High Performance 383 :) :)

[78' Silverado]

Well heres the story, We got our block in a bag rigth now. But will be buying cam-lifters in a few days. I was going to use my firnds old cam from his 383 stroker...I ahve seen it in action and i love. But....his motor blew last night when he tryed useing he 500 shot on Nitrous lol. So now we gotta get a brand new cam. Heres my thing, this is my firned High performance engine. And I kno cam is pretty much the hearth of it. I dont wnat ot mess up here. I need yall opinions on wat real radical cam for this engine. I want it to have GREAT off the line power w/ good mid-range power. It will be a rollor cam, w/ AFR 210cc heads, noraml HP Carb from Holley, w/ a Performer RPM Intake. Has summit 383 Crank, 6" Scat Rod, and Keith Black Sig. Series Hyper Postons. Hopeing to make over 400+ hp and maybe 500 TQ Will be runing a fair amount of Nitrous as well. But anyways, be it this is my first engine. I wanan include yall on wat cam would be good for this set up. This is a drag truck only lool...will se no street. So in advance thx alot for helpin me pick one out

FYI *I kno theres alot of typos lol....its cold in my room lol*

[TIMSPEED]

imho those 210's are going to be a BIT overkill. I would rather get the Pro Topline 180cc's, they flow damn near equal to the AFR 190's and they have a small chamber which means more torque...with the additional cubic inches though, you might be ok to run those 210's.

[low 84]

180's are way to small for a strip oriented 383, they will choke it. those 210's will work great on a strip motor you will need alot of compression a big cam, low gears and a high stall. really can't go about recomending cams until you figure out what your compression will be with those heads and the pistons you have

[Tom]

Originally posted by TIMSPEED
they have a small chamber which means more torque

I think you mean a smaller intake runner, not combustion chamber Tims right though, your looking for off the line torque and mid range power and not top end, so the 210cc intakes are too much. They will hurt your low end. Vortecs would actually be perfect for what you want BUT you said AFR210's so a good cam to match that would be about 220/225@.050 duration. Your not going to get huge bottem end with this but mid range will be great and top end still really good. Hopfully the stroke will make up for some of the lost low end.

[low 84]

yikes, he said a strip truck with a radical idle, a 220/225 cam will sound very mild in there and wont take advantage of those heads at all.

[78' Silverado]

We will be looking for about 10:1 compression. The do have 195cc heads at AFR as well. I might give them a call and see wat htey recommend on a cam. Might just go that route. Any more suggestions guys? I may call Comp and Crane cams for there opinions, but I want yalls first and....I dont relaly like dealing w/ tech support guys HAHA.

[phantom dually]

I would try the Lunati bracket racer cam part # 0012lk.

[low 84]

have you bought the pistons yet? i would go with more compression than 10:1. you really need to run a good size cam if you want this thing to take advantage of the heads and in order to run a larger cam (which will have a later closing intake valve) you need higher compression to support it. running a big cam with low cr is what makes a doggy low end. i would run 11:1 or more. and don't listen to peoply telling you you can't run that on pump gas, it all has to do with matching your cam to your compression. bigjim on here is running like 12:1 or something with IRON heads and a good size cam and his truck is one of the quicker ones on the board.

[phantom dually]

I agree with the higher compression as it is only a drag truck!!

[1FaastC10]

Originally posted by phantom dually
I agree with the higher compression as it is only a drag truck!!

regardless of if its a drag truck or a quick street truck, higher compression and a big cam will make a huge difference in power. and even with 12:1 CR if you've got a big enough cam you can still safely run on pump gas.

[SCOTI]

Also, don't mess w/a hydraulic if it's strip only. Get a solid cam that has the profile to support nitrous (since your intention is to use N2O) & for a strip motor that will use 'juice', skip the Perf RPM & go for the Victor Jr. Oh yeah, forged pistons as well.

[AirMale]

Hypereutectic pistons+N20=disaster.
Pop for some SRP pistons and stay with a 195cc intake runner for higher torque.

[Tom]

Originally posted by 78' Silverado
I want it to have GREAT off the line power w/ good mid-range power.

Guys, if he wants great off the line then the big heads and big cam wont do it.

[1FaastC10]

you're right Tom, drag cars use big cams and heads. and you know they dont have any power out of the hole.

[78' Silverado]

Yea the 10:1 CR was off the Jegs site. I missed placed the info on the pistons. Jegs said it was 10:1 w/ 78cc heads. We alreayd got the pistons and rods and crank and all that put together on the block so yea we wont be buying new pistons. And jsut b/c there not Forged does not mean i cant run nitrous lol. Just not a big shot. They will hold jsut fine on a small shot. So work with 10:1 . I want the baddest cam you can find for my CR. This is my first engine btw so some of the things taht yall already kno about i didnt kno. ie: How high my CR should be how big of cam and all that stuff. I am not looking to run 12's lol...Just lookin to turn some heads. I believe I can hit low 14's high 13's w/ this engine, and I kno it possible. Thx alot fo teh info so far guys. Keep it comming

[SCOTI]

Since you keep repeating the fact that your intention is to run N2O, go to each cam manufacturer & check their recommendations for nitrous applications in a 383 w/a 10.1 comp ratio. There is no 'magical' cam. Do your homework.....

[Tom]

Originally posted by 1FaastC10
you're right Tom, drag cars use big cams and heads. and you know they dont have any power out of the hole.

No, they don't have any low end power at all. Thats why they have huge gears in the rear and torque convertors that flash up to thousands of RPM *rolls eyes even bigger* Thats called properly matching components. Using big cams and heads to make low RPM power is not