cam and intake...need help choosing

[cjroddam]

im trying to decide what cam i can run on my 390...im pretty sure i will pickup the edelbrock 2105 performer intake or even the 7105 performer rpm...i already have a holley 600 4bbl brand new...motor is stock except for the carb...i dont want to do a stall converter at least not for a good while till i get a better job ...a lot of cams i looked at online say i need a 2000 stall but ive been told i really dont have to...i will do headers if needed, no regearing at the moment...i am going to buy a kit that includes matching lifters and valve springs with the cams...heads are stock c8aeh...from what ive read, a cam with a .484 valve lift which is a rv cam is perfect for stock...i was thinking i can go up to a valve lift of .530 or maybe .540 safely with the matching valve springs with out a stall and with stock compression on the 390...i want to get the longest valve lift possible without any problems...what do yall think would be the biggest and/or best cam with this intake and my setup??

[Dragon]

.530 and .540 lift means less than cam duration and overlap. For street and desert racing I would use the Crower Power Beast. It pulls from an idle to 5200 with stock springs and with the kit you could hit 5600 but the power curve is gone at 5200. The kit just makes the high end more responsive by keeping the valves on their seats when they need to be.

[convincor]

something else you'll want to concider is if you go with something that big it's not going to like the low compression of the truck engine.
Also, you'll need to go with adjustible rockers and I'd suggest end supports for the shafts.
Take a look at CompCams website and download the cam selector. It'll give you an idea of were you want to be. http://www.compcams.com/Camquest/

I'd say look at something like there 256 or 260
http://www.compperformancegroupstores.c ... =FEHYTAPXE
http://www.compperformancegroupstores.c ... =FEHYTAPHE

[fordwannabe]

I have always been happy with Comp Cams products and the customer support is good too. My only thought is don't go crazy with the cam if you can't afford to do some of the other stuff at the same time. A huge cam with a small carb isn't going to let you use the full potential of the cam. A great running engine without the rest of the drive train being up to snuff, won't make you happy either. Go reasonable, be realistic in your expectations of what you can do at this point and don't go overboard on any one area of the engine. A smallish cam with a smallish carb and a set of good street headers WITH A GOOD TUNE UP(new points, plugs, wires, air filter, fuel filter, ect) WILL RUN BETTER THAN AN ENGINE WITH $1000 DOLLARS OF GO FAST PARTS AND A CLOGGED AIR AND FUEL FILTER. I know this stuff not because I was born a genius but because I have made the mistakes myself and hope to help the newer guys learn from my mistakes( a 289 with a stock cam SHOULD NOT BE RUNNING DUAL QUADS THROUGH STOCK EXHAUST MANIFOLDS). Good luck and a 390 with even mild upgrades is a awsome powerplant. Tom

[dustman_stx]

Comp Cams says you can go as high as the 280 with stock rocker arm assembly. You will only have to machine your heads to accept the longer springs supplied. According to Comp Cams software, this cam with a single plane intake and a 600 cfm with headers and ported and polished heads with 2.19 intake, 1.65 exhaust will get you around 450 HP and torque. Should be a running dude. Check out ebay for the intake and a cam kit. Granted, a dual plane will get to the peak of your torque curve more quickly, but peak torque and horsepower rises substantially with the single plane, and you still have 400 ft.lbs at 2500. Keep in mind real world probably won't yield quite as good of results, but still gives a good comparison. You can download the software for free from Comp, and it's a lot of fun to play around with. Oh yeah, I am figuring a compression of 10:1, which your truck probably won't be at without mods.

[cjroddam]

ok cool yall...thanks...ive decided to go with a "hot" rv cam... .489/.493 lift 110' separation 268deg....i went ahead and grabbed the 7105 edel intake cuz i dont want to buy the 2105 then in 6 months have to buy the 7105...i got this cam so like yall said not to buy something too big and not be able to buy other supporting componets...my plans are to now run stock heads but in 6 months or so eventually get some edel aluminum heads and then grab a bigger cam and do rockers and all the goodies