You used to run a 266 energizer cam in a 9.7-1 compression 355 with vortec heads IIRC. Did you ever have any pinging issues with this setup? I am thinking hard about yanking the xe268 out of my 3/4 ton and swapping back in the 266 energizer I have that is already broke in. This is a 9.4-1 355. This truck desperately needs more low end torque.

Its not just the cam and compression that will determine whether or not it will ping. I suggest you also ask him what gears he had, what converter he had, what tranny, what tire height, what is his vehicle weight and even difference in altitude matters. If he was running that cam in a light camaro with a mild higher stall converter and descent gears, and you are running the exact same setup in a heavier truck with highway gears and a stock converter, you may have a lot more probs than he ever did with the same engine cause a setup like that will load the engine a lot more. Im not sure of either of your setups, so I cant make a fair comparison, but these things should be considered. If he was marginal but it worked, you may be well over the edge depending on the variables between your vehicle and his. Good luck.

Those are good points Greg. Travis, I will answer your question and include details that Greg speaks about.

I never did have any ping with that motor. The cam was installed with the advance determined by the factory (some 5* or so? can't remember). Anyway, it had a 2000-2200 stall converter, 3.73 gears, and I'm assuming the car weighed a little more than 3500. I ran 16* intial timing, 32* total, and I believe 15-16* vacuum. I also ran a cold air intake.

Most of the time I ran 89 octane gas, so I think you should be OK if you put it into your truck with 89 or 92...but that sucker is gonna weigh alot more...so maybe it would need more than 92? I dunno. I'm going to leave that with you. Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions! :thumbsup:

I second the gears! They can make all the difference in whether or not an engine will ping if it's just on the verge.

There we go, thats good info. With the torque multiplication of his good gears and converter in mind, you can bet that a lot of load is taken off the engine(compared to what you would see with a stock converter and highway gears). However, due to the fact that he was getting away with 89 fue and a lot of timingl, even if you are a little heavier and might not have as much torque multiplication(stock converter, cruiser gears), its probably still doable for you on pump gas.....but it might take a higher grade thats all.

Now if he said it needed premium at all times and no tuning options would allow for any less than premium fuel, Id be a little more nervous about putting the same engine in a heavy, less aerodynamic vehicle that may potential have less of a drivetrain(less torque multiplication, more weight and more engine loading may put your requirements above premium fuel.....this is still all speculation without knowing your difference in weight and all that stuff). Know what I mean.

Still though, It does appear that there is leeway with that engine, so although you "may" have to step it up a grade, it should still be do-able without much trouble....especially with an efficient vortec head. Vortec heads run very well with minimal amounts of timing compared to most any older head(And even some new ones) based on chamber design so you have a nice cushion there. Set the mechanical curve for the most performance with no pinging and if necessary, add on an adjustable vacuum advance to further tune the timing to keep pinging away under higher load situations during cruising. You can even go further with a step colder on the plugs. There are lots of little things you can do, and it sounds very do-albe without much effort.

Thanks for the replys. Greg, that was my reason for asking...to see how "on the edge" that combo was in his car. I ran this same engine in my 4500 pound 1/2 ton truck with 3.08 gears and a 2000 stall convertor and with 34* total timing it would run on 87 octane in a pinch, although I normally run 89 octane just for the cushion. Got to love them vortecs!
The more I think about it though, I think its still not going to give me what I want. With the stock 1500 or so stall convertor in the 700r4 and 3.23 gears and 31" tires (plus probably 4700-4800 pounds of vehicle weight), its just a messed up combo for anything other than a 454.
I was thinking seriously about freshening up that virgin '77 400 smallblock I have and dropping it in, but a buddy of mine that I used to work with has a much nicer '86 chevy 3/4 ton that is fully loaded and has working A/C, and it has a '71 or '72 model low compression 402 BB in it with a th400 and 4.11 gears. It has a performer 2O intake, dual 2 1/2" exhaust, and a RV cam in it. The engine has some blow by but after I replaced the POS 750 holley with one of my BB q-jets, it runs awesome and would pull anything that I would ever want to pull quite easily, and it gets 12-13 mpg on the highway. For the price he wants, I think this would be a better option for me. For the money I would have to spend to make my truck "right", I could have almost bought this other truck that is nicer to boot.

Hey thats not bad either. If you truly like the truck more and if it is further along(it does sound like at least the powertrain is further along), than why not go for it. Heck, you could drive it with the big block and then work on that small block 400 on the stand for a later time. Or, you can sell the 400 and buy and build another big block to replace the current one with.......you can still drive it while you work. Thats probably the way Id go. Find another big block, and build it just the way you want it to replace the current big block, and when your done building.......its a drop in replacement.