I have a 1972 Buick skylark with a 350 engine. I putting on a new Holley carb, ta performance aluminum intake and a new 504 lift cam, anything I should do/ change while I have the motor taken apart. Thanks, Gary
Doing those things alone could slow your car down. Installing a cam too big for street use is a common mistake. Head flow is perhaps the number 1 performance enhancer. Hold off on the things that you named and wait for the new 350 aluminum heads.
How are you going to use the car? Street? I agree with Jim, you could slow the car with too big of a cam. It’s a low compression motor. 504 lift tells us nothing about the cam except that it might be too big. If the car is mostly street, stay with a good Q Jet. Hold off on your plans until you get some advice here, you’ll be glad you did. What is your ignition timing?
I talked to the people at erson cams when I bought my cam and they said it wasn’t a very big cam, and with the stuff I wanted to do to my motor it would still be very streetable.
If you have the motor apart, have the heads worked over, or as stated above, wait for the new aluminum heads from TA performance. What intake are you going with the dual plan or the single? Are you completely rebuilding the motor? not sure what "apart" truly means in your context.
With all due respect to Erson, you will be better served with the advice that you receive here. A lot of higher lift cams that can be run on the street and sound scary actually slow the car down.
For the intake I went for the ta sp3 single plane, for the carburetor I have a Holley 650 cfm. I am not completely rebuilding the motor right now I am just trying to get it to around 400 hp. I’m more focused on fixing the rest of car. I was planning on having the heads worked on just a little and buying new heads in the future. Also the cam was one of the smaller cams erson offered.
The original Q-jet was a 750 CFM unit. Contrary to what most Brand Xers believe, Buick engines like bigger carburetors. Can you post the specs on the Erson cam? Is it split duration? Buick engines like about 10* more duration on the exhaust side than intake.
Gary, I took a look at your profile and see that you are brand new member, welcome aboard. I also see you are 17, correct? I was 22 when i got my Skylark 11 years ago. It still isn't on the road. So i want to offer you some advise to help you not turn this into a project that drags on. You will always want to change things and upgrade, but that is different. Here is my advise: Sell everything you got, or return it if possible. 400HP is not going to happen with out a lot of $$$$ (there are 4 dollar signs for a reason lol). Get a dual plane intake, TA212 cam, and a bigger carb. That 650cfm Holley is going to suck. Trust me. A 800CFM Qjet or Double pumper is where you want to be. Unless the heads need a valve job, leave them be. Save for the aluminum heads or allocate that money into other parts of the project. This board will offer all the info you need, these guys know what they are talking about and will guide you in the right direction. TA Performance is the place for engine parts so look them up.
Ok that is actually a reasonable street cam, right in the middle. That should work well for you, but ditch the Holley and get a dual plane intake. You’ll be disappointed all the time when driving it if the parts don’t match. Edit: oh damn I didn’t see the 8.2:1 compression, I recall my statement
The only reason I went with erson parts is because my dad is good friends with one of the family members that is part owner so I can get some parts cheaper than normal. And only being 17 I don’t really make lots of money
. With the 72 engine with an actual compression on 8.2 , the cam is too big. Unless you want to mill heads .060-.070 for a compression about 9.2. . Straight pattern cam needs headers. And will require jetting and metering changes to carb. You should probably get an air fuel meter. You will want a performance distributer or a custom recurve as the 72 is short 6-10 degrees of mechanical timing. You need a 3000 torque converter and atleast 3.23 gears. I would not expect over 280-300 hp unless you get big valves and more air flow. While you’re in the engine, replace the front cam bearing with a backgrooved one, and a later 5/8 pickup tube. Then drill out oil pick passage in block to 1/2 inch minimum. This is the passage to drill
I get the budget part, so if you are set on that cam then so be it. Just know that for a stock compression motor, it is going to be too big of a cam like Alec stated. Your best bet might be a stock replacement cam. Maybe one similar to a 1970 350-4 type grind. Or if you can swing the cost, the TA-112 cam. I would guess you probably have a 2.93 open rear, so a converter is going to be a must with that cam. Also read the power timing thread to figure out how to setup your distributor. That will definitely help. Don't get discouraged though, we are all here to help.
Gary where are you located? There’s a good chance there’s a local guy within a few hours of you that could certainly be of help. Even if that’s not the case, most of us keep our locations on our profiles.
When I do get all the new parts and go to the mechanic is their any parts that I should replace to make everything more reliable
