CORRECT with cast heads^^^^^^^^^^^^I'll take a guess and say 10.1 with cast iron head and 93 octane. That's the highest octane we have around here. A little more with aluminum. I had a big block that was 10.1 and didn't have any trouble.
It depends on the entire combo, Gearing trans, car weight, Cam, heads, altitude.
A safe bet is 9.5:1 with iron heads and 10.5:1 with aluminum.
I'll take a guess and say 10.1 with cast iron head and 93 octane. That's the highest octane we have around here. A little more with aluminum. I had a big block that was 10.1 and didn't have any trouble.
It depends on the entire combo, Gearing trans, car weight, Cam, heads, altitude.
A safe bet is 9.5:1 with iron heads and 10.5:1 with aluminum.
9.5-1 is a safe area still capable of makeing excellent power. As a note, in the Crafstman NASCAR truck series, the trucks engine were limted to a 9.0-1 raio and made 700+ HP. Of course there hardware was booo-kooo expensive and modified, but, it was 9.0-1.
Actual ratio can vary on a lot of factors. For a basic street combo, without problems, everyone is right in playing safe @ 9.5-1 as a max. 10-1 (Or higher) is doable, but pump gas has it's limits and other things about the engine that make a higher ratio doable on a street you may not like.
Extra large cam, retarded timing and mixing race gas in with 93 octane just so you can drive it.
9.5:1 with iron heads and 10.5:1 with aluminum.
If you ever plan to turbo, supercharge and/or spray it then 8.5:1 with iron heads and 9:1 with aluminum.
Or, if you want to go with a closed chamber head like a the magnum heads from a late model truck you can go to 10.6:1 and run 89 octane like I do. The benifits are a better flowing head (more power) than the 340 came with and the closed chamber combined with a zero deck flat top piston for a very detonation resitant engine.
13:1 !!!!!!!!!:yawinkle:
10.0-1 gets my vote.
THE SUMMARY:
9.5 with cast iron heads if i want to be safe
10.5 with aluminum heads
10.6 with magnum heads
Now the hard part CAMS
Cams are not really hard. Everyone will have an opinion on them and have a valid point to there choice. Key points for your own choice in a cam would be;
Duration. This is the power band it will operate in. If your thinking is to have the car perform in the 2,000 - 6,000 RPM range, then you'll look at cams in that power range. Durations will be slightly different since Hyd. , solid and roller cams all perform alittle differently with there given duration.
Lift. You'll want to find a lift that will work with your head. If it is a stock head, generallly, the stock heads flow stall at around the .500 lift point.
This is why knowing how a head flows is so important to alot of people here.
Theres no real sense have the valve lift to .570 when the heads flow stalls or gets real crappy @ .500.
Hyd. or Solid or Hyd. roller or Solid roller?????? UGH! Theres alot of grinds out there. Choice on style is made easy but not limited to any one style. For a basic street machine, a regular standard Hyd. cam will do well. Don't expect a miricle from it, but it can make nice power, be easy on the wallet and free from constant adjustments or hang up from long duration cams with heavy springs and adjustable rockers etc...
All the MoPar cams are ground on a 110 centerline except a few of the updated ones which are on a 112 for improved drivabilty.
The narrow centerline (Lower number) will have a muscle sound, like chop chop chop.
Now, what power band are you operating in?
What size tire?
How fast in the 1/4 do you want to go?
yeah i know,how about 12'sIts going to take a good amount of motor to run 11s
I'm not sure what kinds of cars you were previously interested in, or if you have any drag racing experience... But, it takes more than an intake, an over sized carb, and a cam to un a 340 in the 12s. 13s is fairly easy with basic nolt ons, mild to medium gearing, and a basically stock convertor. 12s needs a bit more of a commitment in terms of the whole package. What exactly is your budget on this, and what are you starting with?