sphinx_57

I was thinking of building up my 71 to be a torqe monster. Mainly my DD with the occasional race from light to light. Proubly never a track car.
I was thinking of letting it stay below 5k rpms, I was thinking of staying with highway gears. So I figuare that with enough torqe I could beat the occasional honda that rolls up, get decent gas milage, and be able to cruise on the highway at a decent rpm.
What cam suggestions do you have. Other ideas are also welcome.
I currently have a 71 cutlass with a 350 2 barrel carb, and pretty much stock.

70 cutlass s

I guessing you want a mild street engine. What kind of budget for the build do you have. Is this going to be a complete rebuild or just trying to get a little more power out of the current engine.

citcapp

Check out the small block forum to get some ideas of what other have done, then think about how much money you are willing to spend to meet your goals. A good plan is the best place to start. Changing the two barrel to a four barrel and adding dual exhaust are basic's that are not to costly, thats where most of us start.

sphinx_57

Well thats sort of the pupsose of the question is to start formulating a plan and a budjet, I like to do some reserch before I dive in. I just got the car about a week ago and it will be a couple months before I decide to change anything. Heres the basic plan. Edelbock manifold (free), holley 4 barrell (free), dual cherry bombs off headers (free), 275/60/15 rear tires (free), Head porting (free) but minimal, short term goals are 400 torqe, 10+mpg, and as much reliablity I can get. Possibly a small shot of nos, and somewhere down the line a blower. My budget is proubly a couple thosand a year if I keep it together, but then again I cant see the future.

Ive searched alittle on the formum for setups but the more popular cams and such seem to be revolving around getting the motor to spin up faster or higher rpm horsepower. Ive done that deal with my last car. This time around I'm going for a torqe car that will be fun on the street. One reason I always wanted an olds was the torqe they had over there competetors. I'm looking to keep that alive.

70 cutlass s

Sounds like you have already have some good parts. With the tires you have I would say the first thing to do is change the gears in the rear end. 3.42 would work pretty nice. What intake and carb do have as far as cfm and is the intake a duel are single plane.

citcapp

Sounds like you have the start of a plan. call one of the cam grinders and tell them your plans. They will offer suggestions. I am working on a cam for my 455 Olds and have talked Eric Bolander at Erson Cams (1-800-588-9608). I discribed my engine build, car weight, rearend ratio, transmission, and my goals. Within a couple of days I had a recomended grind in hand. I am also looking at Bullet Cams. In both cases I am going with custom grinds this time. In my other Olds (455) I used a Comp Cams roller cam and lifters of the shelf. Works great for a street Motor. I used a XR276HR. You can look up the specs on the Comp Cam web site. You can also call Comp Cams for grind info. You will get lots of opinions about cams. I did when I asked the same question. I took the advice of a good engine builder and contracted the cam companies direct. I make my dicision on which of the two to buy today. Good luck in your choice.

sphinx_57

Sounds like a good idea, I've been leaning toward a custom cam. I have an edelbock performer manifold and I belive it is dual plane, the carb is 600 cfm if I remember right.

70 cutlass s

With the carb and intake you have. You won't be able to go big, but will be able to focus on low end tq. Nothing wrong with a custom grind cam. If you choose to buy one of the self something around duration 210@50 260@006 and .470 lift. Good luck.