What does all this mean (engine numbers)

DeusEx · #1 10-03-2006, 09:53 PM

Alright, ive been trying to find out everything i can about this freshly rebuilt small block thats in this camaro i just bought, the guy sent me a fact sheet of everything that was put into it and all the work that is done, i just ran into some stuff i dont quite understand, if anyone could please explain in the most simplest words possable that would be great... Basicly, i want to know if its good, or bad.. lol and a breif explanation of what exactly it means.
This is all from a 350 small block bored .30 over...

Duration @ .50' 230/230
Gross valve lift .480/.480
Love seperation 110

What exactly does all that mean?

Nate355RS · #2 10-03-2006, 10:02 PM

Those are the specs of the camshaft. Basically the higher duration the more top end power horsepower, the higher lift the more torque, and I'm not too sure about Love seperation, I'll let the other guys handle that one

Nate355RS · #3 10-03-2006, 10:08 PM

And with the gross lift that means that is the lift of the actual cam. To get your net lift you multiply the rocker arm ratio by the gross lift. ex.) If you were to use a common rocker ratio like 1.5 than your net lift would be .720. Hmmm... I think he meant that .480 was the net lift because .720 lift would be plain silly outragous. Even so, that should be a pretty strong cam did he happen to mention what heads it has on it?

silicon212 · #4 10-03-2006, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeusEx

Alright, ive been trying to find out everything i can about this freshly rebuilt small block thats in this camaro i just bought, the guy sent me a fact sheet of everything that was put into it and all the work that is done, i just ran into some stuff i dont quite understand, if anyone could please explain in the most simplest words possable that would be great... Basicly, i want to know if its good, or bad.. lol and a breif explanation of what exactly it means.
This is all from a 350 small block bored .30 over...

Duration @ .50' 230/230
Gross valve lift .480/.480
Love seperation 110

What exactly does all that mean?

It means that you and your girlfriend only have 110 days of love before separation, of course! Duh.

Seriously, the loBe separation is the angle between the apex of the intake and exhaust cam lobes. Less lobe separation equals more overlap, making for a better breathing engine at high RPM, but driving quality at lower RPMs is adversely affected. The 110 degree lobe separation will have more of a negative impact on manifold vacuum at driving speeds than one of say 112 degrees, all else being equal.

The duration specified is the amount of CRANKSHAFT rotation while the lifter is being lifted at least .050". Increased duration does the same thing for breathing at high RPM as what overlap will do.

Total lift, in inches, is how far the valve will lift off its seat. It is not a measure of direct lift at the lobe. The lift specified depends on the rocker ratio - a 1.6 will open the valve a little more than a 1.5 will, but a 1.6 ratio rocker will put that much more stress on the lifters and camshaft. On the small block, unless otherwise indicated, advertised camshaft lift is dependent upon the use of 1.5 ratio rockers.

The specs of the cam above are fairly moderate and look similar to the specs on a COMP Magnum CS-212-2 grind cam - 280 degrees advertised duration. This cam WILL give a healthy lope at idle and reduce manifold vacuum sufficiently to require the use of a vacuum pump for some accessories. It will also screw with computer calibration. Your power band should be somewhere from around 1500-2000 RPM to up over 6500 RPM, of course this is limited by the valve springs.

DeusEx · #5 10-03-2006, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by silicon212

It means that you and your girlfriend only have 110 days of love before separation, of course! Duh.

Seriously, the loBe separation is the angle between the apex of the intake and exhaust cam lobes. Less lobe separation equals more overlap, making for a better breathing engine at high RPM, but driving quality at lower RPMs is adversely affected. The 110 degree lobe separation will have more of a negative impact on manifold vacuum at driving speeds than one of say 112 degrees, all else being equal.

The duration specified is the amount of CRANKSHAFT rotation while the lifter is being lifted at least .050". Increased duration does the same thing for breathing at high RPM as what overlap will do.

Total lift, in inches, is how far the valve will lift off its seat. It is not a measure of direct lift at the lobe. The lift specified depends on the rocker ratio - a 1.6 will open the valve a little more than a 1.5 will, but a 1.6 ratio rocker will put that much more stress on the lifters and camshaft. On the small block, unless otherwise indicated, advertised camshaft lift is dependent upon the use of 1.5 ratio rockers.

The specs of the cam above are fairly moderate and look similar to the specs on a COMP Magnum CS-212-2 grind cam - 280 degrees advertised duration. This cam WILL give a healthy lope at idle and reduce manifold vacuum sufficiently to require the use of a vacuum pump for some accessories. It will also screw with computer calibration. Your power band should be somewhere from around 1500-2000 RPM to up over 6500 RPM, of course this is limited by the valve springs.

Damn man.. i read over that several times and im still trying to get it lol..
Im still trying to take everything in automotive related like a spongue so you have to talk slow for me.
Basicly, does everything look like its setup right cam wise, aparently the whole motor was done for strip / "high preformance" im just tring to figure out whats going on with the cam
Also, i did mean loBe, the v is to close to the b these days on the keyboard
thanks again for all the help guys, everyone is always so helpful around here... im going to go re-read your post again to see if i can understand anything any better lol

silicon212 · #6 10-03-2006, 11:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeusEx

Damn man.. i read over that several times and im still trying to get it lol..
Im still trying to take everything in automotive related like a spongue so you have to talk slow for me.
Basicly, does everything look like its setup right cam wise, aparently the whole motor was done for strip / "high preformance" im just tring to figure out whats going on with the cam
Also, i did mean loBe, the v is to close to the b these days on the keyboard
thanks again for all the help guys, everyone is always so helpful around here... im going to go re-read your post again to see if i can understand anything any better lol

It's probably not going to be very streetable with that cam, at least it's not going to be pleasantly streetable. It'll sound bad and mean with it, but city street performance will be flat - unless you can find a way to wind that puppy up without speeding!

What engine does it have, and what is the final drive ratio (rear end gearing) on it? Also, is it manual or automatic? I can recommend a cam for you if you can give me specifics on your car, such as above and also what your induction setup (carb? TBI? TPI?) and exhaust setup is.

Never mind about the engine, I just saw it's a 355 (.030 over 350).

DeusEx · #7 10-04-2006, 12:16 AM

Yeah its a 350 bored .30 over, it has the holey 750 double pumper on it carb wise, it has a 3.42 posi, and its automatic, b&m shift kit also built by mad dog transmissions (ive heard some bad stuff about them but i havent had any problems yet...) with a 2,400 (i believe, 2,something) stall converter

As for streetable what do you mean, will it not get up and go fast enough, is it for just winding out to insane speeds, or the other way around...
It already sounds great with the headers and everything on it, i never thought a 3rd gen could sound like it, even with the flowmaster on it.. i plan to get my borla that was on my old 92 rs on it shortly, hopefully to be even more impressed

silicon212 · #8 10-04-2006, 12:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeusEx

Yeah its a 350 bored .30 over, it has the holey 750 double pumper on it carb wise, it has a 3.42 posi, and its automatic, b&m shift kit also built by mad dog transmissions (ive heard some bad stuff about them but i havent had any problems yet...) with a 2,400 (i believe, 2,something) stall converter

As for streetable what do you mean, will it not get up and go fast enough, is it for just winding out to insane speeds, or the other way around...
It already sounds great with the headers and everything on it, i never thought a 3rd gen could sound like it, even with the flowmaster on it.. i plan to get my borla that was on my old 92 rs on it shortly, hopefully to be even more impressed

By not streetable, I mean that at low RPMs, it's going to want to stall on occasion, it won't have power unless you punch it, and it will use a lot of gas. Your power brakes aren't going to want to work right, and any other vacuum accessory will malfunction unless you put a vacuum pump on it. If you have a TH350 or TH400 transmission, it's not going to shift right and you could damage it. A 2400 stall converter will definitely help it street better, but won't help your economy.

You're better off, street-wise, with a cam that has a .050" duration around 225 or less, a net lift of .460 or less, and a minimum 112-degree lobe separation. It will run better at the lower RPM demands of street driving.

Nate355RS · #9 10-04-2006, 08:09 AM

Personally, I like the cam he has in it now. DeusEx, have you driven the car much, how do you like it and what are you looking for? If it meets your approval than that's a great cam to have in it, but if your looking for something else than we'll help. I bet on the street it feels sluggish unless you really get on it, then you get a holy cow kinda feeling once it starts winding up.

wrightz28 · #10 10-04-2006, 09:27 AM

I'm with Silicon212, the cam is bit much for riding around town, yeah it might sound meanand rough and we all feel our testoserone flow when it's idlling, but for mostly street duty, that cam is going to evenually wear something out.

DeusEx · #11 10-04-2006, 01:21 PM

You guys are great here with the help, i dont get as much help anywhere else then i ever do here...

Nate, i havent gotten it out on the road at all yet, just driven it off the trailer it came on into the driveway, i just got it about a month or so ago, had to wait another couple weeks to get the title mailed in the mail becuase of some bullshit and it still doesnt have plates or anything like that on it yet, going to wait until next year to actually get it out, not sure if i want to get classic tags or not yet.

Wright, what kind of things start to wear out after city / street driving with that sort of cam in it.
I didnt get the car to go to and from work in, just a weekend car on nice days and to take to the track thats fairly close here to mess around with

wrightz28 · #12 10-04-2006, 01:36 PM

Well if it's not going to be a'daily' driver than you might be fine. I just get to thinking that with a cam that's meant to perform at a higher RPM lopin garound town all daymight burn a valve and se a higher than epxected wear rate on cam, lifters and valve train.

DeusEx · #13 10-04-2006, 02:28 PM

Alright man, thanks...
Im just curious, basicly, this cam is ment to slowly get up in the higher rpm range and wind it out to make for a faster top speed or is it ment for the other way around...

wrightz28 · #14 10-04-2006, 02:34 PM

That's a top end cam, meaning yes, it "wakes up" at a higher RPM and tops out at a higher RPM. So on the flip side, there wont' be muuch low end torque (which is what you want to get a daily streeter moving).

poormillionaire2 · #15 10-04-2006, 02:38 PM

I think that LSA is steep for a street cam. IMO, I think a street cam should have an LSA lower than 112, but that's just me.

As far as your question, the cam is designed for high revs, meaning that your engine will be most efficient in the upper RPM range. That 110 LSA will make that car almost a nightmare to drive on the street, especially in stop and go traffic.

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