The best camshaft for a 253?

[vkwalks39]

G'day guys, I have a question for you. What is the best camshaft to put in a red 253? I'm looking at spending $3000 on it to make it move, so far I've pacemakers extractors, pro comp dizzy, 780 quady, 4bbl manifold,The motor is stock from top to bottom. My brother and I, have just put a 308 2H camshaft, in his 253 everything else is stock. basically I'm looking to make mine go harder then his. Cheers Jason....:wax:

 

[leigh 7005]

spend the money on some head work and a cam the only thing that lets the 253 and 308 down are the heads best bet would be to go get a good port job and a cam to suit it you could go vn heads but they have big valves in them and they might hit the bores you could get bores machined that would be the cheapest way go vn heads and if its auto dont go stupid on the cam as itll take off like a slug also get some flat top pistons makes for a more responsive engine and more compression to alow for bigger cam and make sure you dont have a stupid 2.78 diff ratio only good from 80 kph and up

 

[vkwalks39]

Thanks for reply. The motor does have flat tops pistons, also has a stock bore in it.The heads does have gas valves. But i don't know the size of them. It will be a auto, with a stage 2 and a hi-stally. The diff ratio is 3.08:1. I'm think of a mini spool but, i don't know if that will be an over kill. The motor is in a vk executive. If that helps. I just want a cam thats more powerful than the 308 2h. Cheers Jason.

 

[leigh 7005]

if you get a cam that starts at say 2500rpm geta 2500rpm stally also what else dose youre bro have dose he have a stally? head work extractors? $3000 should get you a cam and rebuild kit theres rebuild kits on ebay with hypatec flat tops for $750 and cam and lifter packages for $330 then to get youre machineing and head work and ether you assemble it or pay to get it assembled should be around $3000

 

[greenfoam]

If you are actually going to buy one I have some time today to run a few simulations to find a good cam, but I don't want to waste my time if it's not a goer

 

[vkwalks39]

Thanks for your reply guys. Leigh, my brother motor is stock apart from the cam. He will be give it a rebuilt soon, he is also goin to change the manifold to alloy manifold. And give it light head work. My 253 i'll be doing the rebuilt myself, I've done it before. I just done my 202 up. That goes bloody hard for a 202. Greenfoam thanks for your help too. I was thinking of putting a crane cam H286, But I think it might be too small. I just need a cam that bigger then 308 2H. Cheers Jason

 

[leigh 7005]

if your doing your self go flat tops cam to suit compression port job and stally to suit just remember you have to have the right compression for the big cams and a good balance never hurts

 

[vkwalks39]

Thanks mate, I'll give you a quick run down what i want. OK, Roller Rockers, 600dp carby, redline troker manifold, str8 cuts, H286 cam, hi volume oil pump, mild port & polished heads. Pro-comp dizzy, Pacemakers, Flat tops pistons, k&n air filter. stage 2 in the auto, 2500-2800 rpm stally. diff 3.08 with minspool. Knowing My luck this probaly blow up. Cheers Jason.

 

[greenfoam]

Man a 286 will be way too big for a 253 but I'll have a look . Back in a the day we had a 253 with a Sig Erson TQ20 cam and a Brockified standard manifold /ported heads and a jetted to suit quadrajet and it was a really strong motor with gears and a supra 5 speed. Wouldn't be suprised if it would have un a high 13 in a Torana (which it was in) it was able to spin the 2x245's in 1st and 2nd and 3rd as well with a bit of help from the clutch, heaps of grunt

 

[DANNY8]

Thanks mate, I'll give you a quick run down what i want. OK, Roller Rockers, 600dp carby, redline troker manifold, str8 cuts, H286 cam, hi volume oil pump, mild port & polished heads. Pro-comp dizzy, Pacemakers, Flat tops pistons, k&n air filter. stage 2 in the auto, 2500-2800 rpm stally. diff 3.08 with minspool. Knowing My luck this probaly blow up. Cheers Jason.

One problem there is the 286 gives power from 2400-6200rpm hey? So You'd want a dual plain manifold, not a single plain which the torker is. The single plain would only benefit u if the motor was gonna be revving higher then 5500rpm, but as ur cam starts at 2400rpm, they just don't go together too well. I'd suggest an Edelbrock Performer, that's wat we're running and it seems to be doing a good job.

Another suggestion, if you've got 3k to spend, first thing I would do is find a 308. Don't spend money on the 253 (by the way 253's have flat tops standard). And definitely find a decent set of heads, they make a huuuge difference!

Just shop around, on ebay and car forums and you can pick stuff up cheap. We got a std bore 308 bottom end for $200 off of this forum (which had a rollmaster double row chain already on it). Off of another forum we bought a 253 for $1200 which had yella terra bathurst heads on it, edelbrock performer manifold, yella terra roller rockers, good quaddie, decent extractors, tailshaft and a t700 behind it (had an adapter plate on it). We cleaned up the 308 bottom end (decided not to rebuild it coz the bearings looked ok and the pistons had no slop), chucked the yella terra heads and performer intake on, bought a rebuilt 600 Holley to go on, and bolted a trimatic up to it, and it goes extremely well! Only other costs were a stage 2 dynotec cam (2000-4800rpm), intake gaskets, head gaskets, extractor gaskets, tube of RTV silicone.