390 issues

Howdy fellas from sunny washington (yeah right)
so i bought this country sedan wagon fro a guy who wanted to go fast down the strip, kind of going about it the wrong way but who am i to critisize...
anyways its got a new 390 with dual exhaust and a *270 cam. a bit extreme in my eyes which is why i want to change it out.
i dont have a manual but i have a good understanding of how to do it. maybe you guys can help me out with some questions...
i believe he has the old 352 dizzy in it from the old tired engine that was replaced. is this possible? can a 390 run with a 352 dizz? the dist. i have currently has pertronix kit in it as well.
i wont mind a stock 390 cam but is there a small step up from stock but not crazy like a 270!? i read on another post that 270+ is high performance so thats a bit much for me.
i believe to replace the cam i have to remove the carb intake, lifters, accessories from the front and slide her our??
the wagon is my daily driver and family cruzer / trip taker. any help with the tired old fella would be appreciated.
the problems that i have been trying to iron out with the 390 has been constant chattering when i go shut the engine off. and ive been all over the place with the timing nothing seems to cure it. the only thing that even comes close to not chattering is turning the idle screws waaay down on the edelbrock carb to hardly nothing. which in turns makes it idle like garbage!
well any help with "henry" as my little boy calls it (i think he heard henry ford somewheres and read the tailgate reading ford so thats what he calls it) would be appreciated it.
$arge-

I do not want to be a smart ass, but all you have to do is to turn of the ignition when the transmission is still in DRIVE range. This will not hurt aNYTHING, and will stop your problem 99.9 percent.

JOE SHERMAN RACING ENGINES

A 270 cam is not all that extreme. I had one in my previous combo.

Originally Posted by BIGJOE

I do not want to be a smart ass, but all you have to do is to turn of the ignition when the transmission is still in DRIVE range. This will not hurt aNYTHING, and will stop your problem 99.9 percent.

JOE SHERMAN RACING ENGINES

yeah i figured that one out too, i wasnt diggin it though, its cool man comments and criticism is all taken well here. its all about learnin'

Spali32 what were you runnin?

I used to run the 270H(224/224 @ .050 cam). Now I'm running a 284/296...(240/246 @ .050). The 268 comp cams was a more street friendly cam then the 270H.

Originally Posted by Spali32

I used to run the 270H(224/224 @ .050 cam). Now I'm running a 284/296...(240/246 @ .050). The 268 comp cams was a more street friendly cam then the 270H.

thats what everyone keeps tellin me.
HOLY CRAP i just noticed you're in puyallup! talk about close!
so would it be fair to say that to replace the cam i would have to remove the dizzy, intake, carb, valvetrain and pushrods/lifters then accessories and slide her out?
or do you know of any good tech books to follow?
$arge-

I'm not too familiar with the 390, but my 302(stroked to 347 cubes)...the dizzy rides on the cam gear...so it's got to come out along with the intake, carb, pushrods/lifters, timing cover, harmonic balancer. The heads had to come off to take out/replace the hydraulic lifters too. Yeah, sounds like we are practically neighbors.

I run a 280H in a 4x4 truck that plowed snow most of its life with a 390 and 3.50 gears, and often had up to a 35 inch tire.

That 270 is a mellow mellow cam, I'd look to a solid tune up first. Look close that you dont have an extended tip plug that is getting hot, too high of idle due to a vacuum leak, or some other issue causing the run on

I sure wouldnt pull the cam though, that cam is mild for a 390

thanks my427mustang, ill ck into that first, i guess a newer set of plugs wouldnt hurt it...
would you happen to know when the cams no longer become "mild" and go to ther ridiculous stage?

Well, its a combination of all specifications of the cam and the use of the motor.

However, as a rule, you'll start losing drivability in a motor/car like yours above 280 advertised, 236-ish @.050 and less than 110 LSA

So I wouldnt add a more aggressive cam to your car, but it sounds to me like you have a tuning problem, not a cam problem