It has been 40 years since I have been heavily into a Pontiac, I had a 1972 Trans Am 455 HO 4-speed I picked up while stationed in California (Yes I know I should have kept it)! For a short time 10 years ago I had a 1969 Grand Prix Model J (that story requires beer and time). Last month I picked up a 1974 Grand Prix Model J and I plan on making some minor changes. When I had the 1969 GP it was difficult to find fuel so I sourced an early 1975 400 block but ended up selling the car before I did anything. Picked up a few other parts the past few years so now I have a 481988 block, standard 400 crankshaft, 1972 intake, 6X-4 heads and 17059271 q-jet from a W72 Trans Am. Planning on going with aftermarket forged rods and SpeedPro TRW forged flat-top pistons. With a quench around .040" I will have 8.6:1 compression.
Here is where my expertise is running short. I am old school and never have bought into the "modern cams" with fast ramps. I used to buy my cams from Wolverine Blue Racer when they were still in business - a quality cam at a decent price and it worked. After they were bought out by Crane and Crane disappeared I would use white box Summit brand cams and have had good luck with them, but I have not purchased any cams in over 10 years - I bought a bunch for Chevy from Summit and put them on a shelf and used them as needed. I now have no SBC cams left and one BBC cam. I have heard the horror stories of losing lobes on break-in, but I have not had that issue with the old cams and lifters I had on hand. However, I did not purchase any Pontiac cams years ago!
If I knew I could get away with it, I would purchase a Sumit 2800 cam for the 400 project as I believe the 2801 would need more compression. Total plan is RARE Ram Air III cast iron headers with a 2.5" dual exhaust (Pypes with an "X" pipe) and DynoMax Super Turbo mufflers. Replace the TH400 with a TH200-4R overdrive and 3.73 gears. Car will be a cruiser and go to shows, no racing. What I want is an idea of a good cam for this set up either HFT if the quality is good or HR if I need to be somewhat brought into the 21st century. The car is over 4,200 pounds before I put anything in it, so light it is not! I would like the end result to be a Land Yacht that can scoot and is fun to drive, yet reliable enough to drive distance. Thank you in advance. Tom
