i am building a 383 stroker i bought a pair of  200cc platinum dart heads with 72cc combustion chamers and 1.6 roller rockers. it had the 1.250 double springs but i upgraded to the 1.470 because i want to go with a small solid cam since they make better power. i have been looking at around a 232 duration with a .487 lift @.050.  this is going in a 83 elco, will this be a decent combo or should i go bigger? it will be a street car so i don't want to much cam but i want all the power & mainly torque i can get. thanks   

I have a XE274 comp cam in my 383 power Impala. It's hydraulic 230/236 @.050 and 487/490. It's pretty mild. Tons of torque like 445 ft lbs at 3200 rpm. Your solid cam choice is similiar. If you are running power brakes you are going to want a cam that will produce at very minumum 13in of vac at idle. Also, you will probably need like a 2400 stall converter.  

A solid roller with under .500 lift is completely unnecessary. Actually probably even a roller cam is unnecessary if you're planning on less than .500 lift. The only advantage the roller would pose is an increase in vacuum, mileage, and durability and may be insurance if you've had problems with cam break-in in the past, otherwise at .500 lift a flat tappet should make equal power to a roller and cost about $500 less.

Whether or not you should go bigger on the cam depends on your definition of a street car, your trans and stall converter, your rear gears etc, etc. If you want to keep very good street manners you have the right idea about going with a good cylinder head such as the platinum eagles, they will allow more power with a smaller camshaft compared to another weaker set of cylinder heads.

                                                                                     ~Gibs

I believe the cam he is talking about is a solid flat tappet. I couldn't find the cam he's talking about, but I did find only two with similiar grinds. Crowers #00320 is 230/236 dur @.050 and 458/468 lift. Comp's 282S Magnum 236/236 @.050; 495/495. The second one would be great because it's mild enough to drive daily and be a beast on the track.

I couldn't find a solid roller below 242 dur @ .050 and 525 lift. I agree the extra expense on such a mild cam wouldn't be worth it.

Three things determine how a cam will behave.

Compression, Cubic inches, and Converter/gears.

More compression will result in a smoother cam, all else the same.

More cubic inches will result in a smoother cam, all else the same.

More Converter, or steep gears, or both will result in a better driving setup, all else the same.

An example.  I had a 64 Chrylser 300 with a 10:1 413.  I ran a .484" cam in it with fairly long duration and more overlap than stock.  With a set of 4.10 gears and a stick.  It was a very nice combo till I blew it up.

So I swapped the cam into a spare 8:1 400 I had lying about and put that in.  It was a dog and most of that I blame on the compression ratio.  Even with 4.10 gears it was a dog out of the hole.  That was back before the availablity of cheap stroker kits for the 400.  Had that been an option I probably would have stroked the 400 to around 500 and ran an even bigger cam.  But I was alos a married sailor with kids so I probably would have just dreamed about it.

Steve

Sorry but not for one moment am I going to let that statement stand, there are many factors at work when deciding a camshaft not just three. What about the vehicles weight? The vehicles tranny? (and i don't just mean the converter) What about the vehicles induction system?

i have a edelbrock rpm air gap intake and a  q-jet up top, a th 350, stock 3.08  gears i believe,  the cam  i am looking at is a solid flat tappet, its not a roller. i guess my question was what is the limit on duration and lift for a 383 compression will be like 9.7:1 or so i have some forged probe flat tops scat 4340 i beam rods and the internally balanced eagel crank.

With 3.08 gears why even worry about a solid flat tappet? Even if you plan on going with lower gears later on, hydraulics have gotten much better over the years and will make fine power to 6500+ RPM with the correct profile and valvesprings.

what would be a good hydraulic choice? this is my first motor to build and i have got a lot of money invested in it i don't want to put the wrong cam in it.

some 355's and a 2500 stall are comming soon

Do you plan on changing the gears? Is this car going to see a dragstrip? How good of street manners do you want? Anything else I need to know about the combination?

some 3.55 gears are on the list to get.... there is a 1/8th mile dragstrip here in abilene  2 miles away from my house that i will take it to every now and then. it will be around 9.7:1 compression and i am gonna try to run pump gas. i want it to be able to get me back and forth to work and maybe go on a road trip

i have 295/50/15 cobra gt's on the back if that makes any difference with the gears. i am not real sure what they do the the ratio 

i want peak hp around 5500  so i know i cant get too wild with the duration and i need my vac. assist power breaks to work

Since I am a comp cams guy I would say maybe a 268 Xtreme Marine (112° LCA) or a 270 4x4 Xtreme Energy (111° LCA) but if you're feeling brave you go to maybe a 274 on a 111°-113°.

                                                                                     ~Gibs

I put a 383 into a 70 elco with 3.08 gears. No combo here just used what he had.

383 10:1

Stock 76cc heads with port work from Larry's performance

Th350 tranny

3.08 gears

Cam Clay Smith Solid- 260/260 .540/.540 106 lobe centers 

car ran good, it replaced an 8:1 150hp 350, so it was a lot better than what was in it.

Now another elco, @1985 had a 10:1 383 w/corvette alum heads and a 218/224 .495/.502 110 roller hyd and ran just as good or better at low end but the other elco ran great at top end.

The big cam motor sounded wicked. Its what are you willing to put up with and what you want and do you want to re do it after any changes. The big cam motor went with 4:11's an was a killer, the small cam motor went with 4:56 and ran out of motor on the top end and is waiting on a cam change.

was that clay smith cam very streetable?   

go with 373gears thet would get ya good start and good top end