Guys: I need help choosing a cam for my 350. It is 1970 2 BL with 9:1 comp. I picked up a factory 4BL unit and have sent a 750 Quad to Osborne for modification. Based on the following, what would be my best bet? Car - 1973 Apollo approx 3200 lbs Perfomance dual exhaust Switch to a 3:55 or 3:73 rear gear Recurved stock HEI distributor Ported Stock ex manifolds Stock Heads - Unported. Transmission - Stock TH350 Primary use - Flogging it at the track. Any Suggestions. TA vs. Poston? Thanks
upgrades Hi Dave. Most of the guys on the board go with TA. I used Poston with my rebuild. Not enough research on my part. I did'nt know about TA. I say either one would be fine though. TA's got a web site you can check out. TAPerformance.com. You will have to call Poston 1-800-635-9781. Either one has just about everything you could want. Intakes, headers, exhaust systems,etc. Give them a call they can tell you what you need.
350 parts Hi David , most of the guys on the board will tell you TA or Postons. Either one is a good company but I think TA has the better intake from what I've read here on the board . As far as cam choice I personally like the TA 212 due to the fact my car is a daily driver. With your gearing changes you have in mind I would think you might benefit from TA's TA310 or possibly even better might be the TA 290-94H Lift(1.55) In. .476 Exh. .486 Dur.@.050 I 226 E 235 with a 110* lobe center. Sounds like a good cam for a 2600 or 2800 RPM stall convertor and 3.42 or 3.73 gears. Probably not that great on gas mileage but a lot of fun at the stop light and the track on the weekends.:TU:sounds like it might have a little less vaccum for brakes and more mid-range than what the TA 212 has. I've been curious about this one myself. o No: one thing though to remember is a bigger cam won't do you much good if the rest of the engine can't breath better also; meaning a good valve job and appropriate springs for bigger cam(very important) or some mild port work , bowl blending and gasket matching your heads and intake manifold.You will also want to make sure you have the compression to support a bigger cam or it could be a dog out of the hole. It just depends how far you want to go. But as far as money goes , for starters get the tune right , then headers or intake so it can breath and exhale better .Good luck and have fun!:laugh:
Thanks Thanks for the replies! Jeff: I am trying to spend as little on this car as possible so an aluminum intake isn't an option. I'm restoring my GS, so I am too busy shoveling mortgage payments into that to afford nice 350 parts. As far as headers go, unfortunately noone offers them for this application. Ported manifolds is the best I can do. A leakdown test will determine if I have a valve job done or not. If I need to put new rings in, then I'll probably monkey with the heads. (and I do mean "monkey")
headers keep an eye on the parts for sale and put a listing in the parts wanted section of this site and you'll be surprised what you can come uip with. as far as headers go , postons or ta performance has some for around $260 or $280. Still not cheap but even cheaper is a good tune-up and some head milling with a good performance three angle valve job . Just some other ideas. I know it's not easy building HP on a budget as I've been working on my project for three or four years now. But I look at the end result and not all the things I have left to do. Just do what you can with what you have now and then plan for the next "most bang for your buck"option and just keep going from there.Hang in there because with these buicks a little tweeking goes a long way!:TU:
TA Performance Dave, check out TA's web site . Ijust looked at it and they listed headers for the apollo 350 through 77' I believe. Some others on the board should also be able to back this up unless I'm incorrect. OK Where is dave from TA ? He needs to chime in and find this guy some cheap horsepower. :laugh:www.taperformance.com
Re: TA Performance That would be great news if it is true. I did, however, speak with someone @ TA within the last year and they said no. I would have thought they would have mentioned if they were at least "In Process". Wow if headers are available, maybe I'll reconsider the direction I'm taking.
TA catalog dave, I have not received my new ta catalog yet but the previous ones and their website still lists them on the exhaust(headers section towards the bottom. part # TA 2010SCH( plain) or TA2011SCH (chromed) fits 68-77 skylark ,apollo, century, special, regal, sportwagon, estate wagon, gs and gsx. blah,blah,blah. But like I said things can and have been known to change with demand ,but the headers are out there new or used if you're a patient person.:eek2:
If you stay with the stock comp. ratio, I think I would stay away from the TA 310 cam. Ta says it needs at least 10 to 1 comp ratio. Im running the 310 in my 350, but I had my block decked .050 for a deck clearance of .005, and also had my heads milled .030 My pistons are Sterling H522NP which are "suppose" to have a comp. ratio 9.5 to 1 at a deck clearance of .020. Hope that helps a bit. Mark
