I don't think that you can't get that power your looking for. Just that its not for someone that seems to want everyone's engine left stock. Their ain't no fun there. But seems you will need a custom cam and ported big valve heads. Leaving stock convertor and gears ain't going to make it happen either. Marks car runs 13.50s with a dual plane intake. Combo must be good.
Actually, the theory on performance cam longevity is quite warranted, even based on what you just wrote. 40k on it before selling it to someone. I'm quite sure there was significant wear on it. I've said before, moderate performance cams can last 40-60k miles, depending. They're not all the same, of course, but the ones I'm talking about only getting 10-15k miles out of are obviously much more radical. You may even get 20-25k out of some radical ones. In case you haven't noticed, these numbers are quite small when compared to 200k+ miles. Take ANY performance engine with 100k miles on it (if it even lasted that long) and I promise the stock one is still running strong in its main sequence life span. I even wrote up a list somewhere on a thread about this, and the information you're giving is pretty much spot-on. Thanks for the clarification! Even if my estimates are off a bit, the spirit of the message still holds true. Not every camshaft/engine is going to be the same, or last the same. These are just estimates, but even so, still shows some measure of accuracy. Yes, incorrect valvetrain issue is the main cause. Improper valvetrain geometry and excessive spring pressures will do that. You will ONLY have these problems with aftermarket 'performance' camshafts. Thanks again for the clarification. :grin: All I'm saying here is if you want it to last, go stock. That's it. If you don't care, then that's ok too! The information I give will allow others to make a more educated decision on their cam choice, and not just the constant 'you need more cam' posts that everyone seems to thrive on. I take a different path. Let diversity have its say and we can all be happy. Gary
Good for you. I'm glad you made this decision, even if it perturbs others. 120,000 miles on an original, never rebuilt engine, and still has excellent compression and runs great. You would NEVER get those miles out of a performance camshaft, much less have it still running strong. What more needs to be said? You have a real gem in your possession. If only others would be so wise and realize the value of their precious Buick and not butcher it up just so they can go a little faster. As mentioned earlier, there's still ways to get more power out of it and leave it stock, should you ever decide to go down that path. Get another Buick with a 455 in it (or a built 350---they ARE fast when built, they just don't last as long as stockers) for your racing needs. :TU: Best wishes to you. Gary
A sbb 350 high performance roller cam engine would last a long time just fine if its built right! You get what you pay for, if someone forked over the cash from the start for a roller cam and complimented it with a set of beehive springs for more valve control with less spring pressure a high performance sbb 350 with cam lifts in the .550" to .600" range should be able to run that cam as long as a new LS engine would last and make more power from the start(factory LS vs. built right sbb 350). All this talk about camshaft longevity is pointless, just throw in a roller cam with beehive springs like the General uses for his LS serious engines and don't worry about it! Last you looooonnnnggggg time! Want more power, stuff more air in, easy peasy! Turbos work well for having a higher performance engine that will last a very long time as long as it stays in tune and doesn't detonate. Turbo boost is much more gentle on the engine because of the turbo lag that brings up the boost slower than other boosting methods. The only reason a non full time race engine won't "last" is because of inferior parts and sub par workmanship. What do you have against performance anyway? You're not a tree hugger are you? LOL Derek
Yes on the roller cam. Close on the turbo statement. A turbo engines crank, rods and pistons only see net horsepower meaning the turbine side takes its power from the exhaust gas pressure and the engine sees it as a pumping loss. The rotating assembly doesn't have to handle the power needed to drive the turbo only the power to propel the vehicle. A supercharger takes its drive power directly off the crank so the rotating assembly sees both the power to run the supercharger plus the net power to propel the vehicle. Paul
Also the supercharger's boost is more instant than a turbo's boost stressing internal parts from zero to hold on when the go peddle is hammered. A turbo's boost needs to "spool" before the parts are stressed with the extra power from the boost slowly building the extra stress on the parts until full boost, but how often will a turbo car see full boost on the street? This would be substantial with a street driven car more than a race car because the race car will spool the turbo up on the line before they release the trans brake. Of coarse the street driven car can spool up the turbo at a light but when the light changes and the brake is released all you get is tire spin which mostly hurts the tires. LOL Derek
I certainly advocate roller cams, as I've said earlier. It's kinda why I said the only flat tappet cam worth using is the OEM one. Roller will last much longer yes, but you still have to be reasonable with lifts and profile intensities otherwise not so much. Doesn't matter. I've done enough talking for one weekend. I'm sure everyone will enjoy the break I give them after I give it a rest for a while. :laugh: Thanks to all for an entertaining weekend. Gary
Hey Gary, I wasn't trying to shut you up, on the contrary I was actually trying to keep you writing. I was joking, you do know that right? Anyway have a great holiday everyone! Derek
Don't flatter yourself Derek. lol You couldn't shut me up if you wanted to. I was just wanting to give it a rest is all. We all joke around. It's cool brother! Gary
Gary here is the level 3 cam with 7000 miles for your enjoyment. Doesn't look bad but as you say I don't think it would go 200,000 miles.
I've only skimmed the thread, so if my contribution has been touched on somewhere please forgive. I've seen longevity be hit and miss recently. I've had quite a few aftermarket cams go 120k + (over .320 lobe lift). I had an eye opening conversation with Charles from Cam Craft a few years ago... Some cam cores the aftermarket co's get have been found to be substandard. There's only so many good cam core sources left. When a production run is made, they use whatever they have to. Some cams have been out there a while. There's years that a few types of cores were used. So there's some unpredictability unless you talk to a custom cam company. 120k is nothing to a performance engine. Use good parts, fix weak links, maintain them.
Thank you for this valuable information! I'm actually glad to hear this. I was hoping I was wrong about the performance camshaft longevity issue, as no one was able to add any additional information until now. Thanks again. Gary
