Hey guys I was just curious if anyone has done a mild cam upgrade on stock manifolds. I have a 88 454 mag and I know the stock cam for the 365hp is .224/.224 at .050. I was looking at the comp cam xtreme marine .218/.224 at .050 would I have to run a performance exhaust to elimate reversion or would that not be a big enough change to mess with the overlap?

What is the LSA on that cam? Flat tappet or roller? I ran one of the Comp Xtreme Marine flat tapped cams on a 454 with stock exhaust and silent choice without reversion. I think the specs were on the order of 226* / 232* @ .050, around .550 lift, and 112* LSA, but it has been a while, and I would have to dig for the actual specs, so take that with a grain of salt.

It's 112 lsa flat tappet. I'm trying to see what I can do money wise. I want an aftermarket exhaust but the 1800-2700 dollar range kinda hurts the wallet. Plus I need to get a new transom assembly so that's another 2600. I was thinking of getting the aluminum stock manifolds since I only run in fresh water. Any ideas would help. I'm new to the performance boating thing and I'm trying to get some more power at a reasonable cost. I'm sticking with the stock ho rectangular port heads with stock valves and springs.

If those manifolds are from '88 as well you'd be doing good by finding some newer stuff before they leak. I wouldn't buy any used headers but some better manifolds pop up in the swap shop all the time. You'll find the trick to power boating is spending some money to save more money. Lol.

I totally agree!! It sucks having to literally "bust out another thousand" for everything.

If ya wanna dance, ya gotta pay the Fiddler.

My Grandpa always said that.

I wouldn't ever consider replacing a cam with keeping stock, and on top of that never changed stock, springs. My 02.

Just as many of us pay the fiddler as we do Uncle Sam. Who's got more ? Do they hang out together ?

It's much easier if you don't total the receipts and don't tell your significant other.

That is a guaranteed fact.

Just a "thousand" would be 1988 rates!