68 Cutlass, 68 455 4bbl 10.25 compression, ps, manual brakes, no a/c. 3.08 in the rear, 4 speed manual transmission and oai. Just need a good street cam not racing or anything like that.
Currently have a comp cams XE 262H, .475/480 lift, 262/274 dur. (218/224 @.050.) 110 lobe sep.
Any other recommendations?

 

check out chadman's combo here: https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...ld-thread.html

Engle 230/238 cam. Should wake it up a bit.

 

Was told not to go over .500 on the lift with stock valve springs. Is that right?
Oh yeah heads are c casting big valve.

 

Yes, Erson Hi Flow 1. With the 3.08 I'd do a single pattern cam.
Spec'd would be;
228/228@.050, .504 lift on both. Do it on a 108 and it'll be real snappy with the 4 speed.

 

Would I have to change out the stock valve springs to go with this cam?

 

ALWAYS! You should never reuse valve springs. I know guys do it, but it's never a good idea. You should also make sure that they are installed with the correct installed height so as to have the proper spring pressure and to avoid coil bind.

I ran a .504 lift cam with the stock valve train for well over 20,000 before I sold the engine with 0 issues.

 

Well the springs are new because the heads were redone but they are stock spec

 

New doesn't have anything to do with it. You need to have the springs matched to the cam, otherwise you can run into coil bind due to the thickness of the wire used in the springs, or even too much seat pressure if they are too stiff.

 

I don't want to be a bad person here but. You say street car, not racing. You have 3.08 gears. As it is, this car should be fast, drivable and be good on a freeway. Why open up a can of worms for little or no benefit. Change the cam better change the valve springs. I would go to adjustable rockers over. 500 lift, jmo. It snowballs when one goes for a little more performance, being a street car with that ratio maybe not. Basically I'm saying on the street you can only go a couple of gears because of police or safety, so the camshaft isn't going to make that big of difference. Find a 3.42 or 3.73 rear end if you want to wake it up. I would leave it alone for street only driving. Jmo

 

Here's where I'm at, I had this toro engine rebuilt to put in my Cutlass. I told the rebuilder what I wanted. 10.25 comp. pistons and was fine with the cam that I mentioned in the first post, (262h) but wanted maybe a little more, since this car doesn't require a lot of vacuum, no power brakes and manual tranny. Long story short I get the engine back and he's put a really mild cam in it. Erson 270/280 .448/.472 lift. 204/214 @.050 he probably did this to be safe with the stock springs.
now I'm thinking I'll be disappointed.

 

Would you still say this if I kept this cam in it?
Erson 270/280 .448/.472 lift. (204/214 @.050) 112 Ls

 

Yes, for a street car only, you don't want to get too carried away. Keep it a fun to drive street car. 3.08 is an ok street gearing if you do some hyway driving to shows, etc. 3.42 gears might be a good option, wakes it up for quick street fun but still good for hyway. Torque is what moves you out. On the street I always felt it's a balancing act and I always error on the less than over. Keep your car fun to drive. Jmo