Ive read that a cam acts different in different size engines ie, a 224 duration at .050 .500 lift will seem/act like a bigger cam in a 350 vs seeming/acting like more of a mild cam in a 455 or stock in a 502. Im wondering if this is true? Im thinking of doing a cam and intake on one of my 215's and im also looking at cams for my 455 so I have those type of specs in mind. I dont want to put a cam in it that seems small for a 455 but will act big in the 215, its in front of an auto will stock stall. I have a 212 duration .490 lift cam in my 181ci 4 cylinder nova but idk if it idles/sounds built because the cam is big for the cid or because its not running perfect.

 

With the Olds 215, the trans behind it is a POS. there is no converter. the only thing i can say is, it is a 3 speed. The trans behind the Buick 215 is a 2 speed dyno flow something or other.
If you do a cam in the 215, don't go too big. Also Isky, I think is the only one with cores.

Gene

 

Correct. The Roto 5 was one of GM's better automatics. A T5 is a much better choice.

Back to the original question, yes, a given cam acts "smaller" as displacement gets bigger. As an example, Olds took the 308 deg cam used in the 1966-67 W-30s and put it in the W-31s, where acted a little more "radical". The W-30s were upgraded to the 328 deg cam at the same time.