Lunati makes a hydraulic flat tappet cam for EFI motors;

"Hydraulic Flat Tappet. Good idle. Good low and mid-range torque and horsepower. For street performance vehicles.; Advertised Duration (Int/Exh): 265/275; Duration @ .050 (Int/Exh): 215/225; Gross Valve Lift (Int/Exh): .453/.477; LSA/ICL: 112/108; Valve Lash (Int/Exh): Hyd/Hyd; RPM Range: 1600-5400"

Part number is 10120638LUN.

If you wanted to do new heads as well, maybe something like the Dart Iron Eagles - retain your stock exhaust manifolds and intake manifold, but has better chambers. I think you can get them with 72cc chambers to bump compression a tad.

 

so with that cam would NEED to swap out heads? Or could I just throw a new set of valve springs and be happy? Will I see a dramatic difference in heads and maybe a set of headers?

 

With the mileage being on the high side, I would do compression and leak-down tests before you start spending money; for me that Lunati cam looks REAL good.

 

That is a beautiful 69, by the way.

 

Reminds me of my first Chevelle, back in 1990.

Personally, which such an original, stock-ish car, I'd lose the EFI plans and go with a Holley 670 Street Avenger or 3310 VS Carb paired with an RPM Intake Manifold and some 1 5/8" headers.

You can get to 350-370 HP on that 350 with old school iron heads and a decent FT cam & lifters....if you can find the latter.

Alternatively, the OP can get 400+HP out of a post-1987 350, Vortec Heads, and Hot Cam/mild HR Roller type build.

 

I would either leave it or if you're gonna go for it....go roller. Scares me too to invest in a flat tappet. that's why i would leave the stock cam in there if it's running good

 

With a cam that has just a little more lift/duration over the stock spec well that really helps to make the danger of a flat lobe much less.
Or to put it another way if the specs are close to stock and you pay attention to detail during the break-in,set the preload correctly and use the correct type of cam lubes and break-in oil the chance of flattening a lobe during break in is much less than a Hi-perf Hi lift long duration cam would be.
The other part of the equation is the price of a roller cam might take all the other needed mods out of his price range and then he might as well just leave it alone.

 

The Lunati EFI cam does not require new heads - will work with stock. You probably have 441's if they are original. Lunati probably makes a similar hydraulic roller if you are afraid of lifter failure.

 

You have a very nice Malibu nice to see it wasn't converted to a SS clone. If you have the skill to do your own work that cam and MAYBE a set of headers would make a nice package. I can vouch for Jones Cams for a HFT that would be ground for the engine. Going roller is about 3 times the cash when the dust settles. The money saved on heads could go for gears; do you know what's in it for gears?

 

I'd bet a donut that the OP has 2.56 or 2.73 rear gears, based on how stock the car looks/is described......

 

3:36's would do it some good

 

I would do a good 3:08 or there about gear change with a locker. You probably have a 8.2 rearend lockers are probably limited with those rearends. Might try and find a 8.5 10 bolt that would fit it or find a 12 bolt.

Put a shift kit and or manual valve body in the tranny.

As far as cam. I would leave everything along on the engine except the camshaft and exhaust manifolds. I would not bother with the flat tappet cam anymore. CamKing is the only brand worth messing with anymore.

Without knowing compression and etc. I would suggest a small hydraulic roller on a tight lsa like a 108 0r 106. Something like the following Howards cam on a 108 or 106 lsa should be good.

Hydraulic Roller Camshaft; 1955 - 1998 Chevy 262-400 1000 to 5000 Howards Cams 110235-12 | Howards Cams

A good set of 1 5/8 headers would do you good too.

A solid 350 horse motor should be fun on the street cruiser.

 

You probably have a 8.2 rearend lockers are probably limited with those rearends. Might try and find a 8.5 10 bolt that would fit it or find a 12 bolt.

My 69 Malibu cam factory with the 350/4bbl 255 horsepower, TH350, and a 12-bolt rear. If the OP's car was originally a 350 4bbl, there's a good chance he has a 12-bolt. I also agree though that a 10-bolt is likely just fine.

 

That's a clean looking '69!

What about a top end kit?

Any recommendations for a kit that would work for his setup later with EFI?

 

A top end kit is way overboard. Alum. heads are not needed in this application since he will not likely be running higher compression and does not need a high lift cam or big intake runners to achieve what he wants as far as I can tell.

Anything that is suggested will work with the Sniper setup. If a tight lsa cam does not work with a Sniper kit, I would be surprised and look at putting the 600 Holley back on there. I would not take it off.

 

I can vouch for camking Mike Jones. He made me a nice mild HFT for my 385 sbc. It's in my Elky with a 3.08 gear and 26" tall tires, along with a th350 transmission. VERY fun. If you choose him, follow his instructions to the letter and you should be fine. My cam broke in without issue thanks to him.
If you do think about a rear gear change, my set up spins 3100rpms at 70mph with a 3.08 gear. You'll spin higher with a 3.36 gear if you have 26" tires like me.

 

Put in a Edelbrock Performer plus cam and lifter kit in my Sons 78 El Camino SBC 350 CI. For heads we used castings 186 camel humps with small chambers with flat top 4 relief forged TRW pistons. Grand National 8.5 with a Muncie 4 speed. Still running strong 12 plus years. Mostly a cruse truck. Good street manners. Good idle and pulls good vacuum for brakes.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/edl-3702

 

I've run mid 11's with an 8.2 ten bolt rear. With aftermarket axles and posi, it's stronger than people think. As far as cam, definitely hyd roller. Forget flat tappet. I bought a cam from Jeg's that has a similar profile to the Performer cam by Edelbrock. It works with stock rockers, press-in studs etc. That may an option for you, if you're sticking to a budget.

 

Nothing improves performance as much as more compression does. 64 CC heads will get you somewhere near 10 to 1. 60 CC heads will make it even better. You don't even need large valves for a street cruiser. Go with a small hydraulic roller at the same time. You won't believe it is the same car.

 

Go roller cam or suffer the flat cam blues!

 

Are you doing the work yourself or having it done?

There is alot of things to consider on just a small cam change. Clearances, valve springs - rollers are usually big and bulkier. Any chance your going roller rocker? Piston to value clearance and pushrod length are not for the novice unless you have someone guiding you on that.

 

I’m definitely not doing the work myself. And this reply is exactly what I wanted to hear. All you guys have been awesome. Just wondering on these recommendations, what else will need to be done. That’s kind of why I was thinking of doing heads, because I want the right clearance and the right stuff for the setup. I know everything works together and it’s easy to waste money on the wrong stuff. If there’s a specific cam with a certain set of heads that someone has had good luck with that would be great info. Also. Will I run into any issues with pistons and rings if I raise the compression too much? I really don’t want to get into rebuilding the entire motor because if it comes to that then my thought is I’m dropping a blueprint 383 in it at that point and I know everything is brand new. The 383 is not in the budget right now but if I have to dump 3-4k into re building this motor then I am only a few grand away from the stroker. So that’s where my head is at. If I can spend a few grand to make my current setup more fun then I’ll be happy.

 

It would be a great help if knew what your compression was at this time too. Lots of factors can be done off of that.

 

I think the L48 was the 300hp premium fuel 350? Mine was the 255hp regular fuel 350 - I think maybe LM1? I cannot recall. But it was a factory 4bbl and did have a factory 12-bolt.

 

A 1969 350 with a two barrel carb has 9:1 compression, and uses 441 heads with 1.94 intakes and 1.50 exhausts. They make good doorstops.

 

Back in the day, we would just get a L79 replacement cam for pretty much any street cruiser small block.

 

What was the L79 replacement cam specs?

 

It was originally a 2brl carb car. It definitely has a 10 bolt rear. I have the original build sheet on the car. It’s the 200hp version. Hence my desire to make changes.

 

If you go roller cam you can do it yourself with help from here. Paying someone to do a flat tappet cam cost labor and it might still go bad.
Headers
As recommended above. A proper compression test before anything. Post the numbers here.
A 10 bolt with some sort of posi and street tires should be fine. Sticky tires will reduce its life.
Blue print engines seem to be having warranty issues lately.
Rick

 

Also, if you wanted to build a cheap 350, the lift on the L79 cam is low enough that you could use factory Vortec heads without having to modify them for lift above .470 or so......IIRC.

 

There are other companies out there beside Blue Print.

Here is one.

ATK HP36C Chevy 383 Stroker Complete Engine 435HP - ATK High Performance Engine

You could always get a short block and then do the rest yourself.

 

Here is another maker.


Smeding Performance | Chevrolet & Ford Crate Engines