L88 cam in L78?

[Seattle Sam]

I'm planning on pulling the engine out of my '70 L78 Camaro this winter, tearing it down and building it back up to original spec (cc'd heads, 11-1 pistons, balanced and "blueprinted").
I am thinking of installing an L88 spec cam, which has more lift and I believe more duration than the original L72/L78 spec cam, simply because I am a fan of "more power". [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/naughty.gif[/img]

Do you think I will see any power gains from this cam change, since I am running cast iron exhaust manifolds? What if I port-match and extrude-hone the exhaust manifolds, would the engine benefit from it? What about port-matching the intake to the heads?
What if I decide to port the heads, would that make the engine "non-original"? (I know it would not be pure stock anymore, but that's not my question).

On the flip side, what would be hurt by going to the big cam?

I would like this motor to make a healthy amount of power, but I don't want to throw money away on changes that have no benefit..

Please share your thoughts and opinions!

Thanks,
-Sam [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[budnate]

Sam , best to give the motor to me and install a 307 [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/haha.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/haha.gif[/img]

give me a buzz when you get a second.

Bud

[Chevy454]

[ QUOTE ]
Do you think I will see any power gains from this cam change, since I am running cast iron exhaust manifolds?

[/ QUOTE ]

I know most people won't believe this, but you'll actually be HURTING power by running the L-88 cam. The L-78/L-72 cam is a pretty healthy cam in it's own right, and is the ONLY way to go with manifolds. Don't believe me, call Crane Cams. Pete preached and preached at me about how good of a unit the "143" cam was, but I had to see for myself. One call to Crane changed my mind.

It's got plenty of duration and lift to work with manifolds. Here's a tip that most people overlook: if you do a true blueprint and cc the heads to where they need to be (106cc) and get a set of pistons with the correct dome (read: not TRW replacements), and you get some compression in that puppy, then RETARD THE CAM 6 degrees. Do a search for "compression mapping" on this forum and you'll see why. Plus, it's ground 6 degrees advanced from the factory, so you're basically putting it back to straight up.

Anyway, I've run across a lot of articles in SS&DI and old racer mags where several of the L-88 guys ran the L-72 cam. In Pete's Pure Stock ZL-1 (same cam?) he has to run a HUGE amount of lash (around .035") to get any kind of vacuum (like 5") and he still has to do a little dance to get staged.

Pick up the phone, call your local Chevy dealer, order it, and pick it up the next day. A cam/lifter kit is around $130 if you get it at cost, but retails around $150. Break it in on the outer springs and then you're good to go.

Pete and Lerum, please feel free to chime in and confirm/deny anything I've posted...

[Schonyenko2]

Not Pete, or Lerum, but I agree with Rob. An L88 cam is not a user friendly piece for the street. Schonye

[Chevy454]

Well, I guess you'll do! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggthumpup.gif[/img]

[COPO PETE]

What Rob said is right on the money. L72 cam, reatrded is great... and it's even funner telling people your running the original cam from GM. They won't beleive you!!!! Your breaks with the L88 cam are marginal at best. Trust me, I've run both!
Peter

[MotownMadman]

We have to remember that the enginneers at GM spent millions figuring all this stuff out, over and above their mathematical geeky equations they went through a great amount of money, trial, and error before coming up with the right combination. Other then tuning for the track it would be a project to out do the enginneers, the only way that is possible is to tune and do away with whatever they HAD to install to make the engines less obnoxious for the street, namely giving the car more exhaust flow. Over the years I have seen a great deal of over camming, over carbing, and neglect in the flow department. HP is made in proper tuned exhaust, no matter how much power your engine is making it doesnt do any good if it remains in the engine holding itself back. The L88 was always pushing crossing the line as far as being a practical street engine, get caught in traffic for a few hours on a hot day and it becomes easy to see why this entire engine, cam, compression, etc, etc, was just a bit overdone for a daily driver. Had it not been for the ordering paperwork showing the 435HP engine as having five more HP, a great deal more of the L88 engines with it's honest over 500HP would have made it to the street and probebly ruined the whole project for Chevrolet.
Motown [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/burnout.gif[/img]

[Kim_Howie]

I work on a STOCK B/S Nova which has to run the STOCK spec> from the factory and we dyno 650 H.P. this is with the same STOCK 143 Cam Kim [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/scholar.gif[/img]

[Jeff H]

I had a 67 Camaro with a 454 that had the L88 cam in it and it was horrible to deal with. Especially with the stock exhaust manifolds.

[SMGCO]

Both ( L88 & l72 cams ) are very outdated and lazy compared to current cams. If you want to rebuild your motor to exact factory specs then purchase a blueprint series factory replacement cam from crane or comp. If your want to get a lot more performance and not go with a roller consider another modern grind from someone like Comp Cams. ( They have a section in their catalog titled something like " Modern Muscle " that will give you an extended power band and the same or better sound.

Another way is to rebuild your original engine to exact factory specs and put it onan engine stand in your garage for safe keeping. Then build yourself another engine to put in the car which can look stock on the outside ( sleeper ) or youcan go the other route with a modern style single plane etc.