Cam choice for 383 in '72 K10 suburban

[Schmitty]

This is my first post on the CK5 forums as I just discovered this great site. What a wealth of information.

I just picked up a new 383 to put in my '72 K10 sub. I have the option to swap out to a different cam before I drop it in. I'm curious as to everybody's experience and opinions here as many of you are running similar rigs.

As I mentioned the cam would be going in a 72 sub w/ stout TH350 tranny, 3:73 gears and 33x10.50 BFG All Terrains. It is used as a weekened hunting rig w/ the occasional mild 4 wheeling. I often tow a couple of ATVs behind me as well.

Specs on the motor are:

73 block bored .030 over
Dart Iron heads 180cc intake, 76cc combustion chambers
Valves: 2:02 intake, 1.6 exhaust
Flat top pistons,
9.5 Compression ratio
Holley 670cfm truck avenger
Edelbrock Performer or Performer RPM intake (I have both)

Anyhow, the cam that is already in there would probably work, but I think it might be a touch too big for my needs. Specs on the current cam are:

Comp Cams 12-238-2
RPM Range: 1,300-5,600 rpm.
Duration at .050" lift: 218/224 (int/exh)
Valve lift with 1.5 rockers: .462"/.469" (int/exh)
Excellent throttle responses, good mid range torque, • Aggressive lobe design
• Excellent throttle response
• Strong vacuum
• Excellent in high performance street/strip applications
• Good top end horsepower

Reliability and longevity are a priority over performance. Anybody have any thoughts or opinions on the route I should go? The current cam/lifters have already been broken in for 1 hour w/o incident so I'm kind of leaning towards just sticking with what's in there.

Please let me know what y'all think.

Schmitty

 

[mtnman]

That cam will work well for your app. A cam that is pretty big in a 350 behaves like a smaller cam in a 383 (more cubes needs bigger cam) It's a good bit smaller than the comp cam I use in my 383 - http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=CCA-CL12-243-3&autoview=sku

 

[Stomis]

Yeah thats a pretty small cam. I would say a step up from an lt1 or "rv" cam.

 

[Schmitty]

Thanks for the replies.

Anybody have any thoughts on the longevity/reliability of the Xtreme Energy cams. I know that the lobes angles are a bit steeper and I'm concerned with the cam holding up. Break in was done right and I wlll use oil w/ a high ZDDP content, but I still have concerns w/ shearing a lobe or wearing out lifters a few thousand miles down the road.

Has anyone here run an XE cam for 50K plus miles?

thanks again for the help.

Schmitty

 

[mtnman]

I got 50,000 out of my last one - but, it was junk when I took it out. I was NOT running high ZDDP oil, drove it like I stole it EVERY DAY, and used this -> http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=cca-5003 when I built it - so I can't tell you for sure how well yours would last - follow Comps' recommendations