1973 vette 454 cam upgrade ideas for smooth power

[vetter]

I would like to get a bit more power but am still interested in keeping it run pretty good at idle. Wondering what others have done for cam and intake swap and carb type or possibly efi. Any thoughts

 

[ddgermann]

I traded for C7 Z06.... seemed to work.
Ok sorry I am kidding.
There should be lots of guys here who have that answer for you.

D

 

[vetter]

I traded for C7 Z06.... seemed to work.
Ok sorry I am kidding.
There should be lots of guys here who have that answer for you.

D

I traded for C7 Z06.... seemed to work.
Ok sorry I am kidding.
There should be lots of guys here who have that answer for you.

D

Yes You are probably right ,for me this project has a lot of nostalgic value. This one works fine as is but always looking for ways to improve it as I have the motor out now to redo the front suspension and detail the engine bay. Should be fun!

 

[ddgermann]

Yes You are probably right ,for me this project has a lot of nostalgic value. This one works fine as is but always looking for ways to improve it as I have the motor out now to redo the front suspension and detail the engine bay. Should be fun!

This sounds like a great project. Clearly you are investing your energy and are looking for a faster fun Corvette.
Enjoy the process and please share your pics and progress with us.

Derek

 

[turbozig]

I suggest a aluminum head upgrade. Or do a port, polish and top off with roller rockers, that's what I did to my original heads. Only used a rv cam for a slight bit of extra lift/duration. It dyno'ed out at about 450 hp and over 550 ft/lbs of torque with original intake and quadrajet carb, and my carb was having issues at the time. The engine looks completely stock original on the outside. Still a nice street friendly engine with gobs of big block torque.

 

[vetter]

Thanks for your input .The rv cam is something I am not familier with so I will look that up. I am also thinking of changing the carb but not sure which one to get. Is there different quality of roller rockers and how do you tell. Also wondering about headers ,short or long or just stock exhaust? Thanks

 

[Keith Tedford]

I would like to get a bit more power but am still interested in keeping it run pretty good at idle. Wondering what others have done for cam and intake swap and carb type or possibly efi. Any thoughts

We put a '74 smogger 8-1 454 in our son's '69 Chevelle a few years ago. The only changes were, a Cam Dynamics 272 Energizer hydraulic cam, that works with stock valve springs because you never need to turn over 5K rpm with it and it makes good torque. Think Pontiac and torque, not high revving small block. A Chevy hi-rise rectangular port intake on the oval port heads was cheap at the time and made the engine look like a hipo version. Works just fine despite what "experts" say. A 750 vacuum secondary Holley, #72 primary jets, #76 secondary jets, #65 power valves. Headers don't make much difference when closed so are a bit of a waste of money for the street, but do look pretty. This car, with poor traction, still ran 13.6s, shifted at 5K rpm. Shifted at 5800......14.3s as it was way over its cam power peak. With slicks and road weight, would have run very low 13s as set up. Not bad for and engine and mods that didn't add up to $1K total. As far as dyno numbers go, they don't always translate into the quickest car. A friend works a lot on swapping LS, 5.3 and 6.0 litre engines into street rods and older cars. Half of his work is talking people out of poor combinations of pieces that he knows won't work together. They read something and take it as gospel. Then there is the driver. There is a guy who couldn't get his car into the 13s. An experienced driver put the same car into the 11s. He didn't even realize that he was spinning half way down the quarter mile. I like time slips.

 

[vetter]

I am getting stuff ordered but can't find a new intake manifold that will fit under the stock hood. I am wanting to put a Holley carb on. What have some of you used?

 

[Jr. Corvette]

I would personally go with an efi setup. I went with a very radical cam on my ZZ4 setup with some big heads for supercharging in the future. My FiTech can keep the motor running at 500 rpm although I run it about 700-800. With my cam that would be difficult with a carb. Really shows how amazing fuel injection is. You could go with a bigger cam and the efi will keep it streetable and running nicely at idle. You might even tap into some power that you couldn’t get out of a carb with more accurate tuning and better atomization. Combine that with better fuel economy, the ability to have a perfectly tuned car if you decide to take a road trip through deferent altitudes, and the affordability of Fitech it’s hard to go wrong. I bought my unit 2 years ago and love it, my dad then bought one and loves it, my buddy then bought one as well for his Nova and he loves it.