hughes whiplash cam and other cam opinions

The reason I don't still use the A833O/D box and GVOD combo is because the ratios are so far apart in the main box, that my 367 didn't like that, And reving to nearly 4000 to grab second sounds ridiculous. Splitting worked excellent, cuz with the GVOD I could drive it normally. However Splitting was kindof MANDATORY, and that sucked. The splitter does not shift like a regular box. It is driven by hydraulic pressure, which it takes off the driveshaft. That means A) you cannot take off in a split gear ratio;there is no shift pressure, and B) it takes time to build pressure. With 3.55s there is barely enough driveshaft-rpm at the gearchange to make the shift, and it is slow going in.So you have to learn to compensate with the clutch, so you don't burn out your mega-dollar device. Splitting second to direct, there is now plenty of pressure. But if you do not clutch it during the shift, it is a POW! right now, chirp the tires, neck-snapping shift.Every time. So you have to learn to use the clutch on this shift too.But the GVOD doesn't shift the second you punch the button. There is a few microseconds between the request and the delivery, so you have to learn to compensate the clutching.
Now at anything but civilized driving, this is not a problem.
Also, the higher the rear gear was, the less compensation was required.
Also, the CFII disc will either shake you fillings out, or tear up U-joints and stuff,when the GVOD shifts like this.
But some90% of the time I was driving civilized. It was a lotta fun for one summer, but then I was done with full-time gear-splitting.
One of the reasons for me to try and make that combo work was to make it possible to start in First over.I already knew that my engine liked a 10/1 starter gear. This is like a 3.09 low and 3.23s. Well, I wanted to run the track, trapping in direct, using 5 ratios to hit about 112mph.That would take 4.88s@6800. I didn't think I could hit 112, but I wanted to be ready to. So the starter gear would be 4.88 x.78x3.09=11.76,close enough I said. (It turns out that first gear at 655rpm is 3.5mph in this gear;walking speed). So now my road ratios were;15.08-11.76-8.15-6.36-4.88-3.81-2.78.Seven useable gears. It looked so good on paper! The first 5 for the track. Skip granny on the street, using the ratios from 11.76 to 6.36 around town. And going from 4.88 to 2.78 when hitting the hiway; that's a nice rpm drop into double OD. I thought I was all set.
Not so fast Elmer. There were three problems that came up.
1) The GVOD would not always hold pressure at a stop-lite so granny gear had to often be employed.This is 15 mph at 2800rpm, and there wasn't always enough pressure to pull a shift under power.So I had to take it easy on the shift.
2) Gear splitting was mandatory
3) You can put full power into the GV, but if you forget to back off into double OD, The A833 od gear responds by giving up all it's teeth in just milliseconds.I forgot......twice.

So that's my GVOD experiment. You learn from my big-money experience.
For my combo, that od box did not work out.

A second reason I wanted to use that combo was to use a smaller cam, but still trap up there in mph. I wanted to use a fast-rate 223 cam cuz I had good experience with it, pulling a lot of MPGs out of her. Obviously the 223 in a 367 does not make big power. But I reasoned that if I could put more average power down in the run, the trapspeed would see that as a bigger engine with a lower average power output over the run. And it worked. So now I had a seven speed, that trapped well yet with a 2.78 final drive, got great mileage. But that granny gear was miserable. I tried 4.30s,3.91s, and finally 3.55s . I gave up the track/street dream. Double-OD was now 1632=65mph, and the 223 cam was quite happy pulling that gear, returning 32mpgUS, not a typo. So I concentrated instead on the 1/8th mile.
This engine, with 4.30s and the od/od pkg went 93 in the 1/8th. It shoulda trapped at about 6500. The tach was reading 7000 from the time I finished babying it out, right through the traps. That's 8% slip. With a stick car. So yeah, a track official came over and said I should lower the tire pressure, cuz it was spinning the whole way down the track.I just said thank-you and headed for the pits;done for the day. The last shift was at 78 mph into second OD.The 325/50-15 DRs spun from there into the traps. My engine does not have that kind of power. I chalked it up to a crappy track, and vowed never to return, and I haven't.
So what was my solution you might ask.
The answer is I got rid of that OD-box.
My next experiment was with a 3.09low standard box with the GVOD again strapped on the back, and running with the 4.30s.The ratios are 3.09-1.92-1.40-1.00.. Well the 3.09x4.30=13.29 was still too much for city driving. I popped in the 3.55s and they have been in there ever since.
First combo (3.09x4.88)..15.08-11.76-8.15-6.36-4.88-3.81------------2.78
New combo (3.09x3.55)............10.97-8.56-6.82-5.32-4.97-3.88-3.55-2.77
Std combo (2.66x4.30s)............11.44-8.26-6.02-4.30-------------------3.35
Look sweet to you? Gone is granny, and the first four city ratios are almost identical.And I no longer have to split. And I still have the 6.82s to 1/8th with, and the 2.77 to cruize with. It turns out that the favorite shift sequence is 10.97-6.82-4.97-3.88-2.77;5 gears, with a .71 split into od. I rarely split gears anymore, unless I just want to smoke 'em to 60, then I split 1-2, just cuz I can. The 5.32 and 3.55 are seldom used; only when a cruising speed favors them. 3.55s favor 45mph,5.32s favor 30 mph. Both at 2000rpm.
I am in no wise suggesting that you rush out and get a GVOD. As you can see, I ended up with a non-od box with the GV being used as mostly what it was designed for, just cruising. Obviously it has the potential to help the car trap well, for it's power output. And it can be a lot of fun.
With 4.30s and say a 2.66 low box, there would be no need to split any gears at all, and the 3.35 final-drive ratio is not too bad. But now you have an awful lot of money tied up in just the one gear. IMO a dedicated 5 speed is a better answer.