What cam should I get?

mullinax95 said

Now you saying 230 duration should be max and the engine builder says 280 max. Now I'm just not getting anywhere with this. :sad9:

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No. What I am saying is 230 @ .050 is alot of cam for a small engine. If your building it to run, then thats fine and alot of cam is what you need. If your building to cruise, you'll need less cam.
A 230 @ .050 cam should provided plenty of power.
Now depending on how the rest of your car is set up and your overall plan is, it could be just right. The rest of the info you never provided. Lets get some facts here.
Cars weight
Gear ratio (You'll end up with)
Tire size (You'll end up with)
Are you 1/4 mile racing. In example, Mikel Beck runs a 360 in his Duster with a smaller Crane split cam. Intake duration is 218 @ .050 and he runs in the 12's. I'm sure his idle is mild. A larger engine mellos out a cam of the same size than a smaller engine. IN otherwords, the same cam in a smaller engine sounds more radical.
I also have this cam in my 318, yet to run at the track, though not set up for it. I have 3.21 gears. This same cam should provided a broad power band and work real well with the gears.
A 1/4 mile racer is the last thing this is going to be. Seriously, if it runs hi 14's, that would be just peachy.
The idea is cruisabilty with a nice power upgrade.

The previous suggestions on cam are very good. If you want a "Choop like an axe" sound, use a single pattern cam. Like that 280 Magnum from Comp Cams.
If you want a better running car, use the split duration cams.
It will still chop at idle, but just simply work better.

A cam that chops at idle will have a numerically low centerline and alot of overlap. Bad for low speed performance. Add in a cam to big for the given combo, it just gets worse and kids on bikes will out speed you in the 60'.