The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop what cam for a good muscle car sound

do you think this cam is enough to give me a slight lopey exhaust note that everyone loves so much?

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=SUM%2DK1103&autoview=sku

I am just doing a budget build on the 305 that i have for now, I really want a big block later, so i m trying not to spend too much on the little one. I just do not want a stock sounding idle.

That cam will be fairly aggressive in a 305. Maybe too aggressive depending on what you're used to and what you're looking for. Post more info on your combo. Weight of vehicle, what trany, rear gears, the rest of your engine combo info, and how you plan on using the vehicle.

Like Kevis says, 280 degrees of advertised duration is a lot of cam for a 305. Are you planning on using full length hedders, cylinder head work (screw in studs, springs a little port work), manual transmission or an automatic with at least 2800 rpm stall, plus some carburetion (at least 700cfm)? Remember that a larger cam will be more pronounced with less displacement. I switched from a 280 comp cam to a 284 extreme energy cam when I built my 383. If I stayed in the 350-355 displacement range I probably would have opted to use a 280 comp cam. Probably a 260-268 comp cam would be more to what you're after. You can maintain the dual plane intake manifold, don't have to mess with the heads, can probably use an off the rack Q-jet carb and don't have to mess with timing curves. Take a look at the engine in my signature. I can use all of that cam you want to install and that motor has more displacement. I maintain 16 inches of vacuum at idle, out of gear using an 830 holley chokeless race carb with 4 corner idle and the alum cylnder heads have a standard race port from Air flow Research with 2.05 intakes and 1.60 exhaust. Another option would be to just throw the stock 305 in and put more dollars towards your big block.

it is going into a 64 c10, not sure of the vehicile weight on the truck. it will be a 305 with flat tops and the 58cc HO heads. 600 holley 4bbl, tranny will be a 700r4 running the stock 12bolt rear as long as i can, or until i find a good camaro disk brake posi unit. I can get a vacuum canister if i have to to help run the power brakes if the idle is too rough.
The truck will mainly be a weekend cruiser, and short runs to the local cars shows. I want it to sound like its a real beast under the hood even though its just a 305. My previous daily driver was a '94 camaro lt1 , i forget what cam it had in it , but it would make ya moist just hearing it =)

That "lopy" sound is technically a bad thing. It means all of your components, cam, intake, carb and heads are not working together efficiently.
Just so you know,
Scott

a lot of folks over cam...........

I'd probably step back to one of the 204/214 @ .050 cams Summit has for a 305 with an automatic, unless you plan on running an aftermarket converter with a higher stall, it will still be an aggressive sounding cam for a 305. The power gain you'd see with the larger cam would mostly be over 5500 RPM, which you'd spend very little time at running on the street. The loss of torque on the little 305 would probably slow it down. Whatever cam you pick make sure you have enough valve spring to accomidate the lift.

If you want the radical sound and aren't concerned with overall performance, go with even more duration IMO, but be aware that even with the cam you're currently considering, a stock torque converter is a bad choice. You will be constantly on the brake and tweaking the carb to get it to idle when the vehicle is stopped in gear. With a 305, that cam will have even more problems on the stock torque converter than say a 350. Kevin is right with stepping back in that case, but your bad-boy idle will not be there.
Cheers,
MV

Bigpoppa, sent you a PM

You can have your idle and good drivability at the same time, by doing what others here had said, and be a little conservative on the cam...SUM-K1102, Advertised Duration 262/ 272, Lift .420/ .442, 204 214 dur @ .050. That would be as big as I would go for drivability, but that doesn't mean you can't go big on the exhaust. Go with some larger pipes, 2 1/2" at least, and some really low restrictive mufflers (if any) and turndowns. That will get you noticed, and you might even still have the power (with the smaller cam = more low torque) to spin the tires when you leave the cruise-in.

does anyone know the stats on the stock roller cam that is in the 305 in 1991 ? I was told it is only like a .335 lift dont remember the duration. I might just save my money and leave the stocker in it for now and just get the good exhaust with some flowmaster 40's on it. that should sound decent. at least until i can locate a big block to swap in. 396 or 454 any day over the 305 =) I just need to get it running, the wife dont think i can do it, so she said if i get it running that we might be able to increase my truck budget =)

I have no idea what the stock specs for that engine would be. Most of the stock late 80's early 90's sbc's I've had experience with were not big on power. But if the goal is to just get it running I say, just get it running. Then tune it the best you can to get the most out of what its got. I'm guessing its only making in the low 200's, maybe 250 hp. It should still have a nice seat of the pants feel with the low end torque of even a small V8.

The nice thing about sbc's is that you can buy speed parts for furture builds that will work on the future engine. You might even want to go with a small block in the future, the vehicle should handle better with less weight in the nose. Keep in mind it isn't hard to build a big cube sbc these days. 427 cid out of a sb is no big deal now. There are 470+ cid sbc's now! And there are heads and intakes that will flow enough air to support that many cubes that aren't that expensive. If you put money into headers and exhaust for the 305 now, you could use the same headers and exhaust system on your big cube sbc when its done. Same goes for the intake, ignition, etc... The only thing you really need to keep an eye out for is Vortech versus non-Vortec heads and accessories.

Its alot of fun to dream about speed equipment but running is much better than not running too.

www.cranecams.com

www.compcams.com

ask the pro's who make them.

1991 305 was not a performance engine. Cam specs were: Don't know what he base or advertized duration was, but that's a poor comparison bar anyway, since it can be measured at anywhere from .002 to .006 tappet lift, depending on the company calling out the spec. Dur. @ 0.050 is a much bater way to compare cams, IMO. Spec for the 305:
178/194 deg @ .050, .350"/.385" lift assuming stock 1.5 rocker ratio. 109* lobe seperation installed at 112* intake centerline.
That was the same as the 4.3 V6 of that vintage.
MV

One other thing. If you want to hear some really nasty (radical) cams, try listening to NHRA Super Stock racers, and not far behind that are the restrictor plate NASCAR engines. Both will get your pulse up. Some of the SS grinds are .800+ lift and 270+* dur @ 0.050.
Definitely not for the street, but they make sweet music.
mv

Have the SUM-K1102 in my basically stock '72 350 with Edelbrock 1405 carb, Performer EPS manifold and headers. Not lopy but has good throttle response and good vacuum. Very reliable and sounds good with glass pack mufflers. Don't overcam it just to have a lopy sound without good driveability.

when somebody says its got a 488 cam what do they mean b/c my 355sbc has a 488 cam an it hits hard its got a 750 dual line holly headers mufflers i dont like.idk bout the heads or the intake but its a very fast car its pretty light weight 69 firebird the bad lots of tire spin:[

Competition Cams make cams called "Thumper"I think 3 are made for SBC,check out their website

I'm with bigpoppa on his idea of a "drive-in" cam. An agressive idle is a good thing if you can stand the problems with no low end power, etc. If an engine lopes it does not always mean it's not working properly, it can be the result of cam overlap, carb adjustment, etc. But you have to admit it has WOW factor when idling around the drive-in or where the hot rodders hang out. The more displacement, the smoother an engine will idle. I had a cam in a 265 that was really radical, but when I put it in a 400 it almost sounded stock.

A generic rule of thumb that some use is for every 50 inches of displacement add or subtract 10 degrees of of duration at .050 to get similar manners. Or you could say add or subtract 1 degree of duration at .050 for every 5 cubic inches of difference in displacement.

Of course, there are a lot of other variables that impact that. Thats why its a generic rule of thumb.