is this an ok cam?

[Guest]

hey all. i have this 455 that's going into my 77 cutlass. i'm going to put a performer intake, and a new cam in it first. is this cam going to be decent for that big motor you think? i really want that rough idle, and i will be putting a stall converter on. what stall do you think would be good for this cam? here's the url: http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=26954&from=MG

[rocketraider]

You need to match the cam's RPM range to the intake's RPM range. I think the cam you're looking at will work OK with a Performer intake but I'd go with Edelbrock's matched cam and intake set if you want the Performer. It's easy to go too big and the car turn out to be a dog on the street. Plus, if you don't up the compression, that big cam will actually drop overall compression due to valve overlap and seriously hurt performance.

With a heavy car like a 77 Cutlass, you need a torque cam more than you do raw horsepower for street driving. I'd bet that car has some really tall gears in it too which will negate a hard-hitting cam.

Decide what you want this car to do. A 3000-7000 rpm cam is not going to do any good on the street with tall gears. Look at something in the 2000-5000 rpm range. use a 2600 rpm stall and maybe some 3.23-3.42 gearing and you'll have a respectable street performer.

www.realoldspower.com is where the hardcore Olds racers hang out. They can tell you what works and what doesn't.

[Guest]

that cam says 1800-5500 i beleive. the intake was 1500-5000 i think.

[Sgt Art]

I used Crane's # 803902 bought it through Jeg's catalog with an Edelbrock Performer. It's advertised to work well in the 1500 to 5500 RPM range which is about all I ever expect to do.