ok so im new to these forums. but what I need is a little help with my 1973 Chevrolet c-10 2wd. it has a small block 350. 5.7 l with a 4 bolt main. 4 barrel Q-jet 4mv. completely original. points style ignition. deleted the emmissions system that was on it. it has 103xxx miles on it and runs great. I want to customize it a little bit and had thought about putting a different cam in it because the factory cam is bad. I have researched cams for the past few weeks and see that I have a lot of options but would like to go with the comp cams thumpr. so long story short here is what I need to know.


1. has anyone used the thumpr and if so is it a good choice.
2. what other things need to be changed along with the cam and lifters.(valve springs, rocker arms etc.)
3. would you recommend any other kind of cam over the thumpr cam.
4. how is it going to effect the engine performance.


any help would be great. now im not new to the whole engine rebuilding world but have never really worked on these older engines and what type of upgrades can be done so im just going off of what other forums are talking about. I have all winter to try to decide what to do and save up money so if anyone can help me out with this I would greatly appreciate it. thanks for taking the time to read this and helping me out.

 

hi ther ,dont want to be a downer but with the amount of mile's on it you would be best served by putting a stock type replacement cam in it .my resoning is from past personal experence several time's over.
the engine is getting past it's performance year's ,and any thing you do to pump up the power level will excellerate the on the old engine ,primara`ly pecause any short term gain's in power you get good to you and you will get into the throttle more ! and it will get tired more quickly .

 

old dog. im not so much looking for the power aspect of the cam but more less the sound of that cam. originally I did want to pump it up to around 400hp but since it is a 73 with 103xxx miles on it and completely original I figured there is really no point in beefing it up unless I plan on rebuilding from top to bottom and if im going to do that then I might as well just buy a crate motor. but im really just looking to get that sound and idle out of it.

 

well it's a far amount for a short time sound and idle rumpty rump ,but what ever make's you happy !

 

im not trying to sound rude or anything. im just trying to give you an idea of my aspect of thinking on this one. maybe I don't have the right mind set because im trying to go for originality of the truck but at the same time have it sound really good. I mean its not much of a loss if the motor craps out being that I only have 350 dollars in the truck so far. im just trying to look for some guidance here on what I can do. I mean if its a good idea to rebuild the whole motor then I will do it but it seems to run pretty good besides the cam in it now being bad and making the tranny run horrible.

 

no insult taken ,man it come's down to what make's you happy .seeing that you only have that much in it ,I would pull the engine rebuild it throw the hotter cam in it and enjoy !

 

ok if im gonna rebuild it I want to make sure it is a good quality rebuild for a reasonable price say around 2000 or less. now Ive been researching rebuild parts too but being that there are so many brands out there and all of them saying they are the best im not sure what to go with. what would be recommended for a rebuild?

 

stay with quality parts ,trw,perfect circle ,hastings ,melling ect .have the bore checked bto verify you can re erring it or not ,with out boring .

 

You probably could stick a Corvette Cam in there and not have to change anything else (unless you wanted to).
There's just a slight change in the durations and lift, I've stabbed several in otherwise sock (non corvette) engines, and they worked fine.


PS, let me qualify this...
I've done this on 283's and 327's, but never on a 350. I would think it would be the same.

 

so would it be good to stay with the stock crank and pistons or should that be switched. and also I am looking for an HEI distributor. I figured id find one in the junkyard but had no luck. I found a ton for v-6s but all of the v-8 s were taken. the guy at the junkyard said all I have to do is take one from a v-6 and switch out the internals and cap and it would work. I asked a few people I no and nobody had ever heard of that. has anyone ever done this? I would imagine if this could be done it would probably just be cheaper to buy a brand new one.