Newly acquired 454 cam question

[jinaeve]

I recently acquired a '59 Chevy Apache with a 454 Big Block. The previous owner didn't have the specifics of which Cam was installed so I'm struggling with getting this tuned without that info. It's been years since I tweaked engines myself but seem to recall a trick to determine the Cam lobe by doing a vacuum test on the spark plug cylinder.

Does anyone have any suggestions or recommendations for where I can go to get the best resource material for this?

Thanks!

[Dave Severson]

You can check the lift with a dial indicator on one of the pushrods, and with a bit of studying you can determine all the specs of the cam with a degree wheel, TDC finder, and a dial indicator.... What's the engine doing that is giving you grief on the tune up???

[jinaeve]

Thanks for that... aside from the obvious idle lope, there are some performance improvements I know can be made. i will either rebuild or replace the carb as one step but also accurately tweak the air/fuel mixture, make sure timing is correct and basically just get it breathing flawlessly so when I jump on it, there's no hesitation, cough or sputter...

Thanks again!