New Camshaft

[1fast72]

Alright, so I'm about to begin my mission for a new cam because I would love to add a little more power to my ride. I know you guys are the people to go to about my 383 engine and I would love your input. I'm looking for a way more throaty sound to the car so when its at idle, you can feel the exhaust inside you. Here's what I got

I have a 383 with 440 heads and a regular carter carb on it. I'm about to swap that out for a 750 cfm holley. Below that is an edlbrock single plane intake. I have those alright headman headers with flowmaster 40's out back. It's kind of a heavy car but it's being light weight stripped down for race. (no heavy body modification, I couldn't being myself to cutting anything down!)

I'm trying to find the sweet spot in performance and streetability. I know this is a crazy topic but that's why I'm asking crazy people :tongue3:

 

[Meep-Meep]

I don't want to sound like a broken record but you must know your compression before you start cam hunting. I mean KNOW your compression, not assume by looking at catalogs, etc.. Production heads are pretty close to published numbers but pistons with different valve relieve depths and compression heights can be all over the place. If you have bone stock pistons now you will be limited to about 270 deg and not a lot of overlap.

There is no difference between 383 and 440 heads. What heads do you have? 906? 452? factory closed chambers run about 79.5 CC vs 86 for the others. That is about a half point increase, but again, that's a general rule. Steel shim gasket can add just about a half point too. You can run closed chambers with composition gaskets if your pistons are at zero deck.

A cheap compression increase is either steel shim gaskets or the old 516 heads, or both if you have the room over the piston top. If using the 516's punch the exhaust valve out to the later 1.74" size and while you are at it have hard seats installed.

 

[wedge5]

Don't forget the 917's but go luck finding them. Listen to Meep-Meep he has it right.

 

[bbeep69]

Agreed. Drop a bigger cam in a low compression engine and you are going to be veeeeerrrrrryyyy disappointed with the performance.
I'd also look at an Edelbrock Performer RPM intake. Even though you stated that you are going to lighten the car up some you are going to lose some low end torque with that single plane intake (unless it is an old Edelbrock Torker). The RPM is the best all-around intake for the 383 bar none.
You'll also want to stiffen the rear gear (3.55-4.10) and add a Sure Grip if you don't have one. Then you'll need a 2800-3000 stall converter and a shift improver kit along with an external tranny cooler to keep it alive.
If you are hoing to go with a dual purpose setup I can recommend a few cam choices from Comp if you don't have the $$$ to really improve your engine setup:
http://www.compcams.com/Company/CC/cam-specs/Details.aspx?csid=707&sb=2

http://www.compcams.com/Company/CC/cam-specs/Details.aspx?csid=708&sb=2


http://www.compcams.com/Company/CC/cam-specs/Details.aspx?csid=716&sb=2

Just make sure when you replace your cam that you also purchase a hardened fuel pump pushrod and magnetic oil pan drain plug or you may be sorry. I've had conversations with a few Mopar guys who say that after they swapped cams their fuel pump pushrod was worn down about 1/4" into very fine metallic particles. It happened to me but fortunately I was able to get all the junk out of the engine. If you are running an electric fuel pump and no mechanical pump you'll be fine.

 

[THE STIG]

I'm in the market for a cam too. I've got a set of 452s with.600 lift springs, 88cc combustion chambers, I was thinking or running a Mopar Purple .509 lift does anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

[Meep-Meep]

The .509 is a good cam but will need some compression to make it work properly. Do you know what pistons you have? Are you running a 440?

 

[THE STIG]

Yea it's a 440 I was thinking KB pistons, somthing not unlike these http://www.summitracing.com/parts/UEM-KB236-030/ but I want to stay stock bore.

 

[Meep-Meep]

Those are good with open chamber heads because of the quench dome. You will need to check and possibly correct for dome / head interference. Balancing may also be required. If you want to avoid all the checking and rebalancing get OEM replacement pistons.