Is it? In terms of raw performance, I mean. I've heard people gush over crower cams, what makes them better? Just the way they're designed with the Buick in mind? I did notice all of crower's 350 buick cams have more lift and duration on the exhaust, while the 268H I had just had .469 lift and 218/218 dur at .050 on both, but it sounded good even with my low (apparently 7.9:1. Damn you dished pistons! Loved 87 octane though, so that was a plus.) (skip to :30). Would I really notice that much of a difference from going from the comp to the crower level 3? Or which one of the TA cams would be good? It's gotta have a nice lump to it like in the video and be fairly streetable. Keep in mind, my car had only the TA downpipes and two 8" cherry bombs on it. I plan on running some extra pipe on both sides and dumping it before the rear tire out the side nascar style. No emissions bs where I live, so as long as you aren't doing a rolling burnout past the cops, no one cares what you do.
Old school thought: Straight pattern cams will give the most power with the ideal intake to exhaust flow ratio of about 70%-75% when used with headers. Additional tweaks/alterations can be applied to the intake and exhaust lifts/durations as well as the lobe separation angle and installed lobe centerlines, depending on your desired powerband, additional components to be used, the actual head flow ratio, whether or not manifolds will be used, idle and vacuum quality, compression ratio to be used, etc. etc. Also to be considered is the intensity of the lobe ramp profile. The more intense it is, the more power the cam will give, but at the cost of valvetrain stability and longevity, which can vary greatly depending on the severity of the ramp profile. Too intense and you're better off going roller design, as the flat tappet cams are prone to failure upon break-in or can beat your valve seats to death, among other problems. This doesn't happen all the time, but often enough to where it's a problem, and if you wipe a cam upon break-in, you can expect to have to redo the entire engine as metal particles will be everywhere. Safest way is to use a cam that has a good reputation for ease of break-in and produces good power. This is probably why many here trust and use Crower and TA cams. There is also a fellow who custom grinds cams for us Buick enthusiasts (Scotty Brown I think? Forgive if I got that wrong--someone please clarify or correct me), who can make one for you that isn't much more money than an off the shelf cam, and it'll be custom tailored to your combination.
I think, to be on the safe side, I'll stick with the 268. It just sounded so good to me and everyone that heard the car, and believe me, everyone heard it. Whether they wanted to or not. It's a cam that I know worked well with my combo, plus it's a touch cheaper. If I end up not liking how it performs once I install a ta intake, tinker with my qjet, maybe try my hand at porting, or at least cleaning up the cylinder heads, and bump the compression upto hopefully 9:1 with the 340p pistons (no decking or surfacing, .040 head gasket), then I might grab a cam from crower or TA, leaning a bit more towards TA as they are, well Buick specialists. I assume they know what an engine would need cam wise. Also, I will be keeping my manifolds. Headers are just too much of a pita to put into a g body with a 350 Buick and they hang low. I'm no welder, so manifolds are A-ok by me.
The cam is (268) is almost 40 year old technology and everyone knows the Buick need a split cam to make the motor run better. I ran the same cam on all stock parts and you knew it had a cam in it but it would not turn on till about 2500 rpm.
What it sounds like is no indication it's doing the job right. It could be expending compression and power out the exhaust with the wrong duration to make that extra noise. Look at the comp cams thumpr cams , they make it sound mean but you give up Power.
The difference in cylinder fill from a slightly different spec'd cam is as arguable as a 10cfm difference in an intake port from a slightly different valve job. There's 15-20 hp there. The extra noise at idle and below the powerband is from more overlap, which wakes up quickly above that point. If you already have one in good shape there's no need to swap it out and bother breaking one in with very similar specs, you probably won't even feel the difference.
I don't know much about cams but the guy who put mine together put a comp cam in mine,B455 268 H-10 Been building motors around forty years I hope he knows what he's doing or I'll be unhappy .Hope comp cams are good!
They are good, but as with everything automotive, there is always something bigger and better and louder and faster. It'll be fine.
Sounds like your mind was made up even before you posted the question. We can lead a horse to water, but we can make it drink. GL Derek
I'm still 50/50 on the subject, I just wish there was more info out there about cams in a SBB. I know from my personal experience that the 268 did everything I wanted it to do, but if there are better options out there I'd like to try them, but I don't know if it'd be worth messing with something that worked so well, buying another cam and lifter set, maybe springs, only to have it disappoint me or just be marginally better over the 268.. If with higher compression (shooting for 9:1), Ta intake and what not don't like the 268, I'll definitely try the level 3, or the 284 from TA.
Here is a trishield performance build with a 212 TA cam. http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/tsp-level-1-350-buildup-info-and-dyno-results.153248/ And steves crower build. http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/next-step-for-my-350.292865/ One with aluminum intake and headers, one with stock manifolds.
Well, if you're going to stay with IIRC the 2.41:1 rear gear then the Crower L2 will be similar to the comp 268 but has that extra ex. duration to get those spent gases out quicker with the manifolds that again IIRC you're going to keep using. With more exhaust duration there is more thunder out of the exhaust, especially with cherry bombs! As well as a little boost in power from a cam designed for a sbb 350. If you upgrade your rear gear to one that is numerically higher, that 268 cam will run out of RPM way sooner that you may want it to. With only a 3speed trans with the upgraded gear, that will limit you MPH if that matters to you as well, although out of the hole would be decent if you can make the low end torque hook. But again, the L2 would be the same way but would make more power doing it. A better gear with the L3 cam will help the engine rev around 1K more RPM than the 268. With 9:1 won't you need to run premium with the 268 because the dynamic compression will be higher?(I don't have time to do the math) Your exhaust sounds so good because of the cherry bombs you have on the car! Had those with a sbc 283 with a factory cam and even that little turd sounded good. LOL Anyway, that recent magazine build used that cam because they probably had to because Comp sponsors the magazine so they had to use that cam because I think that's the only one that Comp makes for a sbb 350. For a small block build, did you notice how low the RPM maxed out on the dyno? As mentioned before, that if you still have the 268 cam and its undamaged then you should use it in the re-rebuild, at least until you upgrade the rear gear. Reusing the cam means you won't need to break in the cam again if you kept track of where all the lifters came out and you put them back in where they came from. If you have to BUY another cam, then that's a different story, you should buy the one you want to end up with that matches the gearing you event7ually want in the car. GL Derek
I guess that would end up being either the crower level 3, or a TA 284 then. Maybe that's why the 268 ran so good, my crap gears. I plan on going to 3.42s and 235/60/15 tire instead of the 2.41s and the 195/75/14s I have now. It'd still be at 2500ish rpm on the highway, but would the off line line, so to speak, be better? I would assume so with steeper gears and all.
Come to think of it, what about the TA 290 or Crower level 4? Or are they too much for my 9:1, stock manifolds, downpipes, qjet, stock heads (valve job), combo?
Those two cams are too much for your low compression. Stick with your 268 or a TA212 or a crower level 2. It's not that the 268 is a BAD cam it's just not that great compared to what you can get now...
I think the 290 is supposed to be decent with 9 to 1 . The 268 really is designed for use with headers. The level 4 really needs higher compression, bigger converter and gears , should be used with headers , head porting.the 212 likes hi compression also, there was a recent post of an 11.5 compression engine with the 212 cam rest of engine stock, with 4.10 gears running 12s. It's still good at low compression but does respond with out.
the level 4 does not work well with iron exhaust. I don't think the 290 would either. If you like the 268 use it. You want to go faster use the crower. The Crower idles much smoother so if you want a rough idle at the expense of power keep the Comp. Any of the cams listed need minimum of 9:1 for best power. Why do you want to use such a small tire? Put 255/60 on it. Fit perfect.
If you want to go faster put effort into the head flow and compression, match the cam to the head's characteristics and work your way from that aspect. The cam isn't as much of a magic stick without a very specific combo in mind...which we don't see being discussed here. Think about it this way, a good head porter can use your not-so-favorite cam and still blow you away with it.
