whats a good cam for dragracing and street its going in a 351
- Thread starter white69mach1
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Dark Knight
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69Rcode_Mach1
Active Member
If you are running an auto trans with a stock converter and gears (2.80-3.00) thats probably all you want or the low end off the line performance will really suck...been there done that. If you plan on or already have a higher than stock stall converter, or a 4 spd and/or 3.50+ gears I would definitely go bigger.
Also, how much do you drive the car?
Also, how much do you drive the car?
heres where im at i have 3,000 to spend on getting a motor built now if i i could get a motor built for less then 3,000 and have money left to buy a stall and have installed and gears installed then i would go for a bigger cam.probly going to need to buy a bigger carb i have stock autolite carb.do yall think i could make all that happen for 3,000
Cobain03
Active Member
i have the 204/214 duration 448/472 lift in my car. its got the automatic 3 speed and i drive it ALOT. it has a very lopey idle. but since i'd say that cam fits MY setup, i'd suggest to go bigger. i just have a lil ole 293 lol
69Rcode_Mach1
Active Member
I would shoot for something with around 222/230 duration @ .050, then I would also up the lift, those lift figures are a little low. I would shoot for something around .510-.544. That is plenty streetable, and should not leave you disappointed with the power. $3000 you can build a nice engine, are you doing the work yourself? Cams, lifters, double roller timing chain, hardened pushrods, are cheap, and that should take care of your valvetrain if you have roller rockers already. That would set you back around $300 without rockers (I am assuming you have them). Lets say $1000-1200 on some nice aluminum cylinder heads, like the twisted wedge heads by Trickflow. Does the bottom end need work? Pistons, rings, and block prep (machine shop) will probably set you back $500 if you go Hypereutectic. No matter what I recommend resizing the rods for ARP rod bolts. That shouldn't set you back more than $100. I also recommend having the rotating assembly balanced. Which would set you back around $200. Throw on a nice intake manifold for $200 and you are done. As you can see if you do the work yourself, you can have yourself a very nice 400+hp engine on that runs reliably on that 351 with around $2500. You can also buy a nice new carb with the leftover cash. That is why I build them myself.
for a specific cam recommendation, assuming this is primarily a street engine, i would use either the 270 magnum from comp cams, or the performer rpm from edelbrock. these cams will give you the mid range power you need, and the drivability you want.
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