I got a 68 chevelle ss with a 325 horse stock internals. Stock oval port heads and the standard 10:25 to 1 comp. I have 1 7/8 headers, 2 1/2 duals with ultra flo mufflers, edelbrock performer rpm intake, holley 750 vs carb, msd ignition, 4:10 gears amd a 4 speed. Looking for a strong lopey cam that I can still run power brakes. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks, Kevin.

There has been a number of 396 posts.
Although they may be falling off by now.
I'd go with a 272/272 or 272/278 solid myself.
Lunati (http://www.holley.com/HiOctn/ProdLine/Products/IEC/IECC/Chevy7.html)
Make sure to check your DCR using Pat Kelly's calculator. There is a link in his profile.
Shoot for an 8.0. Which may or may not give you a nice lope.

I forgot to add that I'm looking for a hydraulic cam. The cam I had in there pulled about 15 hg and operated the power brakes fine I had a lifter go bad so thats why I'm gonna put a new cam in there. The specs of the cam is unknown but it had a decent lopey idle and pulled good. I'm doing some research but just wanted some extra opinions. Thanks for the input anyways Scott.

Isky 292 Mega Cam graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Ok same thing, just look at the Hyd's with the same adv. duration. And check your dcr.
Use the link, it goes straight to the BBC cams.

And make that a sly wink to go along with that mega 292. -way to big for what you want-

But a Hyd is a waste on a 4spd 4.10 car IMOP.

Kev,

First thing to ask is, are you sure about the internals and are the heads correct? Assuming your '68 motor is correct and with a CR of at least 10.0/1, you have plenty of options. The next question is how high do you want to RPM - cast crank and 2 bolt mains safe to 6000 - 6200. You could turn it harder, but it's not really necessary.

With 10/1, stay away from the short duration, fast ramp cams and use something with a little more advertised duration. Right now I run a Crane 286/296 (226/236 @ .050) hydraulic in a 408BBC with decent heads (bigger valves & port work) but with an auto/3000 conv and 3.73's. This pulls real hard out of the hole and up to about 5700, but I could go a lot bigger and am exploring that now. Contrary to what most think, with a stick car, you will actually need more bottum end than an auto with a high stall converter. Although a lot of guys like cams ground on tight lobe (108 or 110 )centers, I tend to prefer a little wider (112 or 114) for a broader smoother powerband. 396 motor are very streetable with .050 intake durations up to around 230 or so, above this the low RPM power gets soggy, so keep that in mind. Also, with the stock closed chamber heads with stock valves, the increased rate in flow drops off after .500 lift, so the only purpose of a lot more lift is to get the duration at .200 larger. One last point, unless the guides have been cut down, limit lift to about .540 or you may have retainer to guide interference.

Good luck!

Thanks for the advise Grn69chv and everybody elses opinions. I'm sure of the internals because this car has been in the family since 1969. I'm kinda looking at the crane energizer 82 that has 228 duration, 533 lift, and a 108 lobe centerline but not sure if it would run my power brakes. Thanks, Kevin.

I had the same combo 396 10.25 compression with the 292 cam TH 400/4.10 gears, ran fine lumpy idle 12.40's in the 1/4