Need help picking a cam for my BB

[1970 CST Short Wide]

The time has finally come to build the BB for my truck. I'm not going radical just good and strong. 9:1, closed chamber heads, headers, good intake manifold.

What cam are you guys with BB's running. I'm hearing 280-290 duration and up to .600 lift. Is this too much??
I want a bit of a rumble but not real ruff


HELP

[kwmech]

That sounds a little large to me, I would recommend around a 268 or 272 range in the duration and about .500 lift. I have always preferred the Crane cams myself

[Olden Days]

I have a book by HP that I bought back in the 70's Called How to hotrod a big block. If you can find that book it has a lot of good stuff. Anyhoo it says anymore lift than somewhere around .540 or 560 without notched pistons is taking a chance of kissing. I went with a sig erson 510 lift and 280 duration and that was a real stump puller with a mild lope, very streetable. Bottom line for bigblocks on the street is "short" duration and lots of lift.

[67shortie]

Well, if you have a stock converter, and want it to keep a daily driven attitude I would not go over anything with a .520 lift, 280 duration and keep the lobe centers over 110. You could get away with a split duration cam for a little more rpm's (more lift/duration on the EX) but to build torque I would stick with a single pattern cam. Lunati makes a nice line in their 'bracket master' line, check them out.

A Comp 270 would be a good choice, a XE268 Comp would also be a good choice. The XE line of cams build compression, and with your 9-1 ratio you may need that the bigger you go. If you are open to a solid cam, a XS278 would work pretty well also. Talk with a cam guy at Comp/Crane/Lunati for best results.

For compairson I run a Ultradyne .630 lift solid with 288/.296 .255/.263@.050 on a 110 lobe center in my 427. It does not want to operate the power brakes very well, idles in gear at near 1000 (very rough), AND demands a 3000+ stall converter for best results. Not what I would recommend for anything that has to do with daily ride.

[1970 CST Short Wide]

Thanks all. I should have mentioned I am staying with the stock converter. The comp 270 does sound good, I'll look into it more

Any More suggestion???

[71402BB]

I had my 402 in the shop about this time last year getting finished up. I put in a comp cams xe268 and have been very happy with it! It was reccomended to me by another board member (can't remember the board name) but pretty sure the first name was mike... Anyway I really like it and have been very happy with the way is proforms and sounds! lots of "off the line" torque, with a mild lope at idle!

[stepside454]

70 CST what size BB? what gear ?

[1970 CST Short Wide]

Setpside454
Its a 454 - Ford 9 inch posi and 3:50 gears

[stepside454]

with a stock convertor, Id use the Edelbrock Performer
218/228 @ .050 500/500 114 LSA

[Perchjerker]

RV cam all the way

[Razor454]

In my 454 I am running Comp cams XE262, it has 218 Int. 224 Exh. @ .050, with a gross valve lift at .510. Good mild cam that will not effect your power systems (brakes, steering..etc.).

[Orence1]

Had my 402 completely gone through. Lots of head work so am running 9:3-1 compression. Chose the Crane Engergizer at 272 and .505. Very happy with it. Idles well but has an attitude. Tons of torque. I chose to stay with the 3:07 gears so had to keep the numbers down on the converter. Ended up with a Hughes converter with a stall range of 1600-2000. I am also running a Edelbrock Performer dual plane manifold. I am a street cruiser and not a racer. Wanted to be very streetable and chose the components for that purpose. Very happy with the way things went together and the results. Only change I may make is to move up to a rear end ratio in the 3:50 range just for a bit more punch. Good luck.
Larry

[gmtruck71]

My k -10 is 454. .030 over. Comp cams XE 268. edelbrock performer 780 holley. Just enough rump to notice its there. In this truck with the 3.73 posi it is a screamer.

[Jeff M.]

I'm running the Lunati Bracket cam in mine. 230/230 @.050 with .512 lift. Vaccum isn't too bad.....9" at idle @ 800 rpm. It's really not too good for a daily driver and I lost about 3-4 mpg too stepping up from a 218/228 with .500 Summit cam. But it woke her up.........

[Johns70]

70 cst you asked about mine the other day it is a crane energizer 282 dur with 530 lift with a 2500 stall,it has a very troaty sound and rumble to it but a little too high of a rpm range thats one of the keys to the right cam choice. before this one in my engine now i had a crane energizer 272 dur. with 515 lift and 2000 stall, i felt it seemed to work better with my engine combo{check my for sale post for engine specs}and 3.73 gears.but i'm runnin just a little 402 and that 454 should be able to take a little more cam because of more cubes. good luck on the cam choice lots to choose from. you could always call comp or crane and give them your specs for a recomodation, i bet they will suggest around a 268 to 272 dur with a dual pattern cam. good luck i like your color choice.

[butter]

TTT

[1970 CST Short Wide]

Johns70
Yea I thought you might like the color. Thank you all for ALL the great info. Your right there is a lot to chose from and I what to get the right one the 1st time. I dont want to be changing the cam after its all new and in the truck.

Thanks again. I'd still like to hear from guys who run 454's and hear what cam your running and how it works for you.

[70cst]

I have a 70 402BB and after trying a couple cams I ended up with Lunati # 06204.

Valve lift Int. .500 Ext .500/ Lobe Lift .294/.294 DUR 260
I'm trying to read the info off the box so I think I've read corectly. I also ahve factory A/C with Auto. This cam has worked out great. I tried Comp but it was way to wild but this Lunati cam had the best spec's that I was looking for. I wanted just a mild rumble. I also am running Thorley headers. This cam # was given to me by a guy who use to do a lot of Street Roddin. It has been a good choice.
Just someting else to think about.

[metalman]

i am running a Summit cam in my 402. i put it in years ago when my friend still owned the truck.
it is very comparable to what some others here are running.
it has a slighty noticable idle to it. It is a very streetable cam. Brakes and all that fine, stock converter etc.......
Part # SUM- K1301
it is .500 lift and 218/228 duration @ .050

comes with cam, lifters and lube. $82.95

I am also running a Weiand intake and the Summit brand headers along with it. Besides needing a rebuild( lots of blow by out the valve covers) it still runs great and feels good.

But yeah you should be able to go slightly bigger with a 454 and still remain streetable.
As an example i had some cam in my .060 over 350(i think it was .465 lift and 224 duration summit cam) and you could barely hear it, slapped into my brothers 283 and had a very noticable lope to it.

[70cst]

Sooooooo...1970 CST Short Wide
Are you any closer to selcting a cam??? Sometimes it's tough trying to select the best cam for your truck. It took me more than once to get the best set up. Good Luck!!

[1970 CST Short Wide]

70cst
Yes and no, I dont know . I'm going to start the rest of the build and select a cam later.