Thanks again to everyones feedback relating to my earlier post regarding my old cam and 396 buildup recommendations, and for those of you who suggested dumping the erson cam I had. I had an initial stretch goal of 450 HP, but I knew Id be happy with over 400HP.

http://www.chevelles.com/forum/ultimatebb.php/topic/4/21601.html

My motor is finally done, and I got to see it on the dyno yesterday. 422HP, 435 ft-lb torque (very flat torque curve), the torque really doesnt quit. We consistently ran it up to 5800rpm on the dyno-14 pulls. HP is all in before then..I am happy with the results, just figured I'd pass this along for anyone else looking for a 396 recipe.

396 +.060" over for 408CI.
9.25:1 compression
Lunati 02005 hydraulic flat tappet cam
Speed pro forged pistons, file fit rings
1969 -063 cc heads with 2.19/1.88 manley stainless valves.
balanced and 'blueprinted'
Used GM HEI unit off my old smallblock, recurved for use with the new setup+new cap and rotor.

Heads had some bowl cleanup, exhaust was unshrouded. Intakes passages were smoothed and radiused nicely.

Forged crank cut .010". Reconditioned original GM rods. Harland Sharp roller rockers, manley pushrods, Holley 750HP carb. ARP and manley hardware.

Cam was installed advanced(?), I think to get the idle sound quality I was looking for, with the result being a nice lope at idle..it sounds pretty gd mean. 10-12" vacuum at idle (700-800 rpm). I dont have the cam card in front of me at the moment.

I will be running this in front of a new Muncie M22W/Autogear 4 speed with 3.38 rear end gears. I have a new set of Dynomax ceramic coated headers and the exhaust is going to be Flowmaster American Thunder 2.5" system.

I am hoping this will be enough to get me into the 12's when I run, but the main goal was to have a powerful, fun, reliable driver that looks stock. I am also concerned with heat, hope that the new(er) HD 3 core radiator I have will be up to the task.

Not sure if this is going to be too loud, I am a little concerned with the neigbors, which I am sure most readers of this site will sympathize!

I am having issues with rocker arm clearance with the harland sharp roller rockers but it doesnt appear to be too much trouble to get the stock valve covers to work.

I found the Harlands were touching it inside edge of the cover a bit.

Nice numbers! It'll be a great ride and well in the 12's if you launch it well energy.

What rpm were the power peaks at? I have a "similar" buildup as you. 10:1 408ci bb, Lunati 00024 hyd.,230@ .050, .544" lift 109 lsa on a 107 icl, Merlin heads w/ a little bowl cleanup. It feels like the power is in before 5800, and I was expecting to be shifting @ 6000-6200. It has excellent power for the engine size/radicalness, I just expected it to rpm more.

I will have to get back to you to be sure, as I dont have the dyno sheets for 2 runs, but no curves yet.

Power peaked at 421.1 hp @ 5400rpm. Torque was 401.5 ft-lb @ 2600 rpm, and peaked anywhere from 431-433 ftlb @ 4600 rpm.

Torque stayed above 400 lb-ft all the way to 5500rpm, then tailed off a bit. All tests were run to 5800rpm.

I will tend to agree with you that this is more of a low end torque motor than a revver. I thought it would rev a bit more too, but the cam selection was made based on more street than strip as the intended use. If I was to do it again, I would probably look more into roller cams, but the $$ is a factor. I am really anxious to get this in the car and try it out, it really sounds great (especially when we ran it with open headers for a bit..nice cammy/loping idle that is going to at least raise an eyebrow or two at carshows, heh heh. I never knew a 396/350HP Chevelle could sound so good.

To get the stock valve covers to work with Harland Sharps I had to use the double thickness cork gaskets. I don't remember who made them but I think I got them from Summit. What are the specs on that cam?

cam specs:

advertised duration int/exh: 302/308 degrees

Duration @ .050" int/exh: 224/234 degrees

Lift @ valve int/exh: .534/.559"

Lift @ lobe int/exh: .311/.324"

LSA 114 degrees. intake CL=110

opens/closes @.050": 2 deg BTDC, 42 deg ABC/ 55 deg BBC, -1 deg ATC

The peak HP RPM seems right but are you sure on the peak torque RPM?
I would have expected around 3400-3600 with that cam from the .050 numbers.
Nice torque curve graemlins/thumbsup.gif

I would have thought 3400-3600 too