Small Block & Big Block Chevy Specific - 350 build suggestions for 68 camaro

i would like some feedback on an engine for my camaro
the car is a 68 camaro m20 4spd ford 9inch undecided gears
the parts im going to use unless someone has a better suggestion are
afr competition ported 210's
vic jr intake
holley 750 dominator
solid roller .630-.630 254-266 @.050
stud girdle,roller rockers,head studs etc..
my target compression ratio is about 11:1 on a .030 over 4bolt 350
as far as bottem end parts i dont have yet but thats what i have for the top end

the car will be used as a weekend local cruiser and a 1/4 mile track regular and run on pump gas and im looking to run mid 11's ... so the question is are those the right parts to get me there? if not any suggestions are appreciated thanks!

Motor combo sounds great but for the M20 it will never hold up unless you get a brand new rebuilt one,I would go w/a Doug Nash M5 w/ a 4:10 gear in the 9''.

Sounds close to the motor I'm going to build except mine is going to be a 383 on crack. :thumb:

sounds sweet keep us updated!!

The cam looks to be more for large amounts of N2O, are you going to be running n2o on the build? Otherwise I would look to be in the 254/260 area on a 108 LSA.

Put a T-56 in it and run some 4.10s, youll be real satisfied and get good mileage too.!

i have a 93 t56 trans but was doing some reading and looks like my lt1 6speed isnt the best choice from what i have read it looks like i need to buy a special pull style clutch and flywheel which was somewheres around 600 just for the flywheel if i remember right. and the m20 i just have sitting around so i was gonna use that temporarily until more funds were available for the 6speed..... i was also thinking the lsa should be a little more around 108-110

Not true, you can get a nice flywheel for about $350 and use all stock lt1 pedals and hydraulics and a lt1 style clutch.

Yep, Fidanza makes a flywheel for the conversion. We completed a freinds wife's 68' Camaro with the factory pedles still in tact and minor tranny tunnel modification's (now all we need to finish is the 468BBC going into it).

does anyone happen to have a part # for the fidanza flywheel ?

Put a T-56 in it and run some 4.10s, youll be real satisfied and get good mileage too.!

That is exactly what I'm putting in my car........when I get the money :(

does anyone happen to have a part # for the fidanza flywheel ?

Part # 198661

Motor combo sounds great but for the M20 it will never hold up unless you get a brand new rebuilt one,I would go w/a Doug Nash M5 w/ a 4:10 gear in the 9''.


Where did you get this info from? I've seen stock M20's hold up fine to built 550 HP Big Blocks.

^Ive seen stock T-56s take 900hp and stock rears take the same but that doesnt mean its a good idea.

i cant seem to find to much info with people using the lt1 t56 behind a sbc but heard the input shaft is shorter than the ls1 trans so i need to have something special in regards to the pilot bearing?

i cant seem to find to much info with people using the lt1 t56 behind a sbc but heard the input shaft is shorter than the ls1 trans so i need to have something special in regards to the pilot bearing?

You don't have to use anything special for a pilot bearing, just get a standard SBC bushing & put it into the back of your crank(if it looks like you are going to need to shorten it you can cut part of the backside of the bearing off). You can reuse the stock T56 clutch master & slave cylinder, you only have to buy a bracket to run off of the brake master cylinder for it (I'll have to dig out the magizine that I have for the company that we used). You will also have to modify the stock clutch lever by pulling it off of from underneth the dash and welding/fabricating a piece of 1/4" plate for the clutch master cylinder to attach it to. You will also have to slightly modify the trans tunnel around your stock shifter. The T56's shifter sits directly in line with the trans tunnel, instead of being slightly offset to the driver's seat. The shifter will also sit back about 3/4" (if memory serves me correctly) from your M20. The transmission cross member will have to be either fabricated or bought (and modified) from Keisler. We had to modify where the cross member bolts up to the sub-frame and then use a Energy Suspension TH350 trans mount (that had to be shimmed to fit our desired tail housing hight). You will have to have either your stock driveline shortend or have a new one built (we opted to go this route in consideration for the HP/TQ the new engine will be making). Lastly you will need to optain a yoke for the T56.

Where did you get this info from? I've seen stock M20's hold up fine to built 550 HP Big Blocks.

I have watched M20's blow up for year's behind BBC & SBC's until we switched to Doug Nash 5 Speed which held out a lot longer and were alot easier to rebuild.

http://www.classicchevy5speed.com/ TKO 600 w/3.73 and you dont have to cut your car up.

They also have Top notch customer service.

the cam has a 114 degree lsa and that top end on a 10:1 406 made 522 fwhp , and i will be running the same top end and cam on a 11:1 350 with no nitrous or blower... but if i run basically the same cam but with a 108-110 degree lsa how much hp would i gain?

You wont gain any HP at all, you will broaden your power band and lower your torque peak but at the expense of a much worse idle and possibly less top-end power.

You wont gain any HP at all, you will broaden your power band and lower your torque peak but at the expense of a much worse idle and possibly less top-end power.

I thought with a tighter LSA you lose some bottom end and gain on the top end

i thought a tighter lsa would do the same lose torque and gain some hp?.. but also have always heard a rougher idle less mpg and also harder to tune (on efi ) at least

You wont gain any HP at all, you will broaden your power band and lower your torque peak but at the expense of a much worse idle and possibly less top-end power.

Depending on the cubic inch and many other variables your post is inaccurate. A tighter LSA will generally produce more peak HP & TQ at the expence of idle quality, low rpm TQ (2000 rpm & lower), and "peaky" power curves. For all out power his combo will make more power with a 108 LSA over a 114 LSA. Your statement is basically backwards of what really happens in cam design.

I believe centerforce and I know ram also make flywheels for a smallblock with a lt1 t-56. I have the RAM aluminum flywheel for my t-56 swap in my s-10. From there you use all lt1 stuff including clutch and pressure plate

Depending on the cubic inch and many other variables your post is inaccurate. A tighter LSA will generally produce more peak HP & TQ at the expence of idle quality, low rpm TQ (2000 rpm & lower), and "peaky" power curves. For all out power his combo will make more power with a 108 LSA over a 114 LSA. Your statement is basically backwards of what really happens in cam design.

Wow, I read his post completely wrong. I agree that a tighter lsa will generally make more power but the main thing to look at is overlap. LSA doesnt determine overlap contrary to most ppls thinking, its the duration combined with the lsa. Overlap is good for power to a point, if running an extremely high duration cam then you dont neccessarily want a real tight lsa. Pro stock motors run high lsa's(like 120+) but they have tons of duration to create the proper amount of overlap. Although in most street builds you wont see much power difference going from a 114 to a 108, it does sound alot nicer though. LSX motors always use really high lsas though so why is that? Im about to purchase a cam for my ls3 that has a lsa of 115 and 237/251 duration, I guess the same principle applies here though. Every motor craves a certain amount of overlap which is obviously determined by the intake and exhaust efficiency. So decide your duration needs and the corresponding LSA will become obvious to achieve your overlap needs. But how do you determine how much overlap your motor likes? Cam science is the most complicated thing in the world and im no expert but im dying to be one, it would be awesome to grind my own cams and watch them actually make power!

A carb'd engine can handle more overlap than a FI engine can for tuning purposes. I disagree with you about most street builds not seeing any power differences going from a 114 LSA to a 108 LSA. The LSA (this is the differance of your exh. to int. centerline) of the cam does determine the amount of overlap. Determining the amount of overlap needed is why the cam companies want to know all the details of the car before they spec a custom grind cam. Most of your off the shelf cam's are ground on wider LSA's for general purposes, b/c most people haven't a clue of what they really want the engine to run like. So far the best author to explain cam design for general knowledge that I have seen is David Vizard. The best teacher that I have had on designing cams has been Steve Tanzie at Erson Cams, who basically grinds the majority of your NHRA Top Fuel Funny Cars and Top Fuel Dragster cams being used today.

Not sure what your budget is but Darts SHP block is worth a look at.
http://www.dartshp.com/shpblocks.html

lol im doing kind of a budget build so no $1,600 shp blocks for now.... but the car is not going to be a street car for the most part probably just a 30mile drive to the strip and back home if i dont trailer it but i think im going to use the cam i have now and run some nitrous at some point this summer....