Performer RPM Cam and Manifold.... Good riddance!

[fine69]

This is the one I used.

Com Cams Xtreme 4x4 X4270H Part # 12-243-3

Described as Strong mid range and throttle response, likes headers, gears, 2200rpm + stall.

RPM Range 1800 - 6000

Duration

Advertised
In Ex
270 278

@ .050
In Ex
226 234

Lift
In Ex
.480 .498

Lobe Seperation
111*

How do you like it? .480 is getting up there in lift, you think? How's the low end torque response?

 

[bossvette]

I ran the edelbrock performer cam (2101) in a 66 Chevelle Wagon I had when I was first Married and really liked it, I used to call that car "Christine" whenever I worked on someone elses car something would break on it like a jealous women. My Oldest son still has it.

Christine had a 350 with a turbo 350 trans and stock conveter Edelbrock 2101 Cam, manifold and 600 cfm carb Hei headers. My Wife always says " you take a perfectly good car and the first thing you do is put a bigger motor in"

 

[JHL]

JHL,

Thanks for the cam info. Did you have to remove your damper and drop your oil pan? Were you able to maintain a good seal between your timing cover and oil pan?

Ralph

Unfortunately yes you have to get the timing cover off, when I put it back together I did loosen the sump bolt so the the timing cover was easier to slot back in place but it all sealed up. In hindsight I should have bought a two piece timing cover the first time I did the job and it would have saved a lot of hassle and given easy access to my gear drive for some playing around with cam timing. Never understood why Chevy didn't fit them as original equipment.

The Comp Cam still has a bit of lift but is less aggresive and seems much smoother with better low end on it, again still maybe to much cam for some but it works ok for me. I looked at a roller cam set up at the time but probably unless it is an all out race motor not really worth the extra money.

Looking at the cams you list above they all look good for a nice drivable street motor, when I first bought my Vette it had iron heads, a torquer 2 intake, 600 holley and a Crane cam not far away from the specs you list and it ran mid 14's all day long with about 225 rwhp in a rolling road. I guess in the end it all depends what you want from your car.

J.

.

 

[Jack]

Local parts houses / machine shops that sell Sealed Power aka SpeedPro aka TRW can get the cam ... you should be able to do locally. Although ... as opposed to most other stuff ... summit does have a good price on their cams.

Essentially;
K1103 is SP KC1013R
K1104 is SP KC1138R
2102 is SP KC1014R ... aka "RV cam"

Jack,

I'm not sure if it was you, but someone here in CAC once suggested using a Summit camshaft. As I'm not getting alot of luck locating the SP camshaft, I checked out what Summit has to offer that may be similar in specs.

Here's what I found....

Summit (SUM-K1103)
Basic Operating RPM Range: 2,000-4,500 RPM
Duration at 050 inch Lift: 214 int./224 exh.
Valve Lift with Factory Rocker Arm Ratio: 0.442 int./0.465 exh. lift
Lobe Separation (degrees): 112

Summit (SUM-K1104)
Basic Operating RPM Range: 2,200-5,200 RPM
Duration at 050 inch Lift: 224 int./224 exh.
Valve Lift with Factory Rocker Arm Ratio: 0.465 int./0.465 exh. lift
Lobe Separation (degrees): 114

and, course
Edelbrock (EDL-2102)
Basic Operating RPM Range: Idle-5,500 RPM
Duration at 050 inch Lift: 204 int./214 exh.
Valve Lift with Factory Rocker Arm Ratio: 0.420 int./0.442 exh. lift
Lobe Separation (degrees): 112


​

Do any of these look comparable to the ones that you, John and JHL have recommended. I am very grateful for everyone's input.

Thank you.

Ralph

 

[fine69]

We removed the radiator, manifold, and camshaft today. It all came out relatively easy. My 11 year old son was interested and helped me out with the whole thing - so this was really a great experience for both of us.

I ordered the Performer manifold and will likely go with the Speed Pro 1062R (if I can find it), or Crane Energizer Cam 272:

Basic Operating RPM Range: 2,000-5,000 RPM
Duration at 050 inch Lift: 216 int./216 exh.
Valve Lift with Factory Rocker Arm Ratio: 0.454 int./0.454 exh. lift
Lobe Separation (degrees): 110 ​

Hopefully, with either of these, it will make the performance more streetable, but with some degree of "pep", of course... it is a Corvette after all!

Update....
I went ahead and removed the head that previously had the #5 broken exhuast valve spring. I'm going to bring it into the machine shop this week and have it checked out. One thing I noted was all the black carbon build up (#5 is very sooty). Also, the cylinders have already begun to form a small ridge... although it could be wiped off to be smooth. Just seemed rather strange, I only put about 30 miles on it since the rebuild. :crazy

 

[lightingrod]

Well my 2 cents is going to cost alot more than 2 cents! Hyd roller cam! Yes I know they cost but for me anyway they have been worth the upgrade! Second I really like Performer RPM intakes, SBC or BBC. I'm even considering putting one on my 572! For me they are one of the best all around intakes ever made! On a 496 I have the RPM intake made more torque at almost 1000 rpm less than a Victor Jr did. The Victor never made it up in big end hp! This was with Edelbrock heads and a Crane hyd roller, .610" .632" 234* 242* @ .050" with about 10.2-1 CR.

Al

 

[fine69]

Well my 2 cents is going to cost alot more than 2 cents! Hyd roller cam! Yes I know they cost but for me anyway they have been worth the upgrade! Second I really like Performer RPM intakes, SBC or BBC. I'm even considering putting one on my 572! For me they are one of the best all around intakes ever made! On a 496 I have the RPM intake made more torque at almost 1000 rpm less than a Victor Jr did. The Victor never made it up in big end hp! This was with Edelbrock heads and a Crane hyd roller, .610" .632" 234* 242* @ .050" with about 10.2-1 CR.

Al

My reference was primarily toward the RPM camshaft - it didn't work out very well me. I decided to change out the manifold at the same time. I did keep the RPM heads.

I am not looking to build a racecar... just a nice Shark with some umph!

 

[lightingrod]

Yes I understood you, I think? The RPM intake is good all around, or that is how I feel! My point was with a hyd roller cam and the rpm intake you can have both! A The 496 I built had 500+ pound feet of torque from 2,500 to 6000 rpm! I don't know, but it's my opion that the Edelbrock Performer was built for hood clearence and not performance! For my part, even if I went with a cam like the Performer I would still use an RPM intake!

I'm in the market for an intake, I really liked this article!

http://victorylibrary.com/mopar/intake-tech-c.htm

It explains some of the why! Why would you need a bigger carb with a lower performance dual plane intake? READ!

Al

 

[Tom Bryant]

Set a box fan or 2 in front of your car to feed cool air to the radiator and you can run in your cam without the high temperatures.

 

[RUSS O'BLENES]

I'm convinced that the Performer RPM cam is too much for street use. I'm gonna lift out the engine again, and replace the cam to something more "streetable".... while I'm at it, I'm also gonna lose that Performer RPM manifold to replace it with something that will fit under the darn hood!... Hind sight 20/20.

Does anyone know the camshaft specs for a stock 350 / 350hp? Also, does anyone have recommendations for a "close-to-stock" cam that will work with my 64cc Performer RPM heads (#60899)?

Thanks.

WHY DO YOU THINK THE CAM IS TOO MUCH FOR STREET USE? I THINK IT IS FAIRLY MILD. I DON'T KNOW WHY THE MANIFOLD DOESN'T FIT UNDER THE HOOD. I HAD A 406 WITH A VICTOR JR. WITH THE STOCK HOOD FOR YEARS. ARE YOU USING THE STOCK OPEN ELEMENT AIR CLEANER? HAPPY MOTORING RUSS

 

[fine69]

WHY DO YOU THINK THE CAM IS TOO MUCH FOR STREET USE? I THINK IT IS FAIRLY MILD. I DON'T KNOW WHY THE MANIFOLD DOESN'T FIT UNDER THE HOOD. I HAD A 406 WITH A VICTOR JR. WITH THE STOCK HOOD FOR YEARS. ARE YOU USING THE STOCK OPEN ELEMENT AIR CLEANER? HAPPY MOTORING RUSS

Well, it ran like garbage at normal driving speeds (others have experienced the same) with the Performer RPM cam. It did okay at higher RPMs, but not great.

I swapped it out for a Sealed Power performance cam that's closer to the stock cam for the L46. Not sure why I didn't have success with the Performer RPM cam, all I know is that my Vette now runs stronger than ever and I'm pleased. No regrets at all with the new setup.

The setup did not fit under the hood with the stock air cleaner, I had switched to a thinner filter and it fit fine.

 

[lightingrod]

Well, it ran like garbage at normal driving speeds (others have experienced the same) with the Performer RPM cam. It did okay at higher RPMs, but not great.

I swapped it out for a Sealed Power performance cam that's closer to the stock cam for the L46. Not sure why I didn't have success with the Performer RPM cam, all I know is that my Vette now runs stronger than ever and I'm pleased. No regrets at all with the new setup.

The setup did not fit under the hood with the stock air cleaner, I had switched to a thinner filter and it fit fine.

Why the RPM cam and the Performer intake?

Al

 

[Lucy64]

I am running the RPM cam, intake and heads on my 64 and love it. The cam has a great lope and the built 350 runs very strong. Everyone that hears it comments how awesome it sounds. I found that with this combo you must run a nice exhaust system. I have Hooker headers and 2 1/2 inch pipes into chambered exhaust. I did have problems with the Edelbrock carb and replaced it with a Holley 770 Avenger. I am very happy with the entire setup.

 

[fine69]

Why the RPM cam and the Performer intake?

Al

I replaced the cam with the Sealed Power, and the intake to the Peformer. I kept the RPM Heads and Edlebrock 650 cfm AVS carburetor.

I has a nice lope and lots of off the line power.

 

[lightingrod]

So when you were running it, it was with the Performer RPM cam, Intake and heads? What's your compression and rearend ratio? A few years back I had a couple of friends that had the RPM as well as the Holley setup and both were pretty well liked in 4-5 sp cars. I pretty much had the RPM setup on a BBC but I went with a roller cam that I think gave me alot more bottom end!

Well what really counts is that your happy now!

Al

 

[fine69]

So when you were running it, it was with the Performer RPM cam, Intake and heads? What's your compression and rearend ratio?

Well what really counts is that your happy now!

Al

Yes, it was with the Performer RPM cam, Intake and heads. The compression is approximatley 9.7:1, rear end is 3.71. I believe I got her running pretty much how I want it.

I'm not focused on engine right now... I'm furbishing - actually mostly replacing the interior. I spent all day yesterday cleaning 37 years worth of accumulated dirt and grime, and re-routed / organized the spaghetti mass of wires!