zachkuby87

ok guys heres the deal i got a bad lifter in my 355 i pulled the motor apart it ended up being 3 bad lifters and my cam was junk i tore everything down and i had a good friend of mine check out the motor pistons bearings rods all of that and he measured away and looked it over for a good 1 1/2 hours he said everythings fine even said if it goes he will replace it out of his pocket and told me i actually have a really good bottom end setup he said itll take whatever i throw at it short of high boost or lots of nitrous... now what im confused about is what the h3ll the po was thinkin when he built this motor cause according to my friend all the machine work and parts are high quality i have an edelbrock air gap intake a holly 750 vaccum secondary carb but the motor had STOCK 471513 79 350 heads and a very tame cam it was an improvement over stock but not a lot.... now my buddy says i can slap a new cam and lifters in and go but since its all apart i wanna make up for where the po was slacking with a very tight budget in mind i would like recomendations for cam and heads... by tight budget i mean i have enough for maybe the gaskets im gonna need thats about it im most likely gonna liquidate a few things to make this happen...

Atilla the Fun

porting or Vortecs.

zachkuby87

will these heads do any good with porting??

Atilla the Fun

The only heads I ever ported and flowed that didn't respond are the swirl-port heads. All others will improve with mild porting done correctly. This generally means you keep the cam mild to maintain your low-rpm, and let your better-breathing heads provide you with more higher-rpm power and a few hundred more useable rpm.
That's the way it should be done, but most wanna-be types decide they need a big cam to use the new flow. This is fine for race-only, but sucks on the street. And it's really no savings, because then you'd need better springs, more rear gear, and so on.

zachkuby87

alright cool what would you recommend for a cam the cam i pulled was a lunati pn#00016 i was told its better than stock but not by a lot

zachkuby87

and how would your recommend putting it all back together the motor is still in the car but is tore down to the block my buddy said i should pull it put it on an engine stand and re assemble it that way then once everything is back together just drop it in

Atilla the Fun

You can do cam and heads in the car. I think it ends up being easier to just leave the engine in the car, since I've tried it both ways, several times each.
That cam is not something I'd choose, it's a copy of COMP's HE268H-10.
Some '79 350s, even in Camaros, had a 1.72" intake valve instead of a 1.94". If this is what your heads have, then that would explain the cam.
So, are the pistons dished or flat top? And what's your typical cruise rpm? this is the minimum info I need, beyond what you've already typed, before I can do a good job of suggesting a cam.

zachkuby87

i dont know the difference to be completely honest this is the first time ive torn a motor down that far... i googled sbc pistons and from what i came up with they are flat top pistons...cruising rpms are pretty low i would say the highest i ever brought the motor to is around 5k maybe 5500?? i mean i had to granny it and short shift to get any sort of traction through first and second and never really gunned it on the freeway.... i mean i want somethin thats at least respectable on the streets and that i can take to the track once in a while cause drag racing has been growing on me lately and my girlfriends dad and uncle both have low 10 high 9 cars and her bro has a honda in the 14's i gotta be able to keep up with him cause i talk a lot of **** about hondas and if i ever go with them to the track with my car hes gonna wanna try to silence me... lol

Atilla the Fun

Okay, you're just over 8.5:1, and that's helpful to know, but why be so evasive on your cruise rpm? That's the easiest way to figure out your gearing.
You don't seem to realize the hugeness of the difference between 1600 rpm at 65 mph, and 1800 rpm at 65 mph. It matters an awful lot. If I suggest a cam that's happy with 3.08:1 gears, but you have 2.73:1 gears, then it will surge all the time, and give that "trailer-hitching" feel.
a 214/224-112, 442/465 cam is plenty large for your engine, but it's too much cam for a 2.73:1 gear.
You're not gonna beat 14s unless you get the Vortecs, a serious cam, and performance gearing.

zachkuby87

im not trying to be evasive i just really dont know exactly what i cruised at on the freeway i guess i never really paid attention ive never really been one to watch things like that... whats a way for me to give u the info u need? all i know for the gears is what the po told me 373 is there a way i can try to get an idea without pulling the diff cover? i mean if i have to i will cause i mean it doesnt run so i might as well put new gear lube in while im not driving it...

Atilla the Fun

3.73:1 is great, if it's true. I think you're the first enthusiast I ever met who wasn't sure about that, however.
Anyway, assuming it is 3.73:1, the 214/224 would feel better than your old cam. The extra exhaust duration will really help your top-end power.
With 1.94/1.50" valves, and a 224 exhaust duration, then a 214 intake is a great match.
This cam spec is fairly common, and available from several sources, including Summit Racing.
If you can find the $, have your heads shaved 0.030". And if your pistons are at least 0.020" below the decks at top dead center, then use Fel-Pro 1094 rubber-coated-steel-shim head gaskets.
At that point, you should be just over 300 real horses, with power to 5500 rpm. It should feel pretty good.

zachkuby87

i got the car from my cousin he got it from a close friend and his friend did the rear end and motor and so far everything he told me has turned out to be true and i understand completely that ppl lie.. we have three 3rd gen camaros in the driveway right now but this is the only one that has really been touched performance wise the other two are bone stock... ive always wanted to build one i guess it was just a mistake on my part to buy someone elses project not knowing exactly what was done for sure it was one of those impulse buys if i could go back i deffinately woulda bought a different car but this is what i have so im kinda just diving in and learning as i go...so i apologize if i sound like a retard talkin to u about this stuff i literally sit on the internet researching non stop tryin to learn as much as possible cause i have nobody to teach me these things and cant afford to go to school for it.. the help is really appreciated and its awesome that your actually taking the time to explain these things to me i have a few buddys that really know there **** but there not used to dealing with a noob like me so after i talk to em for half an hour about what i should do i walk away with my head spinning thinkin wtf did he just say??? lmao

Atilla the Fun

I think my poor wording has struck again. I believe third gen owners as a whole, tend to watch their tachometers more closely and more often than any other group on earth. Most of these tachs are fairly easy to read, and it's great fun watching them when you can also hear and feel what the engine is doing.
Sometimes I actually look at the tach for fully 50% of the quarter mile. Not the first half or the last, but glancing back and forth between it and the "road", and I've talked to so many others who do the same.
As far as getting lost in the details, I can understand that, but it's no excuse for not getting the most complete and specific list possible.

Doom86

I'm constantly looking at mine too, that's actually how I noticed my TCC wasn't working one morning because it had a abnormally high cruise RPM.

A lame way to check your rear end to is to see what your cruise RPM are vrs your tire and transmission gearing. The best, or correct way, is to pull the cover and check; there's a ratio stamped into the gears. Checking by RPM isn't so bad in this situation IMO though.

If you are just learning you are in the right place if you ask me, I learned a LOT from this message board when I first got interested in our cars. There is a wealth of knowledge behind this button.