REMEMBER TO DIP THE BOTTOM 3/4ths of the threads into permatex thread sealer if its permatex thread sealer in white can with a dabber in the cap, looks like molasses with a black color /slightly redish tint on white paper your useing the correct sealer youll normally be just fine runing the bolts in to the specific torque settings in stages then waiting a few minutes and going back over them again to make double sure you got them all correctly torqued, many guys recheck the headbolt torque settings & retorque the heads after the cam break-in after the engine cools the first time but thats normally not necessary the first and sometimes MOST important 10% of any job worth doing is making 100% sure you know the correct way to do something and that you havre the correct tools and parts with detailed instructions, yes you can memorize the correct info but if you need the correct sbc TQ values as an example http://www.torquespecs.com/ http://www.2quicknovas.com/torque.html http://www.cobra-replica.co.uk/html/cobra_54.shtml http://rodshack.port5.com/t_torque_big_block.htm http://www.darklair.com/monte/torque_specs.html http://www.gearheadracing.com/Reference/TorqueSpecChevy.htm http://www.summitracing.com/tech/charts_guides/tz_02cht_gds_mprtrq_p.htm http://www.hotrodshack.com/torque_settings.htm its alot easier if youve got referances in your data base

this may help http://www.howstuffworks.com/ignition-system.htm http://auto.howstuffworks.com/ignition-system1.htm http://www.familycar.com/Classroom/ignition.htm http://www.motocross.com/motoprof/moto/secontent/seign/ignprin/ignprin.htm http://www.northwestautorepair.com/ignitionsystem.htm http://www.boyleworks.com/ta400/psp/distcurve.html http://www.chevytalk.com/tech/index.html heres other options http://www.davessmallbodyheis.com/ http://www.msdignition.com/ http://www.proformparts.com/catalog/distributors_GM.html http://www.atlanticspeed.com/store/MSD%20Chevrolet%20Distributors.asp http://www.holley.com/HiOctn/ProdLine/Products/IS/ISD/ISD.html www.performancedistributors.com/gmdui.htm we got plug info! http://www.acdelco.com/html/pi_plugs_ident.htm http://www.atlanticjetsports.com/_techtalk/00000005.htm http://www.ngkspark.com.au/spark_plug_cross_ref_chart_index3.htm http://www.strappe.com/plugs.html http://www.babcox.com/editorial/cm/cm59910.htm http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/techinfo/spark_plugs/partnumberkey.pdf http://www.eric-gorr.com/techarticles/sparkplugs.html http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/engine/plugs.html http://www.tsrsoftware.com/sparkplug.htm http://www.racinghelp.com/read_spark_plugs.html http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/techinfo/spark_plugs/overviewp2.asp http://www.projectbasketcase.com/menus/ignition.html http://www.gofastzone.com/techtips/Spark%20Plugs%20Cross%20Reference/Spark%20Plug%20Cross%20Reference.htm just some info solid core ignition wire and EFI/computer controls don,t always play well together on my 1985 corvette I use TAYLOR 10.4 MM SPIRAL supression ignition wire http://www.taylorcableproducts.com/oem7.html http://www.racenet.net/elec/taylor-thunder-volt.php I have tried several other types, so far all other types cause intermittant problems with the ECU,or the electronic gauges in the dash from RF, I found this out naturally by tring to find what was causeing those weird glitchs in the way the engine ran sometimes, so just keep in mind that solid core ignition wire and computer controlled efi and ignitions don,t always work well together and the problems caused are not allways easy to spot or constant! BUT I can say that the 10.4 mm ignition wire does help immensely in limmiting the RF heres optispark info also http://www.gmhightechperformance.com/tech/0310htp_optispark/ http://www.charm.net/~mchaney/optisprk/optisprk.htm http://www.fierolt1.com/lt1_95_up_OptiReplace.htm http://www.noid.org/~muttvette/opti.html http://www.gulicks.com/vette/projects/opti/index.html http://www.houston-f-body.org/tech/optispark/ http://www.dynotech-eng.com/dynaspark.htm http://www.corvetteclinicinc.com http://www.corvettefever.com/howto/16758

http://www.jdhcon.com/Vette.html http://members.rogers.com/roguevette/ http://www.montygwilliams.com/ this EFI intake will flow a good deal more air and cost less than most other options http://www.fasterdeals.com/garageindex.html

if your going to get those AFR bbc heads ID PERSONALLY buy the 315cc small rectangle port heads or the 290cc oval port heads NOT the smaller 269cc oval port versions,they are currently some of the best on the market http://www.airflowresearch.com/performance/westech_figures.htm

"Then they installed new seats and guides. After pressing in the new guides, they repeated the pressure test. And this time one of the heads failed - in two valve bowls " sounds like they failed to machine the heads correctly for the valve seats and guides, they used,(something thats not hard to do)and cracked the head casting when pressing in the valve seats or guides, CRACKING the heads Michael if your willing to pay all shipping costs Ill donate a set of iron peanut port head cores, but I will tell you right now its basically wasted time and effort. youll be way ahead getting a set of merlin iron heads at $718 each or EDELBROCK aluminum heads at $860 EACH from JEGS OR SUMMIT and don,t think those 305cc rectangle ports are too large... trust me, in a light car with the correct combo the slight loss in low rpm torque is a good thing, and you more than gain that slight loss in low end power back in the upper rpm range if the correct cam, compression,headers, and gearing is used

THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN BE SURE WHAT DOES GO INTO YOUR ENGINE IS TO BUILD IT YOURSELF! I have NEVER dealt with an engine /machine shop that would not substitute cheaper parts or overlook machine work, of forget to check clearances if you let them get away with it, or bill you for partly done work if they thought they could get away with it! trust me on this, YOU NEED TO VERIFY EACH AND EVERY CLEARANCE,WITH YOUR OWN TOOLS/MICS.DEGREE WHEEL,DIAL,INDICATOR,ETC>

for you LT1 guys heres a few things to read over http://phil.tobin.net/Hoover/top.html http://www.h-body.org/people/projects/building_lt1/lt1%20info.html http://www.gmmodernmuscle.com/383/383build.html

The screens under the carburetor or the intake gaskets with the screens in them, are one of those rare instances where it's kind of yes and no deal. at low RPM's the screens do in fact help the breakup of the fuel droplets, which helps the cylinders get a better burn and can very slightly increased your fuel mileage. Provided of course that you can keep the engine below about 2500rpm-3000 rpm, but as the engine RPM's increase, that screen in the intake port or under the carburetor becomes a major restriction, I happened to have seen testing they did, in one of the magazines on those several years back, they picked up three horsepower and 1 mi. per gallon if and only if the driver The engine below 3000 rpm at all times, if the driver drove the car like most of us do would occasionally got 4000- 5000 rpm range he noticed a very large drop in performance almost as if there was a rev-limiter built into the engine. If I remember the article correctly, they tried it on both the 350 Chevrolet and a 454 Chevrolet the 454 Chevrolet with a large rectangular port heads, having much larger cross-sectional port's, was able to pull slightly higher in the rpm range before the restriction took effect, but in both cases the drivers felt there was a net loss not a gain in overall performance, I suppose if you are driving a taxi for a living, picking up an extra mile per gallon and spending most of your time and traffic, it would be a good idea. Not on something totally different on some single plane intakes, people install what they call it turtle, a turtle is basically a lump of carefully shaped metal, in the floor of the plenum, that redirects the airflow, the engine displacement ,the carburetor and the intake itself, plus the port size and cam timing, effect how the pulses from the intake port cross that plenum at different RPM's, if you're familiar with most dual plane intakes you'll notice of the divider wall, below the carburetor, on single plane intakes, that divider wall is normally removed, or very small,Occasionally, you'll find an engine combo on which some cylinders run much richer than others. I have found that making a turtle, which in this case I make out a folded aluminum sheet metal can redirect those pulses, and equalize the flow. the reason I bring this up, is that I normally make that sheet metal turtle from perforated aluminum sheet(screening of a sort) because it tends to break up fuel droplets and re-disperse them better than a solid sheet of aluminum forming a partial divider wall(turtle) in the floor of the plenum

I would seriously suggest that you change the cam choice to a crane 113841 solid lifter cam, a 327 needs to breath in the mid rpm ranges, those other cams are too low in duration, Id also use the VORTEC chevy heads modified for a .550 lift springs and pocket ported, a shim head gasket of no more than .021 and no less than .016 to get the quench correct the vortec heads and cam are both cheaper and a better match to your goals (check clearances carefully on assembly as durring ANY cam install) be sure to get the proper matching intake,vortec valve covers and roller rockers all of which combined still cost less than the EDELBROCK heads and standard intake (especially if you can get the heads from a late model truck in a salvage yard and have the local machine shop install the good springs and do a valve/clearance job KEEP in mind your not locked into that 327, an intire vortec 350 engine from a salvage yard can sometimes be purchased from a late modle wreck for under $500 far less than just the cost of EDELBROCK heads http://sallee-chevrolet.com/Cylinder_Heads/Vortec.html the 327 and vortec heads make a good combo

congrats on getting back to the big PX, what location are you going to settle in? IF FLA stop on bye!

LT1 http://www.witchhunter.com/temp/LT1injectorReplace1.htm L98 http://www.thirdgen.org/newdesign/tech/injectorswap.shtml

http://www.airpartskc.com/catalog-pdf/Page19.htm http://store.yahoo.com/rodi/chmm012.html first coat the cylinders and pistons with marvel mystery oil, loosen all the rockers so no springs or lifters are under tension,if the engine has the cylinder heads bolted on, squirt about 3 teaspoons of marvel mystery oil into the spark plug holes,remove the oil pan and coat the crank and rods with marvel mystery oil, reinstall the oil pan with a minimum of 6 bolts, snug but not tight,buy a can of LPS #3 sprayed over all external surfaces then thread the old spark plogs in to the plug threads finger tight, tape all openings like exhaust ports./intake ports, with duct tape,then, stick the block in a 40 gallon plastic trash bag sealed with duct tape, reseal the block twice more so that you have 3 seperate 40 gallon trash bags over the block each sealled seperately with duct tape. place the engine off the floor on a shelf or on an engine stand (screw the bolts right thu the plastic to mount it) Ive stored engines for over 5 years this way and they come out in perfect condition http://www.northerntool.com/images/product/images/145512_lg.jpg http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=6970&langId=-1&catalogId=4006970&PHOTOS=on&TEST=Y&productId=19976

http://www.scatcrankshafts.com/products02.html http://www.rpmrons.com/Crankshaft%2Cprice.html http://www.racenet.net/eng/manley-rotating.php http://www.dallasexportsales.com/RA434.htm http://schwankeshortblocks.com/id17.htm http://www.primediapowerpages.com/cgi-bin/ePages.storefront/3faec134002c33200000c0a8013a05a5/ePages/Customer/Vanity/easy/competitionproducts http://www.flatlanderracing.com/imports/crankshaft_eaglemenu.html a few places to buy parts

did the new carb CURE the problem????

other option http://www.ondoperformance.com/

first get a fuel pressure gauge, if the fuel pressure exceeds about 6-7 psi or is lower than about 3psi,most carbs can,t handle the pressure, and will run badly. second fuel pressure regulators don,t normally work well UNLESS they are the BYEPASS style with a return line connection third a bad or jammed needle/seat assembly will cause the problem your discribing as will crap in the gas, get a NEW GOOD FUEL FILTER AND NEEDLE SEAT ASSEMBLY INSTALLED,then adjust your FLOAT levels. read this also http://www.bob2000.com/carb.htm http://www.centuryperformance.com/fuel.asp http://www.centuryperformance.com/vacuum.asp

look these over, for other ideas/options http://www.diabolicalperformance.com/diabolical406.html http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/68999/ http://www.wpedirect.com/sportsmanengine.htm http://www.speedomotive.com/newpage6.htm http://www.rlpengines.com/chev-406.htm http://enginenick.50megs.com/81chevette.htm http://www.camaros.net/racing/SBCombo.html http://chevyhiperformance.com/techarticles/90719/ http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/featuredvehicles/67318/

ok, here are the specs: 4-bolt 350 block bored .60 over eagle 3.75" crank eagle 6" h-beam rods wiseco forged flattops with total seal rings--12.5:1 comp. custom ground comp solid roller 251/260 duration @.50 640/653 lift with the 1.6 roller rockers 109 LSA and 106 ICL huge brodix single plane--(main reason for "low" tq??) 750 dominator carb worked over, not sure of cfm (another reason for "low" torque?) dart pro 1 215cc heads ported with 2.05/1.60 valves hooker super comp 1 3/4" headers NOS plate system full msd ignition and 10.4mm taylor wires electric water pump, electric fuel pump, and electric fan the first dyno pull went to 522hp/498tq (FLYWHEEL HP/TQ)today the motor also has stud girdles and a rev kit and i went with all forged internals so i can "spray" the poo-poo out of it. just hope the stock block holds up average torque from 3800-5000rpm is 481, with a peak of 497.8 at 4400rpm. average hp from 3800-6600 is 458, with a peak of 522.4 at 6400. volumetric eff. at peak torque is 107.3 and peak hp is 106.8 and it is between 109-111 in between. and these are corrected numbers

other options,? remember your NOT limited to 454 cid and the cylinder heads compression and cam you choose must match. keeping in mind that the cars trans and the cars rear gearing normally has a huge effect on the RPM range the the engine spends its time in,and that the AVERAGE RPM range the engine opperates in determines the intake and cam that will be most effective and that as the cams duration increases the compression ratio must increase also. http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/techarticles/71298/index7.html http://www.speedomotive.com/650%20HP%20BRACKET%20RACER%20BIG%20BLAOCK%20CHEVY.htm http://www.smithtex.com/BBC/asbbc.html http://www.superchevy-web.com/tech/0307sc_490rat/ http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/96198/ http://www.popularhotrodding.com/enginemasters/0109phrbb/

while your wallet wimpers/screams and begs for mercy in agony? http://www.sallee-chevrolet.com/Sneak/Previews.html