cam selection for my 455?

Hello. I recnetly found that the rear lobe on my Crower cam is gone, with less than 2,000 miles on it.(including around 30 passes at the drag strip) Has anyone had this problem? A friend of mine has heard about the rear lobe (closest to the distributer gear) wearing out on pontiacs. So my questions are:

1.I want my 68 Firebird street car to run mid 12's. What cam should I get to replace mine? My # 96 heads aren't ported, they are gasket matched.

2. Should I get another hydraulic cam, or go solid? A roller setup is too much for me right now (approx. 1,000.00)

3.Where do you draw the line on when is a cam too big for a streetcar with non-ported heads? Thanks for any advice.  

Never heard that one before.
If it is mostly a street car I would stick with a hyd. cam.
Pontiac heads that are not ported flow there peak in the .400-.460 lift range.
What was the specs of your old cam and what time did the car run.  
professional hi-performance engine builder

Horsepower sells engines and torque wins races

Phosphate was removed from engine oils many years ago for envirmental reasons. As a result oil no longer has the properties required to lubricate under the high friction loads caused by of flat lifter, hydraulic or solid. As all new vehicles have completely rollerised valve train, so they do not warn consumers.

Everyone out there. If you have hydraulic or solid lifters, then you must use full synthetic oils or an additive.

You will see benefits with a good solid camshaft. If you go with hydraulic, then Ram Air 4 profile or similar with 230deg duration @ .050 with a lift over .450 would be best. If you go solid, then a profile of 240 up to 246 deg is a good choice.  

Hello. The cam that went bad was a Crower part # 60210; .483/.501 lift, 228/234degrees @ .050, advertised duration was 278/288, centerline was 108 degrees. This was in a 76 Formula Firebird, very heavy car (3700 with me in it), 4:10 gears, 3500 converter, and this ran 12:80's. But I drove this car for a bit before I raced it, and it always had a miss under a full load, it popped and backfired through the carb. So I am confident that this was my miss. I could fool around on the street, racing others and such, and there was no miss. But when I got to the track, with slicks, which hooked up great, it would miss and pop badly every time. I never found the miss, not even thinking it could be a bad lobe. I went after ignition problems, and obviously didn't find anything. Thanks. Jeff  

What style of rocker arms are you using and what ratio.  
professional hi-performance engine builder

Horsepower sells engines and torque wins races

That combo was with stock 1.5's, but I will be buying 1.65 harland sharps with my new rebuild.  

OK with the 1.65 ratio roller rockers I would recommend the lunati P#00072LK.  
professional hi-performance engine builder

Horsepower sells engines and torque wins races

Gents--- I also am a beleiver in the RAIV camshaft,still.-Proven stick.I used one with Rhodes lifters,11'2800 stall ,turbo 400,3.91 8 3/4 mopar rearend from a cuda(1970)bolted right in my 77 T/A ran consisent mid 12's Ported 6x heads,manley valves 1.65 roller rockers performer RPM ,3310 holley  intake was extrude honed.400 ci Pontiac.
I now use CamMotion Baton Rouge ,La  they grind cams for alot of Pro stock teams-Don't advertise  you must fill out a list of facts about your car and drive train.
Quit using off the shelf 10 yrs ago-Minimal expense increase  

Hey , there is an oil plug to the right of your cam on the back of your' block. Check it out because alot of machine shops remove them to totally clean all passageways in the block. You would never know it because your' oil pressure will not register this . By the time you realize something is not right ; it is usually too late. I will dig up this article for you. I found it very interesting. But the potential damage that seems to occur is very much what you have described. Good luck.o.k. I found the article in HOT ROD Jan 09 issue.I will quote the essential parts of the article; "Pontiac V-8 engines have an additional 3/8-NPT recessed internal pass. side cam oil galley plug. The internal plug is often removed by the machine shop when it is hot tanked.A missing plug causes cam lobe failure.This will not be detected by oil pressure gauge." I hope this helps. I am new to the site and have a set of issues that baffle me as well. Good luck man. Dave  

You should be able to run low-12's w/ a 455. I built a 455 w/ ported no. 64's, 850 DP on a torker II, Crower 60919 (RA IV) w/ 1.65 roller rockers, hooker super comps, built TH-350 w/ 2500 stall, 3.08 posi- my '72 'Bird ran 12.17- 12.20's on street tires all night. My car was also set up for cornering (255/60's on all four corners, big sway bars F/R,etc.), so imagine if it was actually tuned for track- possibly a 11-sec car?

You're not going to make more power or go faster w/ iron heads unless you port them. Get Jim Hand's Pontiac book and follow his guidelines- doesn't take alot of porting to get big valve D-ports to flow 240-250 cfm.

Geno  

From what ive read and found out it seems as though anything bigger than a 470-80 lift requires the use of adjustable rocker system. which the 455 did not come stock with so maybe your cam wore out from being overtight. i had to watch this when i ordered my current cam for that very reason.  

I don't remember any Pontiac's coming with adjustable rockers. I always had put BBC studs and nuts on mine and never had a problem. Of Course, now I run a solid roller so they have to be adjustable.