[bhughes]

about a year ago i bought a 1979 camaro it has a rebuilt engine t0 orginal specs. i would like to upgrade the cam shafttgo give the car a little more pep. i was woundering what kind of shaft i should buy . do i have to do hesd work also ? i would like to push about 350 to 400 hp i have some ideas of a crane cam but do not no wich one to get i have dyno max haeders ans exsautready tol put in. the car has a holley 650 double pumper on it right now. and the fuel pump is the orginal mechanical pump what should i upgrade it to? this is my first project i just want to do it right the first time


thanks

Brian

PS I love the site

 

[DoubleVision]

If your looking for 350 to 400 horses, your not gonna get it by just a camshaft swap, you may as well pull the engine since you`ll be needing a upgrade in compression, flow, exhaust, ignition, camshaft, the whole 9 yards.

 

[strikingthematch]

You have the right ideas. With a cam and head work you could easily reach your goal of 350 or so HP

My advise to you would be to look at some of the aftermarket heads. While I don't know what your heads are on the engine now an aftermarket head will give you great flow and you can get just what you want for a decent price.

Look at either crane or comp they can help you choose the cam you need.

The holley will do nicely on top. I would say since you need a intake too get the Air Gap from eld.

When you take your engine apart you might want to look into the internals and see how they are.
It would be wise to replace the bearings since it seems the engine has never been cracked open.

Also there may be ridges on the cyd. wall in which case an over bore would be needed and since that is the case you then have to replace pistons in which case that is a great time to choose CR you want.

One thing leads to another. You replace the cam but also have to replace the lifters and more then likely the springs and parts.

In other words it would be a really good idea to freshen up your engine before you start pushing power out of it. Believe me I went through all this.

Chris

 

[firestone]

Vortec heads ($650)
comp XE268H cam and lifters ($180)
Vortec performer RPM air gap intake ($225)
600 holley dp carb with fuel line ($315)

These parts will get you a good 375 hp/400 tq with 9.5:1 compression. Anything less probably wont do it.

Adam