67 Camaro Mild 327 engine build help!! - Page 2 - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

Mayhem Matt · 10-31-2012, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stingr69

Crane F-278-2 Solid Lifter cam is worth a look. I have it in my 302 and our engines are very simmilar in spec except you have .25" more stroke. Nice little buzz bomb.

-Mark.

Mark... What kind of power are you putting to the ground with this cam and your engine set up? Do you think I should go roller or go solid? How many components will I have to change? I already know the lifters of course but what about (Rockers, push rods, springs?) I've already dumped a good amount of money into this motor so swapping out cams without changing other components would be benificial to the wallet!

Stingr69 · 11-01-2012, 07:15 AM

I have no idea of the HP. I built it as a resto-mod and while the output was important, it was not the first concern. The original "flavor" of the car needed to be kept intact. The solid lifter sounds need to be there and the 950 RPM idle needed to be just right. I wanted to be able to run strong up to 7000 RPM through the stock manifolds withouty worrying about the engine. The F-278-2 does all that.

Wider lobe separations on bigger cams help with making power when running a near stock style exhaust. If your exhaust is muffled, you want generally wider lobe separations. The narrower 110 degree lobe separations on Comp's grinds make for nasty idles and work better with more "open" style exhaust systems where you can take advantage of the overlap. On a corked up street car, the narrow lobes just make for less drivabillity. You just don't get much benefit from them. On a smaller 327, you want to keep the cam specs "smaller". Making power with less cubes is about getting the RPM range right and preventing overcamming. A "too small" cam with the right RPM range in a small engine is MUCH better than a "too big" cam in a small engine. Overcamming a small engine makes for a DOG that will never run right. "Too small" of a cam will allways pull harder and be easier to tune.

If you want to go to roller cam you will have to scrap the cam, springs, retainers, and pushrods.

If you go to a solid lifter cam, you might be able to re-use all or most of what you have. The springs need to match the specs on the cam card or be pretty close. I have run the "brown stripe" springs in the past with the F-278-2 and now run Bee Hive springs from PAC. As long as you can get the right seat pressure and spring rate, you should be good to go.

I know your RPM range you mentioned in your post is different that what I am running (reccommending) but I feel strongly that a 327 needs to be either a high RPM screamer or a grocery getter. You want to take advantage of that near indistructable 3.25" stroke and make it scream or just keep it as a reliable powerplant to cruise around with. Any other application probably would be better off with bigger cubes. JMO.

Hope this helps,

-Mark.

11-01-2012, 07:15 AM	#16
Stingr69 '69 Owned Since '79 Drives: '69 Z/28 LeMans Blue w/White Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: LR AR Posts: 1,847 View My Garage	I have no idea of the HP. I built it as a resto-mod and while the output was important, it was not the first concern. The original "flavor" of the car needed to be kept intact. The solid lifter sounds need to be there and the 950 RPM idle needed to be just right. I wanted to be able to run strong up to 7000 RPM through the stock manifolds withouty worrying about the engine. The F-278-2 does all that. Wider lobe separations on bigger cams help with making power when running a near stock style exhaust. If your exhaust is muffled, you want generally wider lobe separations. The narrower 110 degree lobe separations on Comp's grinds make for nasty idles and work better with more "open" style exhaust systems where you can take advantage of the overlap. On a corked up street car, the narrow lobes just make for less drivabillity. You just don't get much benefit from them. On a smaller 327, you want to keep the cam specs "smaller". Making power with less cubes is about getting the RPM range right and preventing overcamming. A "too small" cam with the right RPM range in a small engine is MUCH better than a "too big" cam in a small engine. Overcamming a small engine makes for a DOG that will never run right. "Too small" of a cam will allways pull harder and be easier to tune. If you want to go to roller cam you will have to scrap the cam, springs, retainers, and pushrods. If you go to a solid lifter cam, you might be able to re-use all or most of what you have. The springs need to match the specs on the cam card or be pretty close. I have run the "brown stripe" springs in the past with the F-278-2 and now run Bee Hive springs from PAC. As long as you can get the right seat pressure and spring rate, you should be good to go. I know your RPM range you mentioned in your post is different that what I am running (reccommending) but I feel strongly that a 327 needs to be either a high RPM screamer or a grocery getter. You want to take advantage of that near indistructable 3.25" stroke and make it scream or just keep it as a reliable powerplant to cruise around with. Any other application probably would be better off with bigger cubes. JMO. Hope this helps, -Mark.