!970's Pro-Stock Camshaft Spec.'s

[swampbuggy]

I talked in my opening Post about how mean and nasty those early Pro-Stock Engines sounded Pre Green Light. At about 17 years old i took a Panasonic battery powered cassette recorder and recorded a bunch of Engine sounds, including Nitro Funny and Top-Fuel cars. I am gonna see if i can find that 50 year old Cassette, LOL . If my memory serves me correctly, Pro-Stock was around 9.80 and the Nitro stuff was about 6.20, help me Walter, Adger ? Mark H.

[Walter R. Malik]

I talked in my opening Post about how mean and nasty those early Pro-Stock Engines sounded Pre Green Light. At about 17 years old i took a Panasonic battery powered cassette recorder and recorded a bunch of Engine sounds, including Nitro Funny and Top-Fuel cars. I am gonna see if i can find that 50 year old Cassette, LOL . If my memory serves me correctly, Pro-Stock was around 9.80 and the Nitro stuff was about 6.20, help me Walter, Adger ? Mark H.

You're about right on those ET's for the early 70's.

[CamKing]

The 70's is before my time.
By the time we got into designing Pro-Stock cams, it was the mid 80's.
At that time, we were running roller cams with .841" lift, and 296@.050".

[frnkeore]

I talked in my opening Post about how mean and nasty those early Pro-Stock Engines sounded Pre Green Light. At about 17 years old i took a Panasonic battery powered cassette recorder and recorded a bunch of Engine sounds, including Nitro Funny and Top-Fuel cars. I am gonna see if i can find that 50 year old Cassette, LOL . If my memory serves me correctly, Pro-Stock was around 9.80 and the Nitro stuff was about 6.20, help me Walter, Adger ? Mark H.

You're about right on those ET's for the early 70's.

Yes, in '74 I was at OCIR (CA), jetting a Hilborn FI on my avatar car. I had just made a run and was at the end of the track, when two Pro Stock car came up the track. Apparently, the car in the outside lane, broke his steering. He hit the outside guard rail, then rolled threw the lights, still in the 10 sec braket!!

[6.50camaro]

It's hard for me to really get the picture in my head that today my 422 flat top piston, single 4150 carb, powerglide, sbc 72 camaro is as fast as those 1st gen tunnel rammed,4 speed big block Pro stock cars that I went to see at a match race in the early 70's.

[swampbuggy]

Thanks Mike for your input, do you remember what the LSA / Lobe Separation Angle was then ? Mark H.

[77cruiser]

It's hard for me to really get the picture in my head that today my 422 flat top piston, single 4150 carb, powerglide, sbc 72 camaro is as fast as those 1st gen tunnel rammed,4 speed big block Pro stock cars that I went to see at a match race in the early 70's.

Probably a lot of unsuspecting street cars too.

[Walter R. Malik]

Thanks Mike for your input, do you remember what the LSA / Lobe Separation Angle was then ? Mark H.

In the Pawuk and Yates cars which had Maskin's "Big Chief" Olds heads, they were 114 and 115 Cam Motion rollers.

[swampbuggy]

Hey Walter, was the Big Chief spread port Head that you were referring to an improvement over the Chevrolet / GM Symmetrical Port Head that was introduced way back when ? I have often wondered about this ? Thanks, Mark H.....Sunny Central Florida resident.

[swampbuggy]

I would surely think that the old GM BBC Symmetrical Port Cylinder Head was used by the NHRA Pro-Stock teams that were GM cars ??? Mark H.

[dannobee]

Back to cam specs. Does anyone here remember Cotton Perry and the Pocket Rocket? I was a mere boy of pre-teen years in 1975, but remember vividly a magazine article on his Modified Production 292ci chevy 6 cylinder that ran in the 10's. It was the first time that I'd ever heard of a valve lift of anything remotely close to an inch (0.990").

[Walter R. Malik]

Hey Walter, was the Big Chief spread port Head that you were referring to an improvement over the Chevrolet / GM Symmetrical Port Head that was introduced way back when ? I have often wondered about this ? Thanks, Mark H.....Sunny Central Florida resident.

I don't know if the 14 degree Big Chief "Olds" head was any better or not ... it was derived from a vastly modified and rolled-over Pontiac Pro Stock head.

There were many different heads used on competitive 500" GM cars of that era; Chevy symmetrical port, The Olds symmetrical port, Pontiac Pro Stock head, Dart big chief Olds all had GM part numbers.

I believe an improved and rolled-over OLDS symmetrical port DRCE3 head is still used today.

[CamKing]

Thanks Mike for your input, do you remember what the LSA / Lobe Separation Angle was then ? Mark H.

114 LSA

[BradH]

I'm surprised nobody has dug up their dog-eared copy of Grumpy's SBC race engine book from the mid-70s where he goes into a lot of detail on what he ran for cams...

[CamKing]

Thanks Mike for your input, do you remember what the LSA / Lobe Separation Angle was then ? Mark H.

114 LSA

BTW, that was for IHRA Pro-Stock. I think the driver's name was Hill.