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493 Stroker Cam and Intake Selection

nstyle73

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I am not a complete newbie to the hobby, but this is the first engine build project in my repertoire. I have a 493 short block. I would like to go to studs on the bottom end and will have to have it align honed and machined for retrofit roller lifters. I am trying to decide on a cam and will be calling a couple of cam makers for some advice, but real world users have valuable information to share. The car is a 73 Charger, pushing 4K lbs with driver, currently 3.55 gears, 4 speed, strictly street driving. I kid myself when I think that it might go to the track. 2" headers, Trickflow 240 heads, 1.5 and 1.6 roller rockers are already in the garage as is an Edelbrock RPM intake. I fear the intake to be too large a restriction for these heads and can't bring myself to pay to port it when I could go to a single planefor the same money. I am looking at cams in the 235-245* @.050", 110LSA. My main concern is I would like to keep the power coming in around that 2000-2500 range, but know I am giving some up on the top end with these heads and a small cam, but have never driven a stroker so I don't know how founded this concern is with the extra cubes down low.
 
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Nice setup so far. I have seen a comp cam Xtreme Energy™ Hi-Lift XE285HL; on the dyno in a 440 mind you and did it ever put up some impressive numbers. In a 440 with TFS it was just a bit too much for a street car with 355 especially with power brakes. But put that into a 493 and I think it will be just right. You can also call Bullet cams they are really good and get their opinion as well. Good luck and let us know how things go
 
Personally i would use the Dual plan RPM manifold and port it, on the street its gonna be Great and yes some track will be just fine, i went 10.36 @129 in the 1/4 with match ported Dual plane intake & RPM Heads on my 440, if you have power brakes i would consider a hydrobooster, not vacuum. regarding your Cam Choice yup talk to a tech.
 
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i put a 238@ .50 cam in my 496 originally, and it was too small. you will need a custom grind to get what your looking for.

I have a Hughes engines ported Edelbrock RPM and it can handle a 500 no problem.
 
If you are serious about using head studs, be aware that they often interfere with most headers. They stick out too far and the underside of the tubes make contact.
 
I have a complete custom spec comp cam solid flat tappet package from Dwayne Porter for a big block stroker BNIB . This was for a 68 Bee 496 ,373 gear ,3000 stall . very strong midrange where you want it . cam spec valve lift .571 in ,.579 ex , 255 ,261 duration @ .050 110 lobe separation ,includes EDM solid lifters ,beehive springs ,retainers ,locks ,and 3 bolt chain and gear

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I am not a complete newbie to the hobby, but this is the first engine build project in my repertoire. I have a 493 short block. I would like to go to studs on the bottom end and will have to have it align honed and machined for retrofit roller lifters. I am trying to decide on a cam and will be calling a couple of cam makers for some advice, but real world users have valuable information to share. The car is a 73 Charger, pushing 4K lbs with driver, currently 3.55 gears, 4 speed, strictly street driving. I kid myself when I think that it might go to the track. 2" headers, Trickflow 240 heads, 1.5 and 1.6 roller rockers are already in the garage as is an Edelbrock RPM intake. I fear the intake to be too large a restriction for these heads and can't bring myself to pay to port it when I could go to a single planefor the same money. I am looking at cams in the 235-245* @.050", 110LSA. My main concern is I would like to keep the power coming in around that 2000-2500 range, but know I am giving some up on the top end with these heads and a small cam, but have never driven a stroker so I don't know how founded this concern is with the extra cubes down low.

What compression ratio? No machine work needed for roller lifters. Looking at hydraulic or solid roller cams? The 235-245 will be pretty mild in a 493" engine. I am running the Comp XR286HR-10 Hydraulic roller in the 505" stroked 440 with Stealth heads. This cam is close to what you mentioned, 236/242 @ 0.050". Before the EFI, I had the RPM dual plane intake, Holley 770 avenger carb and it ran good with that intake, and matches well with the mild cam. I am only running 1-7/8" headers with 2.5" dual exhaust. I wanted good fitment, quiet mufflers and no hassles since this is in the Convertible which is not intended to be raced. I have 3.54:1 gears and 5-speed OD, and no problem being in OD @ 1,500 RPM and 50 MPH. Have rev-limiter set to 6,000 RPM and it spins up to the limit very easy. All the mild cam, intake, carb,and headers limit the power output as the heads/engine can easy make more power. This is the only hydraulic roller I have done, and don't know how much RPM I could spin before valve float. My current build using the Trick flow 240 heads with the stiffer solid roller valve springs will have a solid roller cam. Lunati 40230732LK 243/249@ 0.050"
 
The deck is near zero to slightly in the hole but I have not had it measured yet. So with the TFS I am looking around 10.5-11 static. I was under the impression to run the retrofit hydraulic roller lifters, that the block had to be machined. The studs I mentioned would be for the main caps and a girdle, not head studs.
 
The Comp 286HR should work just fine for you. I would not go any larger that with your car. Use the Performer RPM intake, it will work the best for your combination. You can run headers if you want or use HP exhaust manifolds. Either will work pretty well on that combination. If you have some extra money in the budget spend it on EFI rather than go fast parts. The car will be much easier to live with if has EFI.
 
FiTech is the current fuel plan.

Sounds good. I started collecting the parts for the TF 240 head engine last year, then got sick and had surgery so I need to pay off some medical bills before continuing the project. I am also going to use the FiTech, bought the EFI 8, power adder version so it will control the ignition curve too.
The reason I asked about the compression ratio is with close to 11:1 compression the smaller cam might require around 100 octane fuel? hard to say exactly, as the Trick Flow heads have a better chamber design than the Stealth heads. If your in the low 10.?:1 compression I think you can run pump gas. Having cool inlet air really helps reduce the chance of pre-ignition.
 
The car has a ramcharger hood, but yes, my understanding is that the smaller the cam with less duration, will increase the dynamic CR possibly causing pre-ignition problems, correct?
 
The car has a ramcharger hood, but yes, my understanding is that the smaller the cam with less duration, will increase the dynamic CR possibly causing pre-ignition problems, correct?

Yes, you probably would like to stay around 8.5-8.75:1 maximum dynamic on pump gas with aluminum heads. Not worth the risk running it on the edge for a few additional horsepower. Will probably make more power than if you were to retard timing to compensate otherwise.
 
If you are serious about using head studs, be aware that they often interfere with most headers. They stick out too far and the underside of the tubes make contact.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
so you`ll need to grind them off to the nut heighth .
 
The car has a ramcharger hood, but yes, my understanding is that the smaller the cam with less duration, will increase the dynamic CR possibly causing pre-ignition problems, correct?
if you want to use the ramcharger hood cold air it can complicate intake manifold choices.
 
Already had the 440 with the RPM mounted with it so it's good to go
 
Comp came back with the 286HR-10. I am going to contact a few other places as well. Howards has a cam almost exactly like this as well. I have considered something as big as 242/248 @.050 as the 3.55's will likely become 3.91's if I can swing a Gear Vendors in next year or so. I have all but decided to stick with the 1.5:1 rockers. Also talked to the guy that I am going to have assemble it and he said should be able to get it in the first of January. He also thought the girdle and studs would be overkill for what I do, which he actually knows me, which would save the need for complete disassembly (the short block is assembled) and all that goes with that. $500 for a full day of dyno time? I don't know what the typical rate is, but he figured it would take maybe a half day to get it dialed in with setting up the test and self learning EFI leaving most of the tuning to timing.
 
The Comp 286HR should work just fine for you. I would not go any larger that with your car. Use the Performer RPM intake, it will work the best for your combination. You can run headers if you want or use HP exhaust manifolds. Either will work pretty well on that combination. If you have some extra money in the budget spend it on EFI rather than go fast parts. The car will be much easier to live with if has EFI.
NOT W/ A DUAL PLANE , NEED A SINGLE PLANE IF TROTTLE BODY F.I.
 
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