Access T/A's online catalog and read all their notes regarding characteristics. Keep in mind you have a very heavy car with very tall gearing. It will always prefer low rpm torque to high rpm horsepower. Regardless of the car, your engine will benefit most from reading and following Larry's thread on power timing your distributor and putting a professionally rebuilt Quadrajet on it, from one of the guys on this forum. Those two things, combined with dual exhaust (don't go crazy with it, shop bent 2.25" or 2.5" diameter is fine) will make a very pleasant driver with a lot of 'off the line' grunt. You may want a looser torque converter, too. A very mild cam will be your best choice unless you want to raise compression and airflow, which is a lot more work. Welcome and good luck! Patrick
Consider replacing the worn out stock cam with a new and improved 'stock' cam, rebuild/recurve the distributor, and tune it with your current carb. You may be surprised how well it does compared to your existing tired combination. It will also be much easier to replace, since there will be no indexing to mess with. OEM replacement cams are made of the best materials and hardened to modern day techniques and standards for use with modern day oils. There are other things the engine may need other than simply replacing the camshaft too. How's the engine's oil pressure?
Based on your engine description I would suggest the TA212 as the largest choice. The TA112 would work very well but would have a smooth idle if your good with that. The RV12 is a great upgrade from stock, have had great feed back on this cam. Keep the cam on the smaller side to keep the low end performance unless you can raise the compression a bit. Here is a list of choices; TARV12, 455H.440-205'/.468-215',112' HYDRAULIC CAM 1.55 rocker TA112, 455H.455-210'/.468-215',112' HYDRAULIC CAM 1.55 rocker TAC110, 455H.455-218'/.465-224',110' HYDRAULIC CAM 1.55 rocker TA212, 455H.455-218'/.460-230',112' HYDRAULIC CAM 1.55 rocker We do ship over seas weekly, Sherri takes care of all the logistics.
Listen to Larry the Wizard! Your car needs the cam he suggested ! I had gone through 5 cams back in the late 90's until I realized that a smaller cam actually made my GSX Stage 1 go faster. Instantaneous throttle response is what I wanted for the street and the smaller cam just wakes up the car! 218 dur. 112lc 448 lift is what I have.
TA 112...good choice! As you can see I have a step up from that with the 212 specs. But I have 9.7 to 1 compression. If your 73 has stock compression it is probably like 8.5 to 1. My cam is a Crane in my GSX...but my 69 455 convertible with the same compression is a TA-212 with the same specs....with a bit more lift. Get the TA112
Installed TA112 cam in my Riv, run very well, Im feel more power under throttle pedal) Also engine sound changed. Thank you, TA!
