Augie 79

Hello all, tonight I start my engine removal. :smash: I'm going to turn in my original L-48 (79) motor to be rebuilt. I want to put a different cam in it, just a cam. Any recommendations? Just the cam, no heads, cranks, rollers, superchargers or anything else. Just a cam that will work with hydraulic lifters. The objective is better performance. Thanks, augie

The_Dude

manual or automatic trans?

Augie 79

Sorry, Auto Trans.

QuickVet

I would go for a smaller extreme energy cam. maybe 470 lift or so and not to much duration.

redwingvette

I am very happy with my cam. Good low-end even before I put the Performer heads on.

isosceles

My car sounds similar to yours. Stock L48, auto trans, and dual exhaust through manifolds. Ganey and others recommended a Comp High Energy 268 at most.

Jvette73

I recomend either a stock L82 cam which believe it or not is a pretty decent performance cam or a Comp Cams ex256. either will work well with yur other stock components. the xe262 and higher require a valve spring change. the xe268 would have a noticable drop in bottom end power.

The_Dude

My engine is stock, but for headers, and an Edelbrock performer intake. I am running a comp high energy 268h. It's very nice with a manual transmission, but might be a bit much for a stock automatic. :cheers:

Shark Racer

Do a little port work on the head, pocket porting, and run headers. Also, try to get the engine compression as high as you can without running into detonation. An XE262 would be good for <3.55 gears, XE268 for >3.55.

With what I mentioned, expect maybe 280 hp w/ the XE262, and a little more with the 268. That's my guess.

-Steve

Budman68

I would look for a cam with more overlap to raise the compression. Lift will only be so good with the valve size. Cheat the system and look for that. Spend the extra coin and get a roller. :cheers: I regret not doing that.