ok building engine for my mud only truck.350 with stock bottom end....cast crank etc.. have holley 750 and torker2 intake ..need help pickin cam and heads.gotta try to stay with fairly low budget.. unless wife finds out lol:p :D :D

great...a newbie tech question:flipoff2:

with a torker 2 a 280* cam would be my guess. as far as heads, either have the ones you got worked, or a set of Vortecs. the vortecs can oly use up to a .490 lift (iirc) so that 280* cam might just fit.

slap a seat of headers on it, HEI, and that would be good for around 300hp

what year block is the 350? is it vortec? does it have the bosses in the lifter valey to accept lifter retainers to run a roller cam setup? roller cam would be the way to go if it does, free's up a LOT of torque, and allows you to run a cam with more full valve lift duration. in other words the valves will be at max lift for longer because the lobes on the cam can be at a higher pitch because the roller can follow a much steeper lift then can a stock flat tappet lifter, making the nose of the lobe flat, instead of the egg shaped lobe which has barely any full open durationthe valve gets to full lift and then comes right back down, as where with a roller cam it gets to full lift and stays there for say 15-20 degrees of cam rotation and then begins to close. (did that all make sense?) anyways that would be the way to go. and I would also go with the vortec heads, even if the roller cam isn't an option. they are really cheap (500 bucks for a complete set) and they run good.just my .02,

-Scott

If you can, find someone to trade that torker to. Find a nice basic performer or RPM.
Cam- since with a stock bottom end you are a bit rpm limited, go with a cam in the 224deg at .050 range(usually 280-290 advertised duration) possibly a cam with a bit more duration on the exhaust lobe. try to get .500 - .550 lift if you can. 108-110 lobe separation.
Heads - you basically have to decide- do you want to dump money into a set of stock heads(yuk) or spend some more cash for a good set that has more potential. I've use TFS twisted wege, AFR, Dart, Edelbrock...all great heads. Looking at 1200-1400 for aluminum heads.
Good luck
Phil

pusseys! i would go with a .610/.610 solid full roller lunati! and i would get some 2.08/1.60 performer heads or just take a set of iron vortechs and let you local machine shop go to town on them!

Originally posted by 4x4nut
... just take a set of iron vortechs and let you local machine shop go to town on them!

About the only thing you can do to vortec heads is machine the spring bosses to allow for more lift. Other than that porting has proven to be waste of $ time after time. They flow great out of the box, but that's about all you can ever expect out of 'em.

Originally posted by chillywilly
ok building engine for my mud only truck.350 with stock bottom end....cast crank etc.. have holley 750 and torker2 intake ..need help pickin cam and heads.gotta try to stay with fairly low budget.. unless wife finds out lol:p :D :D

i don't know what year truck or what kind of accesories you have but if i was on a budget and i wanted to leave the lower end in tact i would get some smaller chambered heads (camel humps don't have acc. holes in them) and a 280 cam.

when you go bigger with that cam and it has over lap remember that you need to bump the compresion up. cam shafts almost all ways have a recomendation for this though.

10:1 and a 280 cam with some kind of electronic ignition makes a strong small block i think.

well,since you asked,,,, i built a 350 2 yrs ago for my k5. .060,keith black flat tops, comp cams Xtreme 4x4 cam pn#cca-12-235-2, used a set of 882 heads with mild porting, elderbrock peformer intake,,holley 750 double pumper,hedders, etc. i used ARP bolts throughout the engine. it ran great, had plenty of power and torque, and 17 mpg in a k5 with 38s.

I like to be around .480 lift and 220-225@.050. works alright for stockish bottom end. be sure youz gots headers, duals and a good q-jet. if you doing fuel injection then try to get a cam with 114-116 lobe center for better vacume signal - the computer will piss all over you if dont.

if you really want to bog then you need high rpm steel crank, rods forged pistons and a phat roller.