Stocker camshafts

[Adger Smith]

That 402 is a good combo. You need to be sure to read the blueprint specs on it real close. It has some numbers that are a little different, too. ;~) OK Mark and Alan... I didn't spill the beans on this one... HA!

[astikhossw]

compcam has a spec stocker 396 375 horse cam in there catalog,it may give you some idea.You can also goggle it.

[Alan Roehrich]

Originally Posted by FINESPLINE

Thanks guys--you pitch hard and fast and I truly appreciate the help and valuable information you have to offer. Mark wants me to get down on the books and I can understand that and Adger baled me out. It's all good . Ron offers info on sb combos and Alan gave me more choices that I did have to go back to the books. I am leaning towards a 402/375 stick combo but not written in stone because some of the SB combos are interesting. I am not here to nor will I reinvent the wheel but would like to do as much as possible myself rather than write a check for a motor that would be like a black box. I want to know what makes it perform the way it does. Thanks again --talk soon----------John

John,
Even if you want to build it yourself, you need to establish a relationship with a good builder, so that you get good parts, and don't waste your time and money doing it wrong. The learning curve in Stock is STEEP and real mistakes get extremely expensive and frustrating. Stock Eliminator stuff absolutely cannot be taken just anywhere. It has to be done by machinists that know exactly what they're doing, the attention to every minute detail is what makes the difference between a good piece and a slug that will not stay together.

[Bub Whitaker]

Originally Posted by Alan Roehrich

John,
Even if you want to build it yourself, you need to establish a relationship with a good builder, so that you get good parts, and don't waste your time and money doing it wrong. The learning curve in Stock is STEEP and real mistakes get extremely expensive and frustrating. Stock Eliminator stuff absolutely cannot be taken just anywhere. It has to be done by machinists that know exactly what they're doing, the attention to every minute detail is what makes the difference between a good piece and a slug that will not stay together.

Ditto, Alan.. good advice... there are plenty of good ones all over the country, he just needs to find one in his area willing to spill their guts and humor him thru his learning curve

[Jeff Lee]

If you do not know the actual cylinder head air flow numbers of whatever engine it is you want to build, then as far as the cam specifications it's GARBAGE IN / GARBAGE OUT.
What that also means is you might want to choose the engine first, cylinder head casting number second, then have all the work done to the heads, then make sure your intake is up to snuff, then determine what your piston to valve clearance is so you can maximize those numbers with the cam.
It should seem obvious that asking for cam specs or anything related to a part number is something you are way far away from. Right? For now, all you really should care about is what the lift is per NHRA and how that should relate to the rest of the engine selection.
There's more but as Mark said, this is no silver platter club!

[Alan Roehrich]

Originally Posted by Bub Whitaker

Ditto, Alan.. good advice... there are plenty of good ones all over the country, he just needs to find one in his area willing to spill their guts and humor him thru his learning curve

And Bub is just one of the guys I was talking about. Bub would be the guy to talk to if you're in his area, John. In the Carolinas, you have Arnold Greene and Mike Heintz. In the mid west, you've got Darrell Wikle. In Texas, there's Adger Smith. Up around the Dakotas, you have Steve Koppien. And out there on the left coast, you've got Gary McGlasson. Here in my area, you've got Jimmy Bridges and Kenny Schindler. Down south, you've got Woodro Josey, if you can con him out of retirement. Those are just a few, and several of them have helped me a ton.

[Greg Reimer 7376]

I think that if I were starting over in a whole new area, or building a car from scratch again, I would buy a car I liked, learn it, refine it, learn to drive it, and figure what it likes. This person is interested in a high maintenance combination, and I probably would start out by locating and buying a good used stocker motor, learning how to tune it, drive it,etc. and that would save me a lot of time and money on that end of the learning curve.Building a whole new car from scratch is so much work, and a lack of experience at that point usually means that a lot of it gets done again with different new parts over and over again.It might behoove a new racer to think of that rather than look for castings, a machinist, a trustable source of information, and a whole lot of things. At any rate, welcome to the Stock Eliminator family, and don't get discouraged too soon.

[Alan Roehrich]

Greg, I don't disagree with that at all. Were it not for the fact that he said he's built the body and chassis already, I'd tell him to go look for a car he likes and buy it. And he'd probably still be better off to buy a good used engine, but he wants to build his own. And he may be needing to spend a little, save up, and spend a little, several times, to afford it. In that case, he's better off doing what he can afford as he can afford it.

One thing a lot of us forget is that one reason people build a car instead of buying one is that it allows them to spend money over time, rather than trying to save that money and spend it all at once. Something always seems to come up when you're trying to save up. There's always a need for that money you have put back.

[FINESPLINE]

Good evening gentleman, Spent an interesting day at a BBQ with the man who in the past built engines for me or steered me right when I was at a loss. He builds race engines for a living-- big big blocks and a few super stock motors. In fact he has a super comp dragster and a super stocker. We spoke about the Nova and he asked me if I was going to make it a bracket car since I already have 1969 Z/28 street car. I told him I was very interested in making it a big block stocker. He got up went to the table and poured me a scotch on the rocks and said ' so you want to jump into the fire' and smiled. Told me to come by the shop Wednesday evening and bring 2 large coffees. ------Guys , Is this what I have to look foward to ? LOL

[greg fulk]

Black magic & shell games is all it is.......how else would an 86 Camaro go 10.83 with a "stock" 305????? ( that was a long time ago though)