My friend is looking for camshaft recommendation for his 4,800 pound land-yacht: Criteria: Only concerned about 0-60 MPH acceleration; beyond 60 MPH is of no concern. Must have smooth idle. 1971 455 (engine will be a stock appearing engine) 8.5:1 compression (stock rebuild) TH-400 (stock rebuild) 2.93 open rear (stock) I recommended the TA-RV or TA-112 only. I tried the KB Mark 2 long ago and didn't much care for it in my 72 Riv (not enough rear gear, and to much lope), so the TA-212 is out. Any other cam recommendations?
I am running a stock Stage 1 cam with a 2400 stall converter along with a curve kit and electronic ign. X pipe with good flowing mufflers cut off at the rear axel. The setup didn't cost much and didn't take long to install, but it made a difference for a stock big car.
Hi pooods, My friend's rebuilt TH-400 has stock 1700 stall converter. Might be a bit too low for the Stage-1 cam and 2.93 rear. How much does your car weigh?
I think we'd all like to have a spare set of 3.42's with its matching posi unit on the shelf just in case. Unfortunately, with the 12 bolt 9 3/8" rear, you're pretty much stuck with what you've got. Unless you want to go dumpster diving to look for a used set.
Welp, Based on my final recommendation, he went with TA's RV12. Reports that his engine is now performing up to his expectations; smooth idle, lots of torque, excellent tip-in throttle response with the Q-jet. :TU: I think most of that comes from the fact that his engine was totally rebuilt, as it was on it's last leg in any case. I also recommended that he add an oil pump booster plate with an adjustable pressure regulator, which he did. His Ford hotrod shop charged him $6,000.00 for the engine (carb to pan) installed and ready to go; just turn the ignition key. :TU:
Crane Cam I have used the Crane 218 dur./ 448 lift / 112 LC cam and it has gobs of street torque from idle up through the mid range where you want it . Works great with stock converters. This is a great cam to get the big cars to move out quickly with a stock converter. GSX Eric :3gears:
Thanks for the replies Guys..... I figured that there wasn't going to be a "Magic Bullet" camshaft for a low compression Buick, even with all the hype of the newer tech camshafts and valve trains. Just had to check with this group to make sure. Just goes to show you that sometimes 30 year old tech is still good enough in this day and age. Hopefully this new engine will live a long time before having to rebuild it again. I think at this point TA's RV12 is in for good as my friend is a Ford guy and just wanted to restore this mother's old Buick and add a little more oommpphh off the line if it was a simple deal. He runs roller cams in all his Ford, and wanted to do so in this Buick 455. He was willing to spend the extra dough if it was an off-the-shelf item. I told him to forget roller cams as it's not a slam dunk with these older Buicks. Maybe next time.....
Hi Eric, Just checked out the specs and it seems to offer a "good" idle vs the "smooth" idle that my friend wanted for this Buick.
