School me on Cams...

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High-Test

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FlyingAGasoline
I'm asking this because I'm really not sure what I'm getting into.

Here's the deal: The cam that was in the 305 that's going into my Biscayne has a worn lobe. The guy who tore down the engine said to look around for a new cam. He said to consider an RV cam. What makes an RV cam better than a regular car cam? I know what a camshaft does, but I don't know what makes one better than another. It seems that as the duration increases, the idle gets rougher and the power and torque curve moves up the rpm range. I looked in the Summit catalog at a Crane energizer 260H, but it said "Brute low end torque." does that mean my motor would act like one in a big truck?

What would work best for a 305 in a 1960 Biscayne?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

(I hope this is an appropriate question for this forum)
 
High-Test
I'm asking this because I'm really not sure what I'm getting into.

Here's the deal: The cam that was in the 305 that's going into my Biscayne has a worn lobe. The guy who tore down the engine said to look around for a new cam. He said to consider an RV cam. What makes an RV cam better than a regular car cam? I know what a camshaft does, but I don't know what makes one better than another. It seems that as the duration increases, the idle gets rougher and the power and torque curve moves up the rpm range. I looked in the Summit catalog at a Crane energizer 260H, but it said "Brute low end torque." does that mean my motor would act like one in a big truck?

What would work best for a 305 in a 1960 Biscayne?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

(I hope this is an appropriate question for this forum)
Click to expand...


What do you want to do with this car? That will dictate what cam you use.

If you are going to run it as a daily driver or just a cruiser then you want to go with a stock like cam for the car. I am sure there are plenty out there. I would just call summit or one of the speciatly catalog companies that may have parts for your car specifically.

If you want to go racing or have a blvd bruiser then go with something more aggressive, but you may have to change other parts of the engine to get it all running properly.

I'm sorry but that's the best advice I can offer you. I have no real world experience with a 305.
 
I wish I can answer your question, but I am not even done with Hotrod class at my school yet. :nervous:

I would follow IMADreamer's advice of buying a new stock cam.
 
I'd like it to have some spunk, as I'd like to be able to have some fun with it.

The 305 will have an Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, Edelbrock 650 cfm elecrtic choke carb, and Hedman Hedders. With all that, pretty much anything would work alright, wouldn't it?


Thanks for the advice, IMA Dreamer. :) 👍
 
The best cam for your 305 is up to your opinion how you want the engine to behave. Cams designed to give outright top end power are tweaked for a longer duration, lift and a larger overlap but this causes lower rev's torque and driveability to suffer. Hence the 'lumping' of the engine at low revs and reduced fuel economy. (This is the great thing about DOHC and Vtec type designs, with their multiprofile and cam phasing systems so you can have best of both worlds)

There are different in between profiles to choose from, you should talk to the dealer of these cams and tell them what modifications you are doing and how you want the engine to behave, and they can recommend the exact profile of cam related to that engine for you.

I have never heard of a RV

A 260 duration cam mild and is great for fuel economy, low end torque and smooth running. No this wont make your engine behave like a truck (we put a similar cam in my dads 350 and its great, good economy and torque) and it wont give you a much of a lumpy idle if thats what your after (like many people are). If you want more I would recommend anything up to 275 (I personally would stick to 270 or below) duration as a rough guide, anything further and its probably too racey for the streets, but like I said your best bet would be to go into a speed shop and talk to the people that deal in these cams. Personally I think on a standard engine a 260 cam is good, but with those mods you probably would want to go alittle futher.
 
Longer lobes means more perfomance beceause it pushes the cam open for longer, letting more air/fuel in. You'd probably want to go for something like that. Of course, it'd also help to change your air-fuel ratio too.
 
Thanks, VIPERGTSR01. 👍

So.. maybe a tiny bit past 270 to 272 or 274, considering the stuff I have?

Would a 274 get good mileage?

I'm not after lumpy, I just want it to run good and make the best of what we are installing on it. You said stick under 270, so maybe a 268?
 
High-Test
Thanks, VIPERGTSR01. 👍

So.. maybe a tiny bit past 270 to 272 or 274, considering the stuff I have?

Would a 274 get good mileage?

I'm not after lumpy, I just want it to run good and make the best of what we are installing on it. You said stick under 270, so maybe a 268?
Click to expand...


I haven't had alot of personal experience with cams past 265 so I personally was thinking around 270-275max but just now after checking Crow Cams Australia it seems for your setup with improved carburation and exhaust I would be leaning more towards a 275-280 duration cam which should still be reasonable with fuel economy and still has great mid range power.

I just went straight to Crow cams site as I know they have a good reputation and I found a nice page for recommendations.

http://www.crowcams.com.au/templates/Catalogue-ChevSB.shtml

Personally I like the sound of the 280 (intake) 280 (exhaust) profile cam, says "Designed to give maximum performance and driveability in street modified engines", sounds like a great in-between, but you may want to go more agressive.
 
Hmm.. I think I'll go with a 270, as it both seems to put out good power and torque, while getting good fuel economy.

Hey, Crane 270H with lifters for 119.95! Not bad!

Thanks for the input.👍
 
High-Test
Hmm.. I think I'll go with a 270, as it both seems to put out good power and torque, while getting good fuel economy.

Hey, Crane 270H with lifters for 119.95! Not bad!

Thanks for the input.👍
Click to expand...
No worrys

Yeah 270 should be great, have fun. :)
 
I went with a 266, as I wanted more than a 260, but I wanted some of a 260's low end torque. I liked both the 260 and 270 equally, so I met in the middle. :dopey:

Crane Energizer 266H with lifters for 119.95 at Summit Racing. :dopey: 👍
 

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