How did you choose your cam and intake?

[blazerboy_4life]

Im going to be replacing a cast intake and factory cam on a 350 that is currently bored .040 over. Its going in a70' 2wd Shortbox. So what do you Choose for a good intake and why? I wont be pulling much now but plans are for a decent sized boat in the near future. Gear ratio is 3.73 and trans is currently a th350 but plans are for an overdrive like a 700r4. Oh and Im on a budget. The cheaper the better obviously but I dont want to use cheapo stuff. So what is it... Torquer, performer, highrise, Weind, edelbrock...? As for the cam i want it a little lumpy but not much. Just enough to hear it when shes runnin. I will also be running stock heads Thanks in advance guys.

[cableguy0]

It sounds like your looking at something like the xe256 from comp or the lunati voodoo 60101. Both cams will make a boatload of torque. Have good street manners and also have a bit of a lumpy idle. Dont expect it to sound like a race car but it will have a bit of a noticeable idle. I prefer the edelbrock performer rpm over the performer even in a low rpm application. The performer rpm make much better mid range and top end power.

[Psycho71]

I just did a build on the engine for my burb. I used the XE 256 that cableguy referenced above, and a professional products Typhoon intake (performer rpm knockoff). My CR should come out to about 9.5:1 with the heads I'm running. I also installed a 1" 4-hole spacer under the Holley. Not a mountain motor by any means, just something a bit more than stock to help turn some larger tires on a heavy arsed ol burb. I'm looking for low to midrange, more for the midrange, since I am running a TH400 (1:1 final drive) with no future plans to change. Looking to be at least on the lower end of the cam's rpm range (2500-5500 I think) when at cruising speed on the hwy. In the end, tire size and diff gearing will be fine tuned to get me where I want to be RPM-wise. And being a 4x4 with a reduction at the transfer case, I don't see an issue getting the rpm's to that range while offroading.

Two of the main considerations I made in selecting the cam was what converter I was going to run, and how big a cam my heads would flow. The converter in mine was always planned to be a low stall HD unit, to keep heat down while crawling around off-road. So the cam's idle characteristics were an important factor. And my heads won't flow much more, if any, cam that the XE256 anyway. So it was an obvious choice for me.

I have only run my engine on a stand so far, and like Cableguy said, it has a noticeable idle through the 40 series flows that I hooked to it. Sounds fairly choppy when cold, then smooths out a bit as the temps come up. But still, there's no doubt there's a little bit of a cam in it. As with all engines on a stand (no load), it rev's great and sounds awesome. Will know more in a week or so when in the burb and running down the road.

That's what I chose, and why. We'll see how it all works out in the end.

BTW, Cableguy.. Just noticed your location..I have a project coming up in Walkersville, MD in a few weeks. Was up there two weeks ago visiting the site. Where are the good fishin holes up that way?

[Tx Firefighter]

I like the Edelbrock Performer intake and Comp 268 High Energy cam for torque applications like yours.

[68_chop_top]

I run a XE256 in my old burb also. I have run the XE268 in my 327 68 chop top. Comp makes a XE262 that may be just right for your application.
The intakes are close to the same in my opinion. My burb uses a Wieand Stealth and the 327 runs a Performer. I didn't like the air gap. Most definitely run a four hole 1" spacer.

[blazerboy_4life]

Originally Posted by 68_chop_top

I run a XE256 in my old burb also. I have run the XE268 in my 327 68 chop top. Comp makes a XE262 that may be just right for your application.
The intakes are close to the same in my opinion. My burb uses a Wieand Stealth and the 327 runs a Performer. I didn't like the air gap. Most definitely run a four hole 1" spacer.

Why didnt you like the air gap? That one was at the top of my list but it looks like you need vortec heads to run it. is that right?

[60ratrod]

not really. alot of people that have/had airgap intakes found that the carb stays too cold in the winter which will lead to icing of the carb. having vortec heads doesn't matter since edelbrock makes the airgap for both old school and vortec heads. its how they run in the cold, like there in SD. personally i like the weiand over the performer rpm, but then again i have really only ran performers and performer eps intakes from edelbrock. but the weiand stealth that is on my 60 did really well and from what i have been told by a few hotrodders and engine builders that the stealth is by far one of the best street intakes that you can get, and with how the one on my 60 performed i believe them.

[swb85]

Originally Posted by 60ratrod

not really. alot of people that have/had airgap intakes found that the carb stays too cold in the winter which will lead to icing of the carb.

I run a RPM air-gap intake on my DD with a 1" phenolic carb spacer. I've never had problems with the carb icing, and it gets to 10 below zero in the winter here. Sure it requires more choke when it's that cold, but that's to be expected.

[blazerboy_4life]

Well I just picked up an Edelbrock Performer RPM intake for $95. Seems like a good deal. Now I just have to decide on a cam.

[cdowns]

to choose a cam i always have spent quite a bit of time talkin to the tech lines of different cam manufacturers to find what is best suited for my application

[Ticker]

Choosing an intake is fairly straightforward; choosing a cam is more involved.

Unless you're seeking max horsepower at high RPM, you want a dual-plane high-profile intake like the Performer RPM - period. The only reason to vary from this is hood clearance.

Cam choice starts with knowing a few key pieces of information: head flow and where in the RPM range you want to make power.

Flow tells you what lift range you should be looking at - there's no reason to lift higher than what the heads will flow...this just leads to a dog as you end up with longer effective duration which leads to loss of intake velocity at higher RPM. So you look at the flow numbers for the head, and where they level out is the "sweet spot" for lift.

The ICL, duration, etc. are all more about where in the RPM range you want to make power - the important thing is to know this. There's nothing worse than a cam set up to make max power at 6,000 RPM...in a truck with 2.73 and a TH350.

I should write a cam selection FAQ...but it would probably never get sticky'd

[gimmy 64]

i went with an edelbrock 2102 cam and performer intake. heads are nothing fancy-882's edelbrock carb just because they were made for each other. runs good from off idle to how ever much rpm's you care to run.you can tell you have a cam at idle but still has plenty of vacume.

[81ShrtBox]

I went with a mild cam listening to everybody. I put a LT4 Hot Cam in my Vortec/Shortbox. It sounded OK, I'm used to having all eyes on me so it has to GO. Going back to my plan "A".. a big nasty roller with single chamber race mufflers

[60ratrod]

generally like most said the cam is the important thing. one thing i try to do is match the powerband of the cam to the power band of the intake. but one thing to consider is the tighter the lsa/lca, the more lope you are going to get. the wider the lsa/lca the smoother the idle. but the xe256 should work great for you. me i am going to be running a lunati 503a1lun in my tpi. the powerband is very similar to what the stock tpi powerband is and i am having my heads cut to fit the .492 lift that the cam has. but what ever you choose make sure that your heads can take it. otherwise you are going to have to have either offset valve locks/have the guides cut to clear the lift. and make sure to use the recommended spring/retainer that comp recommends

[lsp1369]

im going to be running a comp xe256 with edelbrock performer on stock heads. not sure what my gear ratio is yet.. but im probably going to go with 3.42 so i can get some mileage out here on the freeway.. this is going in a 73 lwb with a +.040 350/th400 and a 12-bolt.

[blazerboy_4life]

Originally Posted by lsp1369

im going to be running a comp xe256 with edelbrock performer on stock heads. not sure what my gear ratio is yet.. but im probably going to go with 3.42 so i can get some mileage out here on the freeway.. this is going in a 73 lwb with a +.040 350/th400 and a 12-bolt.

So you didnt do anything at all to the heads to keep up with the new intake and cam?

[lsp1369]

No.. not yet. I'm probably going to upgrade to aluminum later on down the road.. so I didnt want to put that much money into the heads right now..
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[blazerboy_4life]

Does anybody running the xe256 have a video of their engine running? Im curious to see how that cam sounds...
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[81ShrtBox]

I like this one

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hulRc1IzllI