Well I'm running the Edelbrock 2108 cam..I dont think I have ever seen anyone running this cam...I know edelbrock's stuff really isnt the greatest but I have been really happy with the cam...I have been running it for about 5 months now...We rebuilt the motor completely after it spun a bearing..new bearings, freeze plugs, timing chain, bored to a 355 with new stock style rotating assembly..heads are stock except for the dual springs, a valve job, 1.6 rr, hardened pushrods and new lifters...Added a 3200 stall, longtube headers into matching y pipe into a gmmg exhaust, msd ignition, taylor wires, ngk plugs, underdrive pulley, cai...got rid of all the air/egr stuff and had it completely tuned on the dyno...the opti was crapping out when we tuned it and it took a dump on me a few weeks later..we replaced it with a stock opti and it runs even better since then...it put down 308/320 through the stall at the wheels with the bad opti and Im sure it would put down better numbers now


my question is I know there are bigger cams from better companies out there but I decided to go with this cam and have been nothing but pleased with it..it sounds really mean at idle through the gmmg and has great down low power..the high end isnt the best but I dont do a lot of high speed stuff anyways...is there any particular reason more people dont run this cam....I know i went against the norm and dont want folks blasting me cause I used this cam...not what this thread is for...just wondering why more people dont run it..

here are the specs

#2108

ENGINE: CHEVY LT1 (1992-1997)
RPM RANGE: 1500-6500

Duration at 0.006" Lift: Intake: 286° Exhaust: 286°
Duration at 0.050" Lift: Intake: 218° Exhaust: 218°
Lift at Cam: Intake: 0.350" Exhaust: 0.350"
Lift at Valve: Intake: 0.525" Exhaust: 0.525"
Timing at 0.050" lift: Open Close
Intake: 3° ATDC 41° ABDC
Exhaust: 41° BBDC 3° BTDC
Centerlines: Lobe Separation - 112° Intake Centerline - 112°

Note: Produces 10" vacuum @ 1000 rpm. Use with high stall torque converter or standard transmission only.

 

I'm running that cam. I'm also pretty happy with it. Not what I would have chosen, but it was in the car when I bought it. I'll be going with something different for my rebuild.

 

Smallblock heads at least gen 1 and gen 2 tend to flow better on the intake than the exhaust, that is why everyone else runs cams with more exhaust duration.

You only THINK you have good results the Crane 210/224 has put down 315rwhp through manifolds, and even bolton b-bodies have hit the 300rwhp mark.

I know you may take this as blasting you but these are the reasons nobody else runs it.

If the Edelbrock heads have more balanced intake and exhaust flow thn most other LT1 heads then MAYBE the single pattern cam is a good choice with them, but they are a bad choice in and of themselves so I wouldn't hold my breath on it.

Also consider Edelbrock advertizes 396fwhp with their heads and cam, most of the available porting services for stock heads can deliver that number at the wheels, BIG difference.

Basically it was a poor choice and most people can recognize that before they purchase, some blindly follow a name and never know they got mediocre results for the same price as good ones could have been had.

 

Well admittedly it was my first time doing a cam swap and you have to live and learn....I will do something else later thats more educated...I didnt research it as much as I should have but regardless I actually like the cam..it makes good power down low..has a nice sound to it and is very well street mannered and I dont think the dyno numbers were that bad for that small of a cam and the opti crapping out...not to mention it is going through the stall...since the opti was changed it runs a lot better...track numbers will tell me where Im at..I just havent had the time to run it...but I know its hellaciously stronger than it was when it was stock..hehe..and I dont think it was a poor choice...an uneducated choice..yes I will agree on that but not a poor choice...all the components that I went with work well together and are dependable..it may not be the fastest and I could have made a more educated choice..but at least I matched everything to the cam so its a combo that works well together....not just throwing parts together that everyone else uses...bigger is not always better..I have become a firm believer that the combo is more important than one single "popular" choice..thanks for the response...

whats the drivetrain loss with the 3200 stall 96Caprice?? what do you think the numbers would have been with a stock stall.....Im not as worried about the dyno numbers as I am for real world performance but would still like to know

 

As long as your happy with it and it runs good, who gives a **** what someone else thinks. Those arent to bad of numbers through an auto! Yea its not the best out there but if it runs decent and sounds good then congrats.

 

The owner is the one who has to be happy. I just get frustrated when people try and get others to make the same mistakes they have. On another forum guys were drooling over 320rwhp strokers and recommending that builder even when the same stroker had shortblock issues at 5K miles. The guy who bought it is still happy, and far from the only one with problems but they ignore the reality so they do not have to admit they made less than good choices.

I used to think that reputation and happy users were the mar of good prodicts, the more I learn I realize you have to watch track results in particular, granted some cars are setup to race better so there are variables you have to develop a gut feel for interpereting, but measured results tell you MUCH more than opinions.

There is a kid who sometimes comes here, has a nitrous stroker that runs like 13s, he was happy till he found the forums and realized how terribly he was doing.

 

With a bit more lift and exhaust duration it wouldnt be too bad of a cam. Its not terrible, and track times will tell the true story. 308 through a stalled auto with stock heads isnt too terrible.

Whats the hp/tq curve and torque numbers look like?

 

With a 2800 stall and a questionable pcmforless mailorder tune, ZZ4 cam, my car made 290rwhp at about 5400rpms and it was hard to read due to converter spike and downshift issues but torque was well up into the 300s, that opti had 60K+miles on it, this was also SAE not STD everyone loves to talk STD because it is a higher number. 87 octane, stock 93K mile shortblock, stock iron heads, 1.6 rockers on intake 1.5 exhaust for .505/.510. Idle could be mistaken for stock. Ran 13.2 belt on at at least 4200lbs.

Like I said there are bolton b-bodies topping 300rwhp and b-bodies all came with A4s, the fast bolton cars are running at least 3400 stalls, running heavier 8.5" axles too.

Stalls eat up some power but anyone with a fast car and an auto has a stall so I have not bothered to worry about what they eat up HP wise and did not bother to lock it either.

 

well like ya said I know I made a mistake in not researching and understanding more but I am happy with the numbers it put down through a stalled auto...and i know for a fact that it runs harder with a better opti on it..the torque curve was nice and flat...topped out at about 5750-5800 so theres really no point in spinning it anymore..I set the limiter at 6000....everything about the curves is nice except for a small drop from 4700-4900 rpms...not quite sure what it is though..when we were tuning it and it hit 4700 it basically stopped pulling for 2-3 seconds and then just explodes through the rest of the rpm range..weird stuff...through the dyno tuning she saw around 6200 rpm and multiple 140-145 mph runs to get the info we needed to datalog and work on tuning the comp

i didnt choose the best cam but like was said...Im happy and it does what I wanna do and for some damn reason works really well with the combo I have and thats what I wanted...

once I started doing alot of research on cams I see there were some better cams but i still dont understand all the info and numbers on cams completely...so I was more prone to go a route that I knew I wouldnt screw anything up than go overkill..but I can honestly say that I dont regret it....I though about changing the cam out to a bigger comps cam but have read so much about people switching from a good combo to a cam that is bigger and then the car actually goes slower cause some of the other mods arent enough..mainly the heads..but hey we all live and learn..thanx guys for the comments and info...now I just need to get it to the track

 

oh and I have to credit a good stall for the numbers too..I am so glad I went with a good company instead of crapping out...part of the reason it took me five months to buy all the parts lol