Camshaft Question

[celticsam]

I have access to a 3.73 posi-rear from a monte (re-geared...)...which is what I will be swapping in. My goal? The short of it is, I had to sell my Mustang because of a torn Achilles tendon. After a year, it still hurt like the Dickens to push in the clutch. I want the cutlass to be roughly as quick as the 96 GT was. I like the Cutlass body style better anyway...so its win win for me. I never ran the 'stang on the track, and it wasn't quite stock...but only had bolt ons and a tune for performance. Still, tough goal from the older engine design of the Olds. I had built an 87 403 Olds. I forget what the dyno numbers were exactly...its been 8 years or more since I sold it...10 years since I dyno'd it...but it was deep into the 300 hp mark. 345? I also had a lot into the engine, and it ate its 200-4R shortly after I sold it (which was not exactly unexpected), and its rear shortly after that. Still, I do miss that car (and its my avatar...). The Mustang of that year, with all the add-ons was probably at 250 - 260 hp. That is where my 260hp comes from.

 

[olds307 and 403]

Cutlassefi on Classic Oldsmobile does custom Olds grinds. He has cams he recomends over the Voodoo grinds for stock heads. He is a Lunati and Erson dealer. Add maybe Hedman headers, dual exhaust, RPM intake (depending on compression),the right cam and you should be close to 300 hp.Does it have the small dish pistons? If so that would help a lot.

 

[celticsam]

The engine is a bone stock 69 2bbl motor out of a Cutlass S, I bought it because of the relatively low miles and the fact that the engine, by all appearances, was totally untouched...and it ran smooooth. That said, I doubt it has the small dish pistons, though anything is possible. It seems that the only difference between the 2bbl and 4bbl engines was the intake and cam. That said, I will be using an A4 intake (or an old S2P2 that's staring at me...) and a cam that I am trying to settle on. Had hoped to leave the rest of the valvetrain stock, but that's looking to be impossible with either of the cams that I was considering (and I will be talking to CutlassEFI...). Exhaust...I haven't decided between headers or stock...more for the totally stock appearance vs small power gains from the headers. As I understand it, the Cutlass exhaust manifolds flow reasonably well (though nowhere near perfect).

 

[DoubleV]

The engine is a bone stock 69 2bbl motor out of a Cutlass S, I bought it because of the relatively low miles and the fact that the engine, by all appearances, was totally untouched...and it ran smooooth. That said, I doubt it has the small dish pistons, though anything is possible. It seems that the only difference between the 2bbl and 4bbl engines was the intake and cam.

Nope. The 2 barrel version had lower compression too. Advertised at 9:1 I believe but it's more in the mid 8's in reality. Still enough to put a much better cam in, but your options become more limited.

I will be using an A4 intake (or an old S2P2 that's staring at me...)

That S2P2 ( why does that sound like a robot...) is not a performance intake. Don't use it.

Had hoped to leave the rest of the valvetrain stock, but that's looking to be impossible with either of the cams that I was considering (and I will be talking to CutlassEFI...).

I'm pretty sure you can use your stock valve train still. When you talk to CutlassEFI, ask him. He'll know for sure if the cam he recommends would work OK with it or not.

Exhaust...I haven't decided between headers or stock...more for the totally stock appearance vs small power gains from the headers. As I understand it, the Cutlass exhaust manifolds flow reasonably well (though nowhere near perfect).

Me thinks you understand very wrong! Small block Olds exhaust manifolds are some of the worst flowing manifolds ever designed untill Olds came out with the even lamer late model 307 ones. If you don't want headers, that's understandable though. Unless you go with expensive headers like ARH, you can run into fitment issues. You still need a good true dual exhaust system.

My research has shown the 96 Mustang GT wasn't all that fast stock. About high 14's at it's best. With your bolt-ons ( and I'm assuming you didn't do a ton of high dollar ones ), you were still in the 14's I'm sure. Not horrible, but your Olds 350 build could best that easy with 3.73 gears. Look at my weenie 350 build in my sig. That went low 14's ( 14.15 best time ) with 1 dead cylinder, and a couple others not sealing that well either. With the right bolt-ons, your engine should make more power than mine.

 

[olds307 and 403]

X2 on the SP2P and manifolds. I had the SP2P on my Olds 350 in my truck. Great at low end, part throttle. Full throttle was flat with the Qjet, too much air and fuel to push through tiny ports. Once I had TBI on it was much better but still went A4.

 

[celticsam]

That's what I thought on the S2P2...I had picked it up years ago for $50. Waste of $50. Can't find an RPM manifold south of $200 though...and, yes, I'm cheap. Mid 14's sounds right...the 'stang had a throttle body, underdrive pulleys, CAI, Loudmouth exhaust, and a canned tune from Superchips. If I could get the Olds to 14 flat, I'd be quite satisfied. If I could do that and get decent mileage, I'd be floored.

 

[celticsam]

Reviving this old thread. I was about to purchase a Comp Cams Extreme energy kit from e-bay here:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/190683465156?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

But, I found this cam...much cheaper and similar specs

http://www.ebay.com/itm/170656061030?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Any thoughts?

Neil

 

[chevy2480]

Imo I would go with the first cam listed. Comes with all the components , springs timing set etc. that takes the worries of your aprings not being up to the task and saves you money later if you have problems. Unless you 100% positive your springs can handle the task the the second one is fine but has a little more lift and rpm range.

 

[olds307 and 403]

That comp cam is better. The other is generic, bleeds your cylinder pressure. I still think a cam like the Lunati efficiency series would be better. 207/207 .461/.461 on a 112 lsa. Cutlassefi has a similar custom on a tighter lsa.

 

[jetsetw31]

I agree with "olds 307 and 403". You may not have the compression to overcome that kind of cylinder bleed off. You'd need about 10 to 1 or better and it will kill your vacuum. I'd find out your CR before you get a cam to know what your working with. If its 9:1 or better, it could make some good power with a decent cam running 112 L/S and under 480 lift. i think Crowler, Lunati, and Erson has a few cams that fit that range.
T