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biggest cam with stock 350 and springs

83K views 15 replies 6 participants last post by  1996thunderchicken 
#1 ·
Ok I am figuring I am gonna have to stick in a new cam but I dont want to have to change alot of stuff like springs or heads but have better power than stock my heads are the 487X heads the block is 39700014 im just wandering whats my best bet for a good cam and yes it is a daily driver
 
#2 ·
Any cam that's above stock should use the matching springs. If not, it's throwing power out the window due loss of valve control. It also increases the risk of a broken valve spring which sometimes they're won't be any damage, other times it'll damage the piston and the valve and in a worse case scenerio it'll drop the valve. Replacing the valve springs to the ultra cheap "Z28" springs is a common move, plus these springs will cover quite a variety of cams. Changing valve springs is very easy if you use the rope trick which is to remove the spark plug, bring the piston about half way up the bore, feed small rope into the cylinder, then by hand move the piston up as high as it will go, when it's reached that limit you'll know. Then use a valve spring remover and change both springs on that cylinder. This way there is no worry of dropping a valve while you work. Some guys use the air pressure method which works okay as well but you have to be real careful, cause if you tap a valve the air escapes and the valve drops. You said it's a stock 350, you mean stock as in stock exhaust manifolds and stock carb? If so the summit 1102 grind would work for you just fine. Make sure you install a double roller timing set while your in there.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-1102/
 
#8 ·
1996thunderchicken said:
whats wrong with a jasper engine ????????
Take one apart and you'll find plenty wrong. Toleances are all over the place, they mix and match parts, and will reuse parts without properly machininvg them. I've owned 1 of them (well actually 3 as it was covered under warrenty twice and then I just got my money back the last time it failed) and installed/reinstalled many more (against my advice).

I would take an oil burner with 500,000 miles from the junkyard before id take a jasper.

I know they're cheap, which is why people buy them, but its still a lot of money to throw away.
 
#9 ·
bad thing is that i dont have the money for even a junkyard engine right now so now what do i do maybe the reason of it being jasper could explain alot i do have a question tho i pluged the pcv valve for a second and the engine idled down and ran smoother it has always ran a little rough so could it be the it was an improperly built jasper
 
#10 ·
1996thunderchicken said:
bad thing is that i dont have the money for even a junkyard engine right now so now what do i do maybe the reason of it being jasper could explain alot i do have a question tho i pluged the pcv valve for a second and the engine idled down and ran smoother it has always ran a little rough so could it be the it was an improperly built jasper
Is there a lot of blow by?
 
#13 ·
1996thunderchicken said:
bad thing is that i dont have the money for even a junkyard engine right now so now what do i do maybe the reason of it being jasper could explain alot i do have a question tho i pluged the pcv valve for a second and the engine idled down and ran smoother it has always ran a little rough so could it be the it was an improperly built jasper
The change in idle from plugging the PCV valve could be due to a vacuum leak or an incorrectly calibrated carb.

Do a vacuum test using an undamped diagnostic-type vacuum gauge (as opposed to a MPG-type gauge). Note the gauge needle movement as well as the amount of vacuum the engine is making at idle.

The gauge needle should be steady, and w/a stock-type cam the vacuum should be 17 in/Hg- plus. If the gauge is steady but low, look for a vacuum leak. You can also check for a vacuum leak w/o taking a vacuum reading, look for leaks "through intake manifold gaskets, manifold-to-carburetor gaskets, vacuum brakes or the vacuum modulator. Low readings could also be very late valve timing or worn piston rings." Also any vacuum accessory or the vacuum lines to the accessories can leak.

Setting up a performance timing curve will give you as much of a performance increase of anything you can do short of bolting on part$. More on that here.
 
#14 ·
ok the intake is new and the gaskets are new torqued and retorqued and a third time just to be safe i used the mr gasket ultra seal intake gaskets the edelbrock that is on it will not tune at all ive tried and tried again with the same results i usually have 23hg of vaccume the gauge i use is a vac pump guage and now i have 20hg either way i still run rich i cannot run anything but rich other wise she has nothing it just wants to stumble if i set it lower than where its at and now there is a slight tick but i cant figure out where its coming from but the crank pulley is floppy a lil and i even got under the car while running and i looked behind the balancer and it is rolling smooth meaning im not seeing the crank snout wobbling just the pulley if that makes any sense or not so worst case scenario what am i gonna have to do with this if its the balancer have i let it go too long and let it screw the cam this is my only driver and i cant allow it to be down and i cannot put another engine in i havnt the resources if this engine is screwed then i am going to have to figure out something
 
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