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camshaft help

carolinafan4life63

carolinafan4life63

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ok guys , i have a 83 k5 with a stock 305, with the exception of an edelbrock p[erformer intake and recently installed long tube headers...now i am interested in installing a camshaft!! i have no idea what the stock cams duration and lift is so any info would help out a lot!! i want more torque and more overall power..if that is any help.truck will mostly be used as a dd with the ocasional offroad trip(nothing too serious) would like the power to at least burn the rear tires if need be , motor only has about 5000 miles since rebuild and i am running a q-jet carb.....as it is right now i cant even powerbrake it and smoke the tires unless i am in the dirt..looking at the summit cam part # sum-k1103 , would this be any improvement over stock as far as what i am looking for? $$$$$is a priority , so i am trying to keep it as low budget as possible at this time(hence , the summit brand cam kit) please offer some input or advice , i know i am kinda new but you guys are the sh!t when it comes to k5's , so please help me , thanks guys
 
YOur polishing a turd. Save your money and invest in a 350cid. I am running a 305 and dumped the Qjet carb for a Holley.

Also what is your gearing? And what tranny? These play a part in weather you have low end torque and it will play apart if you do decide to get a cam.

Your best bet, if you must put a cam in is talk to manufactor of the cam your interested in. Tell them your specs and what your intent.

Trying to spin the tires in a 6,000lb + truck is not something Id really worry about, esp. with a 305. Too each their own though.

ANd then your next posts will be "I was power breaking on pavement and broke my (axle, Ujoints, driveshaft, tranny etc etc etc)" LoL
 
yeah , spinning the tires is not a neccesity, and i have a 700r4 with a 208 tc and if im not mistaken the po said it had 3.08 gears for gas mileage .....gears are on my list of improvements too......and i agree with the "polishing a turd comment " about the 305 , but $$$$ is an object right now and i would like to improve whatever i can on the 305 since it is a fresh rebuild and doesnt smoke , rattle ect........and yes it will most definitly be upgraded to a 350 eventually , but i would like to get what i can out of this motor untill it is actually neccesary to change it.....i have seen some 305's run pretty decent although in lighter vehicles...and i know some of ya'll on here have the "dreaded 305" just want to know what i can do to up its power for minnimal $$ ' and it also has the dreaded 10 bolts and as of now 235/75/15 tire so basically i am just asking for some input from some of our more experienced budget minded members to help me out a bit .....i hope tommorrow i will be picking up a set of 33's for it , so please help out a fellow ck5'er.....thats what i love about this site ....the fellowship and the knowledge at hand
 
a 350 would definately be a better choice but if you dont have the money and your 305 is fairly fresh there is nothing wrong with keeping it. I had a sealed power cam with the same specs as that summit cam and liked it. it was in a 350 with a few bolt on upgrades. had plenty of power and torque and got great gas mileage. if you plan on keeping the 305 for a while then I say go for it. I doubt you will be frying your tires with it but it should have plenty of torque and decent mileage.

If you are looking for a big gain though I would swap gears especially if you plan on goin to bigger tires.
 
no its not a summit but i have had really good luck out of a comp x treme energy cam 262h but i think you might need a small converter so a size smaller would be ok. this cam made a lot of low end power compared to 2 others i have ran in my engine
 
Ok, let me chime in here. First off, the 305's weren't known for power. If the engine runs good and you're happy with how it runs but you are lacking power then you are better suited to do a gear swap instead. A 235/75/15 tire is actually 28.88" tall and going with a 33" tire will only make the matter worse. Now making the matter worse as far as power goes is one thing but you will also not be making that 700R4 very happy for much longer either. If i were you i would be installing a set of 3.73 gears to go along with the 33" tires you might be getting. This will keep the trans much happier AND give you more pep from the engine.
 
I would think that by the time you get the cam, valve springs to match the cam. all the gaskets, timing gear set, etc, etc. you could find a decent 350 in the newspaper or on CL or something.
 
I wouldnt bother with the 3:73 gears, go with 4:10s. I have a 305cid w/ 700r tranny and 33" tires. I feel this is one of the best all around combos. I can crawl in 4wd low and I can run 65mph @ 2100rpms all day long.
 
You would. Cams have very specific RPM ranges, its either low end torque or high end HP. hard to get a cam that is neutral. Plus if your motor was just gone thru, I wouldnt open it back up. Gears you would benefit all around. Even with a cam you still wouldnt spin the tires IMO. that gear you have is just too tall. Youd need a good built 350 to get them going on pavement. Gears would help out better IMO. Dont forget your need to change the front and the rear ones as well.
 
is it possible to just replace the gears in the rearend for the time being? untill i get up the money for the front diff also? what would be the negative effects of doing it one at a time ?or would it actually hurt the drivetrain in any way? i'm kinda new to the 4wd scene so any help is much appreciated , thanks
 
You can do the rears but you wouldnt b able to use 4wheel drive. They need to be the same for 4wd.
 
so , would you recommend the 3.73 gears or the 4.10 gears with the 700r4 tranny , and 305 motor? looks like i'm going to go with 31/10.5/15 tires also! and i know there are probably a bunch of threads on installing gears but maybe someone could put me a link up to one of the better ones for a first timer? sorry for all of the "stupid" questions just know there are a lot of good people on here with a whole lot more experience than me and i like to hear the pros and cons of the mods i intend to make.
 
If you are going to run a 31" tire and since it's a 305 i would go with the 4.10's, that would put your 65mph crusing speed right at 2,022 rpm's while in overdrive, if you kept the trans in drive you would be 2,888 rpm's or slightly higher due to convertor slippage unless your trans will also go into lock-up in drive (most 700R4's do).
 
I would go 4.10. That leaves room to go to bigger tires at some point if you decide to, without having to change gears again.
 
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