Streetmachines, any suggestions for the cam? I already have an idea for the carb and intake, but I don't know a whole lot about cams.

 

Cams are tricky. You have to pick one that matches the rest of your engine as well as your drivetrain and driving style. Tell us more about your car. What transmission does it have? What rear gears? Do you drive it on the freeway? If so, how often and how fast do you want/need to be able to go? Is it a daily driver or a weekend car? How important is driveability to you, compared to performance?

 

In a 351 I'd go with a hydraulic roller grind with a 1,500-5,500 power ban, 3.00-3.55 diff gear, decent intake, worked factory heads(budget) or buy some decent aluminum heads, exhaust etc etc. The difference between factory heads that are cleaned up and good aluminum heads though will be whether you make 375hp or make 450.

 

Yep. Almost all of the valve stem tips wore a groove from the roller rockers. They are just soft as ****. The springs were just right for the roller cam, so that was not an issue. Apparently, this is become more of a problem and lash caps are super cheap to install if done early before you trash something like I did. If you find out after the fact, you have to pull the heads, machine all the valve stems, install new push rods and replace rockers that got damaged. Just good insurance if you think ahead.

 

Another thing to remember is that most "stock" iron heads have pressed in studs. These will need to be replaced with screw in one's if you want them to stand up to even a mild performance cam.