Im trying to find something out for a buddy of mine, he has a 91 firebird, and is putting an old 350 in it, not sure what year, its getting bored 60 over, and the cam he bought for is is a 284/284, that sounds really really extreme to me, but im a fuel injected guy, and in comparison it is very extreme, but this is going to be a sortof daily driver for him, so i dont want him to be screwed with this cam, any comments or sound clips or anything.

 

284/284, is that advertised, or .050 duration? I would guess advertised.. if he is wanting to run an automatic, and power brakes and a/c and stuff, that may be a bit large, but if it is ground on a 106 or 108, then he may get away with it. Either way, he'll need a stall, and maybe a vacuum canister to be happy...

 

He'll also need to be sure to have real 10:1 compression. This means 64cc heads, flattop pistons, and zero deck on a 350.

for a daily driver, the cam might be a bit extreme, but it depends on his preferences...
He'll need probably a 3000 stall if it's an auto, and that's gonna hurt on the highway if he drives alot there.

 

Yeah, that has to be advertised duration, in which case its not that big, probably a 226/226 or 230/230 single pattern at .050?

 

My car has a Comp Cams with 274/286 duration, but it only has .48/.49 inches of lift. 110 lobe sep. angle. My car isn't a daily driver, but the cam is certainly not too drastic for it. I have a 2500 stall converter, although a 3000 might be more optimal. I think I need some better heads to really use my cam's potential. Mine are just stock castings with pocket porting. I think some Darts or AFRs would be a much better match. I think his cam would be fine, but it depends on what is "tolerable" for him, not me.

 

find the .05 duration on the cam. Advertised duration is simply that - advertising!
There is no standard where you measure advertised duration at. Some manufacturers measure at .006, some at .003, etc... So, it's really worthless for comparison unless you're just comparing cams from one manufacturer only.

 

I doubt if his 284 advertised duration cam is more than 224 degree's @ .050 . I'm sure it'll be fine although it'll be a bunch better if he raises his compression a little.You don't normally have vaccuum problems until after 230-235 degrees duration @ .050 . I've got a 240 @ .050 cam in my 454 and " Houston we have a problem !"

 

You can find cams from different manufacturers with @.05 around 224, and advertised ranging from 268 to 284...

A comp 284 is like 240/246@.05 If I remember correctly... Definately not your normal street 350 cam.