Hey guys;
I thinking of scrapping the idea of restoring my engine and having a little more fun with it. The cam I am interested in is a Magnum 294S - .595 lift, 248 duration. I'm a little concerned however that if I put it in, it will be too big for driving on the street, or at least my engine. The engine as it sits now, is balanced and blue printed bored into a 402, Trw forged pistons, L2242 .030 (just over 11:1?), the cam that is in it now is a crane cam, degreed in with .530 lift with 226 duration. It has a peter jackson gear drive. The heads are the originals (1969 396 (325)), that have been ported and polished, enlarged millidon valves (according to the machine shop), positive seals,guides, heat treated push rods, anti-pump lifters. "Currently" the original high rise cast iron has been ported to match the heads with the original carburetor. If I go with a new cam I will be using a performer rpm intake with a holley 750 double pumper. As well I guess if I'd be changing those, the original manifolds will be replaced by headers. As well, just incase I'll mention that the trans is a M-21, and the gears are 3.55.

I want something that will have plenty of balls, without sacrificing alot of bottom end, since i'll be showing off for sure. So I guess the question is, is the 294S too much, or enough for my setup? Or even is what I have now good enough? Thanks for your help.

Pretty big cam for a street driven 402 IMHO. I sure think you will be sacrificing quite a bit on the bottom end. I definitely would not run that cam without headers and a better manifold, as you have already said. Seems like to me the cam you have, along with 1 3/4 headers and the performer RPM should make for a very nice street 402. JMHO.

Go for it. I ran my 396 .060 -408 on the street with 12.5:1's with a Compitition Cams 305 hyd. with 575 lift. on a Torquer II and a Holley 750 DP. The best thing to do really is download one of those calculators that will tell you how much compression you will be bleeding off.

With an M21 & 3.55's, it will be a dog in your motor. Will sound nasty at idle, but that's where it will end. Maybe consider the Comp LS6 replacement cam. It's 239/246 on a 112LSA. Will idle like the 396-375 motors but have a lot more low end power.

Since you are interested in a solid ft, why not go with one of Harold's designs from Lunati - 402A2LUN
Advertised Duration IN/EX: 272/282
Duration @.050 IN/EX: 238/248
Gross Valve Lift IN/EX: .550"/.570"
Lobe Sep Angle / Intake Ctr Line: 112/106
Valve Lash IN/EX: .020"/.022"
RPM Range: 2400-6800

Or if feeling really spunky - 402A3LUN
Advertised Duration IN/EX: 276/284
Duration @.050 IN/EX: 243/251
Gross Valve Lift IN/EX: .586"/.600"
Lobe Sep Angle / Intake Ctr Line: 110/104
Valve Lash IN/EX: .026"/.030"
RPM Range: 2500-6800

Don't be afraid of the .050 numbers if you only look at them. Take notice of the seat duration as well, fast ramps.

Definately agree about the M-21 and 3.55s. You are going to be really limited with your cam selection unless you do something about the 2.20 low trans.

Lift is about right but I would shorten the duration. Area under the curve is important, not peak numbers.

Phil,i sent some email on the subject,check it out.

As Wildman suggested o would go with the 1st of the solid cams he suggested or an hyd cam of roughtly equal profile/specs if you dont want a solid. It should out power your current cam by a fair amount not to mention the additional perf/hp increase you will get from the headers and better intake & carb too.

But the cam your looking at with 248 int dur @.05 is too much for comfortable street use in a 402 ci motor IMHO

I would think adding the 1st larger cam that Wildman suggested along with a better intake/carb/ headers that the larger cam can take advantage of that you would concervatively see a 50hp to possibly even as much as 60-80 hp gain over where you are now especially taking into consideration the ported larger valved lrg oval port heads your running that you said are from a 396/325hp which is what comes on them stock but with smaller valves as you already know.

Also,with better breathing headers/intake/ & cam make sure you have a good breathing exhaust & mufflers behind the headers out the back with a min 2.5 inch mandrell bent pipes & run a K&N air fiter for maximum airflow into the carb too. K&N flows approx 900cfm & std paper filters flow approx 550-600 cfm.

Since you will be turning more rpms with the larger cam make sure to remove the small in carb fuel filters and install a lrg high flow inline filter to avoid any top end fuel starvation issues.

Since you have to pull fuel pump & pump rod to remove the cam you should make sure you have an adiquate f/pump to supply the higher hp/rpm capabilities of the motor . In that case i would opt for a carter street/strip pump and a moroso lightened/hollow fuel pump rod to avoid any pump arm float that could create fuel starvation over 5k rpms. Yes the advertisements state you only need the lighter f/pump rod for over 6k rpms but i have seen situations when mech f/pump arms floated at just under or at 5k rpms so why not just change it while its out for the cam change so there are no problems in the future that often happen when motors are upgraded to the perf lvl your looking to run at.

I would start with approx 18 deg intial timing,36-38 total,and a vac advance with approx 10-12 deg additional advance max for street use.

I would also start with 72-73 prim/78-80 sec jets and a 5.0 power valve for that cam which should idle with approx 7-10 (Max) inches vac @ idle in a 402. But i would not be surprised if you found you could go up 1-2 more step on prim & 2-3 more steps in sec jets during the dial in process post installing the new cam and all the other new parts.

Your car should really rip after that with 4spd & 3:55 gear but still be very streetable with the 1st cam Wildman suggested and esp with it all dialed in correctly which is key to it running & perf well on the street.

Scott

If I remember right(??), Greg Griffin, Moberly, MO, had a combination like your's in a First Gen. Camaro car, 4.10's and a TH400

Gas mileage was like 4 mpg, but it's been years and years..

You might search Team Camaro's archive's and see if you can't PM him?? Say hello from old pdq67..

Wow, thanks for all your advice. I'm not stuck on a solid cam, a hydrolic would do just as well, its just that I had an apportunity for that solid. I'll check out that lutani cam, however if I were to match it with a hydrolic cam, would it be something in the range of a magnum 292 by comp cams?

The 60203 Voodoo cam would be a good choice for you if you have to go hydraulic. You just won't have the performance as compared to the solid.
Advertised Duration IN/EX: 268/276
Duration @ .050 IN/EX: 227/233
Gross Valve Lift IN/EX: .542"/.554"
LSA / ICL: 110/106
Valve Lash IN/EX: Hyd/Hyd
RPM Range: 1800-6200

my buddy runs the comp 292 in his 70, 396 + .060, 4.11 rear, 10.5:1..it doesnt seem to make enough vacuum to run the power brakes. sounds mean though! i think he wishes he went a step or maybe 2 less radical.

I would look real hard at the Voodoo selections.

Are you sure about the 11:1? The actual compression is a key factor in cam selection.

In fact, I can't beleive the current small Crane you have in there doesnt ping like hell. It should at 11:1. So, if I ASSUME your compression is lower, the ideal cam for that ride, given the 4 gear and 3.55s is something that looks like..

Solid, 230@.050 ( 230/235) , .550 net., and I'd go 110 lsa, although 112 will feel better driving.

For "good deals" check out 1350 on this pg, 1360 wouldnt be a bad choice either.
http://www.crower.com/sp/gs_cams.shtml

"01350 CHEV Big Block V8 SOLID 110 lsa 268 / 274 ADV 236 / 240 @.050 331/338 lobe lift, 563 / 575 gross w 1.7 ratio "

For $60, I'd buy the 1350 and never look back. 268/274 with 236/240 is a pretty ramped profile. It should rock that 402 HARD! Its akin to my 276/284 Ultradyne, about 10 degrees shorter acreoss the board. Perfect. ( I have a 427 and use the UD 276/284F10.)

Isky has a Z66 small solid, but I think it might be too small, its around 228@.050 ( which is equivalent to around 232-233 in a hyd. ).

Call Crower ----- NOW! ;)
( get the lifters elsewhere - typically Crower stuff is very spendy).

Great, thank you again for the help. I dont know if the crane cam will ping or not, I havn't started the engine yet. I just built it, with help, over the summer. Its on the engine stand until I return from university in christmas. I'm hoarding up parts to make the right switches when I get back. As for the CR, according to the pistons, they call for 11:1, but I had it roughly calculated, assuming the heads on average are 98cc, at just over 11:1, somewhere like 11.4. They're L2242 .030 from TRW.

I tried to order the cam today, it says the number is disconnected or no longer in service. It says on the site that it isn't open on saturdays, but that wouldn't be reason for a disconnected phoned number?

I tried crower again today, and got through. They said the 01350 was sold, just hasn't been updated on the site. They have the 01360 though, although it has alot less lift. Would the reduction in lift be an issue? On ebay there is a crower roller cam with 252/254 duration and .585/.575 lift. Would that be any better, or is it way too much for the street? Thanks again.

Sounds like you're going another direction than the 292S cam,thought I'd comment in case you were still thinking about it,as that's the cam in my 402.In the first engine it was in the drivability was o.k. once I got the idle with low vacuum sorted out,but the power brakes were marginal.Cam was too much for the heads as well,also didn't have enough converter then-it was a turd at the track,lol.It's in a better sorted out combo now(more head,compression,converter,gear),dropping it in this weekend(fingers crossed).