Stock heads/rotating assembly, hot cam/vlave springs- how far can you go?

Stock heads/rotating assembly, hot cam/vlave springs- how far can you go?

Thanks to everybody!

rumblefish360 said
...
If you want to make that “For now” change until your other engine is done, I suggest a copy of the 360/380 engine. But! You probably can not get that cam anymore. Which I think is a good thing. Comp Cams has a very similar mechanical cam that will have more lift with the 1/6 rocker since there listed lift is based on a 1.5 rocker.
You can also search for a similar spec roller cam.

In addition to the better cam, I would most certainly use a Edelbrock RPM for the Magnum engine.

Hughes engines has a Trick retainer and spring package for the Magnum head. IIRC, they said it was good until a .540 lift.
I don’t see a need for a custom grind cam for this temporary engine.
You can always talk to the cam grinder and ask to move the centerline to a 108 if you wanted to. That would also lend to “That Sound” you mentioned about.

rumblefish360, you've come through with great answers to my questions many times. It's always extremely appreciated. Thank you.

Very good points about the limitations of the heads and the sacrifices in the low end in favor of higher rpm performance...that is all understood. A net improvement in power with a bit more joy up high in the band would probably be enough to keep me happy for a while.

I realize that the current setup reads as if it might be "ok" for a street/strip setup but there's just something off about the combo and it seldom feels good. I believe the 3spd transmission and the short gears are amplifying the "short legged" feel of this motor.

So...It sounds like I might do well with something similar to the Magnum 380 cam, the Hughes retainer and spring package and the Edelbrock RPM Airgap intake? It also sounds like you're not optimistic...

Bobzilla said
Do I understand correctly; you have an actual Mopar Performance 300 HP crate Magnum? Is that running in the car now? If so, how many miles on it?
If your goal is to do Trick Flow heads, don't bother with stop gap upgrades. It will cost more in the long run.
Mopar 380 crate Magnum camshaft would have performed less than stellar with that tight converter, but the 4:10 gears would have helped. I would not copy that camshaft for your build.
Mopar always gave shitty support for their parts. I never got to check the pistons in a 380 crate engine. There was some indications it may have had higher compression than the 300 HP version, but who knows.

Correct. The engine is a Mopar Performance Magnum 300. It's running and doing fine. I don't know the exact mileage on the motor. I'm the second owner but has always been cared for as far as I can tell. It has the original Mopar M2 aluminum dual plane and a 650 carb. It runs well but does the usual Magnum thing where it falls on its face pretty early in the rpm range. Again, nothing wrong with the engine, it just feels like it would be more at home in pickup truck or a full sized van.