Hello, this is my 1st post

heres what i got

72 chevelle
350 .40
crane cam 222 470lift
1.5 ratio rockers
rpm mainafold
stock heads
750 elderbrock
headmen headers
2.5 inch side pipes
water pump, fuel pump has been upgraded

tranny 350 with kit
2200 stall speed

rear end 355 posi

suspesion has been 95% redone
brakes all new power disk's

i want to add some more power and trash the stock heads

i was think of the elderbrock rpm heads and cam
or some dart heads 180 64cc 202 160, with a 230 480 cam

what do you guys think either one of those combos or something different

Thanx for your help

I'm running Dart IE180 heads, and I have gone 13.54 with a 218/224 cam and 2000 stall. I just upgraded to a 224/230 cam and 3000 stall, so we'll see what happens when the track opens in the spring.

Well, Id stay away from the edelbrock camshafts. They arent the best out there. And the 230 degree hydraulic cam will be a little much with a 2200 converter and 3.55 gears. Here is what I would do.


First off, it might be a good idea just to swap heads first. They sound to be the only part of your combo that is lacking, and you may be happy enough with a cylinder head swap that you keep your camshaft. If you still want a new cam, here is what I would look at.


Id actually opt for a small solid lifter camshaft. Id go with the comp XS268S-10 cam(or somehting real similar) and about a 180-195cc heads. The darts are nice, but for basically the same price Id go with a pro topline iron cylinder head. They are like 890 bucks assembled with springs for a solid camshaft.

Now If you look up that cam, you will see that it is a 230 duration solid cam. So you might be wondering why I said, the 230 cam you want is too big, but then I reccomended another 230 degree camshaft. If you are wondering, here is why. A solid cam will normally act like a hydro camshaft of about 6-8 degrees less duration. What that means is that a 230 degree solid camshaft will idle similar to, and run over a similar powerband as a hydraulic cam of about 222-224 degrees duration, so its not as big as it sounds. The more aggressive lobes and shorter seat durations tame a solid cam up, so if you are thinking in terms of a hydraulic cam, you need to subtract about 6-8 degrees from your numbers in order to spec out a similar solid cam.

Anyways, that combo right there with that solid cam and a 180-195cc head will work well with your current drivetrain and way outperform your current setup without sacrificing much of any street manners.


Dont be afraid of the valve lash thing with solids either. You might have some guys who used to build a lot of motors back in the day tell you all about how you have to set the lash constantly, but thats not really the case anymore. A current valvetrain is a higher quality and more accurate than the older stuff, so lash settings are very infrequent.

Id set the lash, fire it up to break the cam in, and after you break it in and the engine is hot, set the lash again. From there, it might be a good idea to check em again fairly soon. If all goes well, theres a good chance they wont touched, but check them in the early stages anyways to be sure the settings keep. After youve got a few miles on the motor and it looks like all is well and its kept its lash settings, I might look at them twice a year and they probably will only need to be set half that much, if that. If you drive it hard all the time and race a lot, you might wanna check em a little more frequent than that, but if thats the case, I doubt you mind cause your probably playing with everything else all the time if you race a lot.

The only problem with doing just the head swap first is that you are gonna want to go with springs for your hydro camshaft. And if you do feel the need for another cam, and you go with that solid one, you need to change the springs. If you get it all at once, you can get the right springs up front and it will be a done deal.

If you do choose to go with the heads first to try it out, and feel the need for another cam but dont wanna mess with new springs or a solid cam, the comp cams 268 cam is a good match for your drivetrain and that motor. Another cam that should be a good match is one of Harolds Voodo cams. I cant remember the specs but its similar to the 268 cam, but its got 227 degrees intake duration and I think 231 on the exhaust. The lift was something like .484/.501? Ill have to check to be sure, but Im sure the intake duration is 227 at .050.

Oh I forgot one pretty important thing. Whats your compression ratio now? Also, whats your deck height and piston type? If you arent sure, it would be a good idea to check into it so that you can be sure to order the head with the proper size chamber to give you a compresion ratio thats workable with whatever cam you use. With that camshaft I mentioned earlier, Id look for between 9.5-10:1 static compression ratio to make it work nicely on the street. Depending on your pistons and your deck height and gasket thickness it might take a 72cc head to keep at these numbers. Or if youve got dished pistons, itll probably take a 64cc head. Just be sure though, cause you dont want to be way off after the changes.

sad to say i have stock pistons..ouch
but i really dont want to rebuilt the motor
just a little more power
with stock piston's should i go with a 72cc?

i have never looked into a solid cam, i have read a little about them maybe i need to research it

where can i find pro topline iron cylinder heads?
is there a web-site?

thank you for your help

I use 72cc Darts with a TRW domed piston, and 93 unleaded works fine. With stock pistons, I think you can go with 64cc heads and still run pump gas.

Any quality aluminum head 64 cc will do. I don't get so hung up on "flow" numbers per se as long as they are in the ballpark. Usually there are other issues that plague engines (such as other VE issues). If you are going after every ounce of flow, then I would look at exhaust issues where most people faulter.

I prefer Edelbrocks not because they have the best flow numbers by themselves, but do have superior numbers when worked with Edelbrock intakes....and I can buy the at below wholesale. Also, I have purchased over 100 sets of these for differing applications or installations without one failure or problem. I can't say that about others.

Add an XE 268 or better yet a Xe274 and you will be amazed at the difference. Do your homework on quench and DCR first tho. Know the differences.

All of the above should work perfectly with all the hardware you have now including stock pistons with the right compression ratio. The 2200 will be perfect for the XE274, but for the 268 you could go stock. The immediate throttle response will be more fun with a stock converter.

Pretty reliable stuff too!

With stock pistons, your compression will be a little on the lower side. You will need the 64 chamber heads to build it up a little(which is what you want with a performance camshaft). As far as cylinder heads, the edelbrock performer RPM heads arent a bad choice either.

I have a question for HOTRODSRJ. You made the quote where the Eddys have been real reliable, but you cant say that for others. Is that a hint to the fact that the pro heads are included in the "others" that havent been as reliable? If you dont want to bash brands and dont want to say, thats ok. I was just curious cause Ive never heard of any reliability issues with the pro heads(maybe not until now).

Anyways, the reason why I mention the pro topline cylinder heads is because they are easily capable of very good power(better than most). If you get those heads, flow them at home and you will get some real world proof that they do as good as or better than their advertised flow numbers(which arent bad). Plus, they are very well priced compared to many cylinder heads(which is under 1000 bucks). You can get em from summit. Actually, there are many places to buy, just check out this link http://www.protopline.com/wheretobuy.htm
and this will give you a listing of all their dealers. Check into them, cause if you are on a budget but still want good heads, they are a real good choice.

good old GM Vortec heads and the XE274H.

Ok, I'll ask the obvious, what casting are the original heads? If it's the original 72 350, you could have some pretty decent heads on there already. Certainly the potential to match an aftermarket 180cc head with a little bit of work.

i hate to sound like a newbie but this cam you guys speak of the XE274H who is it made by?
Comp cams it sounds like.

Ok i found it sorry

The specs are 230/236 with a 487/490 lift at a 110 lobe sep

It seems like a big cam for my motor

It is big and won't like your 2200 stall speed. That 274 cam only pulls 11" of idle vac. Your current cam is right in line with your converter and gears. Just get a decent head on there and you'll see a big improvement.