I have a mechanical cam that has .595" lift (int & exh) and duration of 248/248 @ 050".
If I put this cam in a 10.5 to 1 engine (427 CI), do you think it will be too lumpy for a street car that never sees the strip?. I want the car to idle reasonably well and respond nicely even at lower RPM ranges.

Thanks for the opinions.
67funcar

That cam in a 427 isn't huge but more things come into play like LSA, overlap (affects idle the most) and even tuning. That sounds like the Comp 294S from the specs, it's got a pretty noticable idle and not really a low rpm cam. It should "come on" about 3000 rpm.

That cam is way lumpy for your requests!! it sounds to me like you need a cam with no more than 236@.050 duration and a lsa of 112,lift approx .550
. I would also recommend a hyd flat tappet. This cam will be perfect for 10.5 compression ,and it will pull REALLY hard down low. The lump will still be there !

That's what I suspected. Thanks!

Erson Hi Flo II 235/235* .542/.542" 111 LSA
A bit old school but it is an excellent street cam in my 68 Vette 427/M-20/3.36
the secret is oval port heads....

Erson Hi Flo II 235/235* .542/.542" 111 LSA
A bit old school but it is an excellent street cam in my 68 Vette 427/M-20/3.36
the secret is oval port heads....

Yah thats a bitchin cam !!

Jason,
Are you 'old-school' too?
That cam was in my Vette already when I bought it. I freshened the engine and left her in there......it will pull up a grade in 4th gear, 1500 rpm. On the primaries it is like a healthy 350...open up the other half of the carb and you are really moving

Not sure how this cam would be in a heavier car with automatic...hmmmm

Waiting for some SanDiego-like weather here.....sun is out for the first time in weeks.

I ran the 288AR (244/620 lift on 110) in my 402 and it wasn't that lumpy...most concider it an "RV" cam :)

That cam is way lumpy for your requests!! it sounds to me like you need a cam with no more than 236@.050 duration and a lsa of 112,lift approx .550
. I would also recommend a hyd flat tappet. This cam will be perfect for 10.5 compression ,and it will pull REALLY hard down low. The lump will still be there !

Don't compare a solid and a hydraulic's duration @ .050 at face value. Take away 8* from the solid due to lash, and it is not much bigger on the seat duration as the hydraulic.

Go with the solid and don't look back. It will make more power everywhere.

Don't compare a solid and a hydraulic's duration @ .050 at face value. Take away 8* from the solid due to lash, and it is not much bigger on the seat duration as the hydraulic.

Go with the solid and don't look back. It will make more power everywhere.

Your correct thats why i say 236 max ,realistcally he would be happy with a 230 @ .050 . If your read his post his concerns are ( no racing,not too lumpy,and good low end) .
I feel this fits the bill . And i prefer hydraulic for daily drivers.

And even the old CC 282S solid cam here too, imho.

pdq67

I ran the 288AR (244/620 lift on 110) in my 402 and it wasn't that lumpy...most concider it an "RV" cam :)

How did you like that cam? I am putting one in a 408. What compression and heads? Any quarter mile times?

im going to stick a 262/273 @ .050" solid lift cam in my street car. with a tunnel ram and two 600's and square port heads with 467 ci.

nice lumpy sound, low end torque? ya it will be there when the convertor decides to stick about 5000 rpms. tires shredding mess i will have.

oh so much fun.

but ya a 230 something cam should do ya fine.

i have a hyd. cam 240/246 @ .050" right now in the engine and it sure does shake the car good, low end? i can lay rubber thru first gear and second gear and part of drive, i can hit the gas peddle and make the tires lay about 10 ft of black marks at a rolling 30 mph, sure it has a 10" tci stall and 10.2 to 1 comp. i think it has enough low end for what i need and that in a 4100 lbs car that turns 12.12 @ 112mph.

you will need some kinda lumpy cam in there to bleed off cylinder pressure to run junk gas if desired,

maybe telling us what rpm you think low end torque is would help.

for me low end torque would be about 3000- 3500 rpms and up, other might have in mind just off idle.

just off idle to 2000 rpms would require stock style stall and small cam, really limiting your lumpy desire on the engine. and raising your chances of having to run higher octane fuel because of to much cylinder pressure.


you want something to show off in get a stall about 3000 rpms and up and get a cam that start about there in the power range. this lets you provide great smake shows and those 30 and 40 mph burn outs.


if your after nice idle then choose a smaller cam in the 230 range and something that hyd.you will just have to watch cylinder pressure going to smaller cam, unless you dont mind higher octane fuel.

How did you like that cam? I am putting one in a 408. What compression and heads? Any quarter mile times?

X2 on the 288AR

don't mean to resurect this but I never answered a couple people...

the 288AR in my 402bbc was prety aggressive and peaked at 6400. I think I had 9.5 or 10-1 cr in that motor. On the 489 with 10.2-1, it peaked at 5400rpms and sounded shoppy but nothing too radical, 11" of vac in gear. 347rwhp on the 402 , 427rwhp/430rwtq with the 489. both Times where "base line" dyno...different heads too (worked GM square ports, out of the box 310 Canfields on the 489)

Please consider this UDHarold solid lifter cam that's in my bedroom closet now!!

278/249, 110/106, .618" gross lift and need's .018" lash.

It is Harold's copy of CC's 288AR solid street roller, BUT in a solid lifter cam!!

I figure it to be a TORQUE MONSTER in my 496 and still run darn near "ball's-out" in the smaller BB's!!

pdq67

I presently run the the old 288AR-10 with a Donovan Gear Drive 781 heads 10.25:1 Compression. It has a quiet frictionless bubble exhaust note over the whine of the Donovan at Idle. I ran the XM278H-12 before that and man what a hard hitting Exhaust note with torque to boot. The 112 LSA make a noticeable difference in the exhaust note and torque and I highly recommend the Flat Tappet Hydraulic Extreme Marine Comp Cam profiles as they maximize cylinder pressure. Specs on the XM278H-12 are: 2000 to 6200 11-240-4 XM278H 278 292 234 244 .564 .566 112°

One cam that is hidden in the Comp Cams site is a Forged billet Mechanical Roller labeled "CB 280A-R10 Billet" sure looks impressive to me and being a Billet you can run lots of spring pressure. Specs are: ROLLER 11-691-9 280A-R10 280-2 288-4 238 246 .623 .623 110°. At over $300 it's not cheap. You require either a Bronze or Composite distributor gear with this one.

The Crane Cams CRN-138551 looks impressive as well. Specs are: 3,000-6,500 238 246 0.595 int./0.615 exh 112 LSA and incorporates an integral cast iron distributor drive gear. I like the 112 LSA and longer duration with slightly more lift on the exhaust lobe of this billet as it will optimize cylinder pressure and torque and have that hard hitting exhaust note. At $355.95 it's not a bargain cam either - siish!!! Once I get a little set aside I'm going for this one and run higher spring pressures then I can with the cast core 288AR-10. Then again I wonder if it's really worth the performance increase compared to the wear on the valve seats when running higher spring pressures.

My engine is setup with a forged rotating assembly, 10.25:1 Static Compression 781 heads, 1.19/1.88 Manley Severe Duty Pro flow Valves, Titanium Retainers, Crower HIPPO Mechanical Roller Lifters, Pro Mag Roller Rockers, Jomar Stud Girdle and 7/16" Isky Chrome Molly push rods with the Donovan Cam gear Drive and ready to handle about any street cam I want to put in it. Induction is a 830Dp Annular Booster 4 corner Idle NASCAR Holley setting on the Edelbrock RPM Air Gap Intake. Ignition is Mallory HyFire VI with an optional Remote Hi-Speed Retard Module mounted in Glove Box.

Be sure that you can sustain higher revs for longer periods running a forged billet with high spring pressures.

Running over 600Hp on the street is an old ailment which I've never recovered from feed by dollars and gas at $7.50/gallon here in Canada. Instead of the cam I'm looking at an 88 Jetta Diesel 5 Spd which gets 40 to 55 mpg.