Finally got new engine....what cam to I use?

[prestigue]

Well after 2 months of waiting my new engine finally got here. what I ended up with is a 1977 318. bored .030 new pistons, rings, rod/main bearings, new freeze plugs, new oil pump ect, ect. the heads are a set off a 1968 318 and were overhauled. this has been a major pain in the bum to get. I bought 3 used engines, only to find a major failure in each, after purchase. finally found a guy in Colorado that builds race hemis and he had this old race engine that he had built years ago. needed overhauled to be good. I paid him the money and he went to work. even added a holly street dominator intake to the mix for me, and a set of headers. I was just wondering, what cam I should install. was looking at the Mopar "purple" cams at jegs.com and cant decide. I dont want to change the springs, rockers, ect. I am currently building a 360 over the next year or so, so dont want to full tilt this engine, just make it nice. I plan on either using a eldebrock 750 carb, or an old holly that I have here. not sure of the gears. (BTW it is in a 1972 Dart Swinger, original 318 car with a 904, rear changed to a 8.75 suregrip) Like I said in my other posts I was a past chibby guy, so not sure how to pick the cam that I want, without changing a ton. from what I was told the engine is just a bit more than the stock 8.5:1 compression ratio. (upped a bit with the 68 heads) here is the link to the jegs cams http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_10001_10002_746961_-1_10707

hope to get this thing in a running soon. also they painted the dominator intake and engine hemi orange. do they look better this way, or should I strip off the paint from the intake and leave it aluminum colored? thanks again all for the help

 

[BJR Racing]

Theres a summit grind that has .440 lift and something like 218-224 duration, I know this cam works very well and the cam is made by Crane.

 

[moper]

XE256 Comp, or 693941 Crane (H272-H) would be my first two choices, but the Summit cam fts the budget and I know of several who run and like it.

 

[sublimeswinger]

I dont think you wanna use the 750, Its to big for what your doing. Anything above the above mentioned, and you'll have to change the springs but can use the stock rockers. If your gonna go bigger, maybe the XE262 or 268 with the 901 springs (comp) and a 600cfm carb.

 

[340 Dart]

I dont think you wanna use the 750

I agree. I just took a eddie 750 OFF of my 318 because it was too much carb. I put a new Edelbrock 600 and the throttle response is much better.:mrgreen:

 

['64 Cuda]

You said this is an old race engine that needed overhauled. Just wondering, did the guy say what cam he used when he rebuilt it? Maybe he reused the cam that was in it or stuck in something a little better than stock. There are a lot of low priced cams available that might have been used. Maybe you don't need to replace what's in there.