350 engine help...

im building a powerful 350 for my 5000 pound truck and need a lot of torque, a combination costing about 2500 to 3000 bucks will get me about 416 ponies and 423 lb/ft of torqe, the only problem is that its a truck, so i need more low end torque, since the 423 is reached at 4000 rpm, not a good place for a heavy vehicle. they claim in the article that switching from the comp cams 268 Xtreme Engergy cam to the smaller 262 version would improve low end torque at a slight loss of power over 4500 rpm...

do any of you guys have any idea as to how much of a gain i could expect from using the smaller cam in the torque arena?

There may not even be a gain of HP by using a "smaller" cam. It just may utilize the torque at a lower RPM. You may even drop some HP but get a wicked torque band from 1000-3500 RPM. But you may also want to look into advancing the cam too. If you keep the same cam but advance the time about 6 degrees you may actually build torque at lower RPM but top end wouldn't be so amazing anymore. So advancing 6 degrees BTDC may get you 435ft/lbs at 3300. I believe Car Craft magazine had an article on Cam Power, but I can't seem to find it. If you need any other information just ask.
-Matt-

Raise your compression. You will need to run higher octane gas but it will be worth it.

yeah ive been looking around and i figure the cast iron shortblock prolly cant safely rev up to 5700 rpm without flying apart, which is where the power from the 268 maxes out... i bet the smaller one would do quite well, although i dont know if i would need the 750 cfm carb at that point lol...

Just get one and if you don't like the performance save some money and time. Then put the other one in or shop around for a cam that you can see really works with your application. There is no problem with going cheaper now and finding something better later on. I'd rather do that then spend money now and not be satisfied.

im building a powerful 350 for my 5000 pound truck and need a lot of torque, a combination costing about 2500 to 3000 bucks will get me about 416 ponies and 423 lb/ft of torqe, the only problem is that its a truck, so i need more low end torque, since the 423 is reached at 4000 rpm, not a good place for a heavy vehicle. they claim in the article that switching from the comp cams 268 Xtreme Engergy cam to the smaller 262 version would improve low end torque at a slight loss of power over 4500 rpm...

do any of you guys have any idea as to how much of a gain i could expect from using the smaller cam in the torque arena?Try a 383 stroker engine.Get you 400 small block crank shaft and then build with 30 over bore
decent heads always a plus .Try ultradane cams they ground you a cam shaft for your needs .That should give a very torky and quick rived machine