Hello I have a 72 stock 350 with a 600cfm 4bbl, poston s-divider intake, dougs headers, and dual flowmaster exhaust. I recently purchased a comp cam kit 268/268 .469/.469 after talking to people at summitt, I was wondering if this is a good set up or should I return this and go a different route? Any suggestions?
A stock or even ported head sbb 350 likes a split pattern cam with more Dur. on the Ex. side. The TA performance 212 cam would be a great choice for all around performance on a stock compression engine. If you're upgrading a sbc,then I would consider listening to summit,they pretty much had no choice in recommening that cam because they have hardly NO Buick parts to try to sell to you. You would be better off calling TA Performance for Buick parts recommendations because they have many more to offer and won't try to sell you something that you won't be happy with because thats all they have to sell to you.GL Derek
+2 on the above. I'd think a TA212 would be nice in a 350, or maybe even one of TA's slightly bigger and newer grinds. My only 'gripe' with the TA212 in my 455 is that it idles with 'only' 15-16 inches vacuum, but I'm weird like that. It's a great cam! And I'd trade the 600cfm for a Q-jet built by one of the board members, like CarmanTX. He's very reasonable, and does good work. Do the above plus dual exhaust, then make SURE your ignition is good (see the power timing thread), and I'm betting you'll be surprised at what a 350 can do!
I'd also ditch the 4 barrel Go with demon carburetion newer street demon Either cfm rating will work well..625 has the smaller primary bore size like a 750 qjet.. You'll be fine with that cam But a TA 212 is the most favored The main reason out lil 350 favors more duration on the exhaust side is due to your weak flow on the exhaust side. The cam that favors exhaust durations will try and boost flow and get things a tad more even That and the 212 boosts performance while keeping that nice low end torque you need on the street
I have a 212 cam and a Everyday Performance 750 QJet on my 350 love Both !! not to loud i do have Flow masters its has a nice rumble if you need a sound clip i can get you one...
I'll throw a little gas on the fire and say to ditch the comp cam and forget the TA 212. You will get better fuel mileage, idle vacuum, and power with a Crower Compu-pro level 2 (PN50257) or level 3 (PN50258) cam. Works with all stock parts or mild mods as you have. If that Poston intake is an open plenum or has the divider cut down then lose it also and use stock.
Thanks everyone! It looks like the TA 212 and the QJet are the ones. I wish I would of asked earlier before listening to summitt and buying the comp cam. Live and learn, this site has been very helpful being this is my first Buick and I want to keep it with the Buick 350. Killrbuick66455 I'd love to hear the clip of that combo!
for Q-jet Ken from Everyday Performance on this board...otherwise 625cfm Street Demon(new deisgn with best festures taken from AVS/Thermoquad/Q-jet) the Slayer carb sounds awesome, but not sure of its primary bore size, the smaller the better throttle response off idle and gas milage Q-jet and 625 street demon have above down pact.
Thanks for the advice! I'm going to have to find a Buick guy in my area but they're aren't too many. I'm glad I found this site though I'm learning more everyday!
I don't have a horse in this race, but I'll say that I've seen Steve Caruso's GSX run at Stanton for many years. I don't know him at all, but if he says a Crower cam is a good cam for a stockish 350, I'm inclined to believe him. His traps at almost 100 and sounds like Grandma's 4-door (not in a bad way, but in a streetable way).
Thanks Aaron65. I often drive my car to the events as well and get 20+ mpg on the highway at 70mph. If you read peoples signiture lines you will see some folks post what they own and what their cars will do. Others post nothing and own nothing but opinions. The reason they didn't put split pattern cams is these cars when new is they weren't invented yet. Yeah I know there were some with minor splits. Now 40 years latter even split pattern cams are old tech. They are making cams with different lobes for each cylinder to equalize flow to the end cylinders. Single pattern cams are stone age tech. It's like Chevy guy's sticking with their "double hump" small block heads. A stock set of Vortec heads or any aluminum head blows them away but they won't listen.
I had a good experience with the COMP 268 in my low compression 72 350. I also think you cant go wrong with the TA212. And I think in either case they are about as big as you would want to go on an otherwise stock motor. Either will be a vast improvement over the stock camshaft, and I dont think youll be disappointed either way you choose. Someone needs to do a cam swap comparison on those two. Track times, seat of the pants reviews etc.
To make it fair and more interesting,one of the Crower cams should also be included,the level 2 or 3 which ever one is is closer to the 2 cams you mentioned. Sounds like you can't argue with Steve's results with his track times and his fuel economy he gets with his Crower Level 3 cam with basically a stock sbb 350.:TU: (in my previous post I forgot about the Crower cams when I recomended the TA212,both are good choices) Derek
This is all a new to me and all help and advice is greatly appreciated. What is the difference in the two cams? Is one more suited for low end and one for mid range?
Is there anything else that I need to change besides everything that comes in kit (cam,lifters,valve springs,valve stem seals,timing chain and gears)? I don't have any problems with engine that I know about, but was told to do a rebuild before putting money into it. What are your thoughts? Thanks in advance
I would suggest you use the recommended valve springs. How old are the springs on the heads now? If you don't know then change them. Also while the cam is out replace the front cam bearing. That's the biggest cause of low oil pressure.
Got it! I'm going to have to pick up a WP & FP would stock replacement fit or need something with more volume?
