Best cam for the street both power & sound

-
R

RighteousWrenching144

Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2024
Messages
7
Reaction score
5
Location
Augusta, Ga
Hey everyone i am new here
I recently bought a 71 plymouth duster roller no engine or trans
I plan on building a mild 318 la that is choppy and has good torque and pep for the street and maybe some strip along with a 46rh trans and 3.23 or 3.55 gears

Plan on adding
Long tube headers
Edelbrock Dual plane intake
Holley 650 carb

Keeping the bottom end stock

The cams I've looked at
Edelbrock #7177 RPM
Comp cams xe268
Summit 6901

Ive heard of the hughes whiplash but i plan on putting that in my 81 d150 would like to have a different cam in my duster

I want a good lope and a little more power is the eddy cam good? Really like the sound but power wise is it good for a daily driver?

Any help is much appreciated!
 
I ran the 6901 in my 68 273. The 268 Comp in my 63 Belvedere LA 318. Both 9to1 compression engines.
Both with The Edlebrock duel plane Performer intake.The 318 long tube headers and the 273 TTi Shorty's.
Both had good sounding idles. For small engines did (do) quite well as far as performance.
I have videos but can't seem to find them at the moment.
Never had the chance to try the 7177 Edelbrock
 
i don't think any of those cams are especially conducive to midrange torque.

i like the numbers on the summit cam but don't like the 114 lobe, the eddy cam i'd like more in something with cubes and compression, the comp seems to be the best pick of the bunch but even then i'd err toward something smaller, like their 262.

i don't buy cams for what they sound like. i buy cams for what they do.
 
Out of those 3 the xe268. I went with the smaller xe256 on my Jolopy 360 with 318 heads. It sounds decent runs decent, out of steam by 5k rpm but wasn’t build for rpm anyway it was a nice cruiser motor.
 
RighteousWrenching144 said:
Plan on adding
Long tube headers
Edelbrock Dual plane intake
Holley 650 carb

Keeping the bottom end stock
Click to expand...
If you are starting with a low-compression engine, like a 73-up;
How many times, has a guy come on FABO, and said "stock bottom end";
then come back afterwards crying how gutless the bottom end is?

All your go fast goodies are designed to increase the power by making the engine able to breath better at high rpm. At the same time, with a low compression bottom end, efficiency falls off the scale, and you get a dog engine in the rpm range in which it will spend the vast majority of it's life.

When this happens to you, assuming that yur starting with an 8/1 engine;
take the engine apart and pump the Compression ratio up, which is the very first thing you should be doing.

Bottom end, that is to say power below 3000 rpm, in a given engine, is governed by cylinder pressure.
A factory stock 73-up smog 318 barely made 135>140 psi depending on altitude mostly. So it was already born with a feeble bottom end.
Putting a cam into it two or three sizes bigger than stock is gonna drive the cylinder pressure down even further into old dog nearly dead-dog territory.
and the lack of a decent stall which you didn't mention, and the 3.23s are gonna keep you in dying dog territory , every time the rpm drops under about 3000>3500 rpm.
Low rpm performance doesn't even start until 150>155psi
Oh sure that big-overlap cam idles like a powerhouse, but it takes a long time to wind it up. OK wait, to be fair with 3.23s and 27" tires, 3500rpm will be ~35mph, and with cylinder pressure down in the low 120 psi zone, she ain't agonna spin the tires, so yur just gonna have to wait for the engine to come up on the pipe . Tic-tic-tic- aw forget it, I'm going home. I wouldn't even bother installing headers on that thing.

Listen, I'm 71 years old, and I've done what yur thinking of doing, not once, but twice, and the result was always the same, the 73-up 318 turned into a dog below 3500 rpm.
I learned my lesson. With a stock feeble bottom end, just install 4.10s or better, and a 2800 Convertor, and leave the rest alone. $500 bucks and I had a rocket! even on the 2bbl.

Oh and whatever you do, DO NOT install a 114 LSA cam, nor a 112; even a 110 in your Low-compression 318 is just asking for trouble.
What you need in that slug, is a solid lifter, fast rate of lift, tight lash, short LSA cam, and you won't get much lift with a cam like that, so it is what it is, But stay away from any cam with an LSA greater that 110; it will just kill your cylinder pressure.
Or you can just do what everyone else does, which is to install a hi-stall convertor.....
 
Last edited:
Search here and youtube for 318willrun he's done a bunch of basic 318 hop ups, backed up with track results.

Here's his youtube channel 318willrun
 
junkyardhero said:
i don't think any of those cams are especially conducive to midrange torque.

i like the numbers on the summit cam but don't like the 114 lobe, the eddy cam i'd like more in something with cubes and compression, the comp seems to be the best pick of the bunch but even then i'd err toward something smaller, like their 262.

i don't buy cams for what they sound like. i buy cams for what they do.
Click to expand...
If he wants something for sound, he ain't gonna like anything like the 262 or 256.
 
Here's a bunch of 318 related articles.

273 said:
Here's all the 318 plus for the 318 guys

318 Engine Build - A Parts Book 400HP 318 - Mopar Muscle Magazine

Mopar 318 Engine - Car Craft Magazine

Chrysler 318 Engine - Popular Hot Rodding Magazine

318 Small Block Build - How To - Hot Rod Magazine

318 Long Block Bolt Ons - Tech Articles - Mopar Muscle Magazine

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/0901phr-mopar-318-magnum-engine/

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/mopp-0311-318-engine-buildup-and-dyno-test/

How To Install A Hotter Camshaft - Mopar Muscle Magazine

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/mopp-0009-1985-dodge-dart/

Vintage Mopar Power! 550HP Chrysler Poly 318 V8 on the Dyno

318 head porting for the average joe

Porting small block 915 j-heads

Magnum head porting for the beginner

360 Engine Head Porting - Mopar Muscle Magazine

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/mopp-0002-porting-exhaust-smog-heads/

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/mopp-0507-cylinder-head-porting/

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/mopar-small-block-intake-manifold-flow-test/

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/0601em-intake/

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/10-critical-mopar-engine-building-specs/

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/mopp-0309-mopar-engine-rebuild-intro/

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/mopp-0308-adding-magnum-to-a-360-short-block/
Click to expand...
 
hell yeah. we not even outta page 1 and we're already at 4.10's and a high stall converter.

let's see 302 heads and some .500 lift cams before nightfall!
 
The guy wants a daily driver with some pep that sounds cool.

There is no need for crazy steep gears and converter which would make the car marginally faster and impossible to daily drive on the highway.

Small cam with a tight ish LSA and ship it is my vote. There is no need for calculating and theorizing and head scratching here…especially if it leads to wild and unrealistic conclusions
 
junkyardhero said:
hell yeah. we not even outta page 1 and we're already at 4.10's and a high stall converter.

let's see 302 heads and some .500 lift cams before nightfall!
Click to expand...
Pssshhh… I’m thinking eBay turbo, megasquirt port injection and a 175 shot to take that teener out of boat anchor status.
 
junkyardhero said:
i don't think any of those cams are especially conducive to midrange torque.

i like the numbers on the summit cam but don't like the 114 lobe, the eddy cam i'd like more in something with cubes and compression, the comp seems to be the best pick of the bunch but even then i'd err toward something smaller, like their 262.

i don't buy cams for what they sound like. i buy cams for what they do.
Click to expand...


OP, This ^^^^^^^

Though AJ makes an excellent point.

If your engine was a 10-1 - 10.5-1 ratio, the cam in a 110 would be it.

The problem is your low compression and stock tiny valve cylinder heads. This is going to kill it and in combination with the cam sizes you listed, your low end torque is going to suck. Like, have the ability to suck a golf ball through a garden hose which is only a compliment to a hooker.

Again, AJ makes some really good points.

Keep the duration @050 limited to 218 at max with the 3.55 gears and spend the money on a really good converter. Speak to a PRO converter builder. Buy once, cry once, be really happy and glad you did afterwards.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top