I'm looking at an edelbrock cam for my engine going into a 68 Charger. I have a set of RPM heads 84cc, the RPM intake and 750 summit carb. will this be a good setup for me? The engine is out of a 71 Chrysler Imperial 9.0 to 1 compression. I can replace the pistons if the compression is too low. I have the matching 727 trans and converter from the Imperial and a 3.23 8 3/4 rear end. looking to build a good cross-county cruiser. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Ron

http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive_new/mc/camshafts/locator.php?part_number=7194&submit=go

http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive_new/mc/cylheads/chrysler/bb_perf_rpm.shtml

I'm no engine expert but I have built, raced and dyno tested a bunch of BB Mopars for all kinds of applications, race, street and strip and street only. I would look at using one of the Comp Cams grinds, Magnum 270 H, 280 H or maybe one of the Xtreme energy grinds like the XE262H or the bigger XE268 H grinds. I have never seen a stock unblueprinted BB Mopar be anywhere close to blueprint specs . from the factory on any part of the motors My message is that Imperial motor problly doesn't have a true 9.0 to 1 compression ratio now with the new heads, you can do some measuring on the deck hieghts to see what it ends up with as far as the current parts, if it is above 8.5 to 1 comp ratio then think about what you want to do, if it is below 8.4 to 1 I would probally try getting it closer to 10.0 to 1 with the new aluminum heads and use a bigger cam than the ones I recommended, maybe the Comp XE275HL or XE285HL grinds IHTHs

Cab_Burge

Thanks for the input. My main concern is being out of the best rpm zone with the RPM cam. cruising 65 to 75 mph with a darn good passing gear.

Ron

HEY WITH YOU ALUM HEADS AND INTAKE AND THE 750 CARB , I WOULD PUT A MOPAR CAM IN A 484 STREET HEMI CAM . I HAVE PUT THIS CAM IN A LOT OF 383 AND 400 ENGINES . WORKS VERY WELL ON THE STREET . WILL WORK WITH YOUR HEADS AND INTAKE AND THE 750 CARB . ( A REAL MOPAR MAN)

What size engine? 440, 383?
What vehicle is it going into, what weight and tire size?
With the aluminum head and intake, and being in Colorado you can push the compression up a bit.

If it is a 440, I can make you a deal on a near new RPM intake, 780 Holley street avenger carb, and Accell street billit all-in-one distrubitor, and a few other parts off my 440 that I am converting to EFI.

A real cross country CRUISER ? ... stick with some iron heads ...imo.

That cam would be a bit big for a bone stock low stall converter, IMHO. If you can find a high stall converter meant for a 340 or Hemi, then fine. Get the cranking compression(or dynamic compression) back up to the high end for the heads and fuel and cam you will run, or go with a cam that only has four or five more degrees duration than stock. what you want is to not lose low speed working compression due to the intake valve closing a lot later with a moderately big cam like the Edelbrock you are looking at. If you use that cam with a stock 2200 rpm converter, it will be in the bottom half of the gear a LONG time, making the car slow out of the gate by a bunch. If you want to use the low stall converter, take a look at the ones CAB recommended, the 268H or 270 H for total duration Vs the stock cam. There is a web site called BIGBOYZ (its a Harley motorcycle head porters page) that has a dynamic compression calculator under one of the listings, to help you figure this all out.
Getting that compression up there will be worth about 30 ft lbs of torque on the bottom end, by the way. Getting it right will pay dividends if fuel mileage as well.

That is more cam than I would put in a "cruiser". I am not saying it won't work, I just think a milder cam would better serve the intended purpose and combo.

I agree about that cam being too big for what you`re doing and my old motto for stock type motors w/stock verts and highway gears was; when in doubt the .480 lift and 230 dur. @ .050 works real well and back then it was Lunati or Comp but today I only use Isky and I`m sure they have a shelf grind that`s similar.........

Maybe give a place like Hughes Engines a call, they have Mopar spec fast rate of lift cams. That cam you linked seems pretty big for a lower compression cruiser. Just a guess but you probably want something in the 220 degrees duration at .050" lift range with as much lift as possible.
Years ago I had a 78 Warlock with a stock rebuild 440 (9:1, stock intake, heads) with headers and 3.23 gears. It had a Crane Cam in it with .450" lift, 282 base duration and 220 ish @ .050 (can't remember the exact specs, it was 20 yrs ago). It had good power, would do around 100 mph in the 1/4 (measured out on a back road) and would burn rubber from a 30 mph roll

Thanks for the advice, I'm going to remove the heads an see what I have.

Edelbrock has this cam also that might be better:

http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive_new/mc/camshafts/locator.php?part_number=2192&submit=go

for what you're doing, something in the range of 218-224@ .05 will work. look up a comp xe262h or the xe268h. they'll help with the low cylinder pressure and have good throttle response and low end torque.

Thanks to all who responded. I will look into the Comp cams



Ron

Before you buy the heads, take off a head and see exactly where the pistons are now. Between the Eddy E-Street and RPM head choices and different gasket thicknesses, you should be able to hit a decent compression ratio. I'm with Cab on the Comp H series, or something similar with less aggressive lobes. You can go with a little less spring pressure, and keep the stamped rockers and the parts will be happy.