I originally posted this in Race 400/430/455 but nobody wanted to reply. I'm picking up a '70 455/TH400 for use in my '66 GS. I'm going to do a basic rebuild on the bottom end, but need to know what heads/cam to go with. I'll be running a 3500-3800 stall auto, 3.42s or 3.55s and stock weight. I'll be keeping the AC, how much cam can I run? I'm thinking 240@.050 and .500 lift at the most. I'm looking for low 11s out of the car. I may run a bigger converter if need be, I'll be using the car for track and street racing, and must be able to drive to the track(approx 60 miles each way). I was looking at the Stage 1TE heads from TA, but would like to hear from you guys first. Thanks, Artie
You should be OK WITH A .240 as long as your moter is tight, with the TA heads you will want to use the cam they recommend and it will problably be a lot more lift then .500 lift due to the better flow of the aluminum heads. also you may need to go with roller rockers. i think you will need around 11 to 1 commpression to get it to launch hard and be making h/p past 6000 rpm to get deep in the 11's
With those gears and a full weight car, I would go with a ported aluminum stage 1 or 2 head, and keep the cam toward the smaller side. Maybe a TA413 or slightly smaller? Work the heads good to get the HP you need. A small solid cam might work even better... maybe a 210S? I have a feeling with a 240 degree hydraulic (intake @.050") you might need deeper gears. ________ IOLITE VAPORIZER LOWEST PRICE
Joe is correct on the gears, you really have to watch the durratoin and gear combo, i would think with the 355 gears you will not be in the upper rpm's enough to take advantage of the high rpm h/p of a .240 cam. the 413 cam is designed for iron heads, they have cams with lower durations and higher lift for the aluminum heads, you need to match the lift with the flow of the heads, and then enough duration to get the job done. Dave or Tom at TA will be the ones i would decide what cam i need, they have tested them and have taken the guess work out for us. I dont know, if you had a good set of iron heads that were taking complete advantage of the 413 cam, that if you just slapped on aluminum heads you would see much gain in power????? just my 2 cents.
I could be wrong, but I wouldn't write off a split pattern cam right away. It's a good way to get a small intake duration to build torque and still have the overlap to make power, even with heads that have the correct flow ratio between intake and exhaust. That, and it will help with running a full exhaust system. I wouldn't go over 10 degrees overlap, but I don't see a problem with using a cam that has 10 degrees or less for that specific reason. Like Kelly said- get a cam ground that is equal to or slightly more lift than what your heads flow numbers peak out at, and then find the correct duration to go with your compression and RPM requirements. With good heads you can run more of a torque cam to get your full weight car with smaller gears out of the hole better. ________ Sexual dysfunction advice
