Installing the wrong cam is one of the most common mistakes among novice builders. The next mistake is not to degree the cam and installing it straight up (on the dots). Advancing or retarding the cam timing by one or two degrees can make a huge difference in how the motor performs.
I have guys e-mailing me all the time, asking for the biggest cam I stock, which is a 280. Many wonder why I don't stock larger cams. The primary reason they want a big cam, is because they want a lopey idle to impress their friends.
When all is said and done, I almost always recommend either the 264 or the 268 cam (various lobe centers), occasionally the 274, rarely the 280. To date, I've only sold two of the 280 cams, and both are for engines that will never see street use.
I have a 280 (110 lobe center) in my motor, but it rarely gets driven on the street. At best, maybe 200 miles per year, and that's it. Most of its road time is spent on the trailer. It has a very lopey idle, and coupled with the gear drive, sounds like a blown Windsor. Great for the car shows, but definitely not a daily driver. To pull away from a green light, the revs go up to three grand before I even think about engaging the clutch. Take it to four grand before engaging, and the tires break lose. Drop the clutch, stab the accelerator, and it's all smoke. Do this with a daily driver and you'll spend most of your time in front of the judge.
I'm going to take a stab at explaining all this in novice terms. Most of the explanations or replies are great, but very difficult for novice builders to understand. I won’t cover cam design, rather a basic understanding of what a cam does to affect an engines performance.
First, why do we add headers, more carburetion, bigger valves, higher compression ratios, three angle valve jobs, ported heads, etc. The answer is simple, to get larger fuel/air charges into and out of the motor. In other words, to make it breath better, which means more power.
A motor is basically a big air pump, the more air that flows through it, the more power it makes. But all the components must match each other to achieve maximum performance. Try looking at it this way. Stack three funnels atop each other, so that the first drains into the second, and the second into the third, all of equal size. When water is poured into the first funnel, it runs through all three at the same rate. The amount poured into the first is equal to that which drains out of the third. Basically, this is what you are trying to achieve when building your motor.
Small funnels will handle only a small amount of water without overflowing as its being poured in. Increase the size of all three funnels, and you increase the amount of water that will flow through them. Increasing the size of the second or third funnel without increasing the size of the first funnel, and the flow rate remains equal to that of the first funnel, with no change in the flow.
Now look at your motor the same way. The first funnel represents the induction system (carb, intake manifold, intake ports, etc); the second represents the cam and valve train, and the third, the exhaust system.
If you increase the flow capacity of any one, you generally need to increase the flow capacity of the other two to achieve the most gain in performance. Installing a huge 4V carb on a stock six without any other mods, and you simply overflow the first funnel. Which translates into little or no power gains, and quite possibly, less or undesirable performance. The same is true with a cam. Installing a large cam, which is not balanced to the airflow and rpm range of the engine, will actually decrease the engines performance. You might get that lopey idle and impress your friends, but I wouldn’t suggest giving them a ride home if you want them to stay impressed.
So what causes that lope in the idle that is so desirable? To understand this, you must first understand cam profiles. This is explained quite well in an article published on Comp Cams website. Hopefully by the time you finish reading it, you will have a pretty good understanding of how a cam effects your engines performance, and have a better idea of which cam would be best for your specific engine.
BTW, if anyone is interested, I have videotape, which explains cam timing, and how it’s done. It’s very easy to understand, even for the beginner. You get to see a cam being degreed and each step is explained in detail. Clay Smith Cams produced the tape and I sell them for $24.95 (my cost) if you want to purchase one, or I will lend the tape out with a damage/loss deposit.
Comp Cam article:
http://www.compcams.com/Technical/TimingTutorial/
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i dont have a tach at the moment...but will be getting one in a couple weeks possibly....is it possible for a definition of 'stalls'...so i know exactly what i'm looking for..i know the car doest actually stall...i have tried a few brakestands (to no avai in the big beast)...and havent really noticed anything noticeable..so a high stall would be higher than 1400 RPM anyways though..
