Hello all,
I’ve got an 87 GT that I’m planning on restoring after it has sat for a number of years. It was in great, if mostly stock, shape previously but now that it’s no longer a daily driver I want to spend a little more time and money on the engine.

In addition to things like a high volume oil pump, I am planning on doing the 3.1 stroker upgrade and want to upgrade the cam at the same time. However…most of the info I’ve found on the forum is older and at least one of the companies that was highly recommended, Crane, is out of business. From what I’ve gathered, the Fiero does better with a cam with differing intake and exhaust profiles but I haven’t come across any of those in current production.

So can anyone kindly give me some guidance on the current options available that give a worthwhile improvement? (Also, I’m not currently planning on a swap because I adore the look of the stock intake plenum and the 3.4 swap seems like it might be a hassle to find a decent block nowadays, though I could be wrong).

Thanks in advance!

Edit to add:

I decided to go with an Edelbrock 3790. Less aggressive than some options but said to be very street friendly. Shame Crane went under as well regarded as they were

I would try Crower cams I hav a stroker and used their 3050 flat tappet hydraulic cam. iIt might be to aggressive for you but they have other profiles to choose from. Whatever you choose get the matching springs and lifters for long cam life. sleek

Comp cams are very good to deal with.

A cam is not the key to significant power increase on these engines though - you have to improve flow in both exhaust and intake tracts before a cam change will do much good. The horrible design in the Fiero exhaust where the factory avoided one extra machining process that would have resulted in an increase in flow that would have given a surprising number of added bhp.

The heads also benefit from work to improve flow - a fully prepped cast iron head will give flow numbers approximately the same as a dead stock unmodified alloy head off the later Gen 2 engines.

If you do all of that first, then a cam will certainly improve matters, but the usual suggested cams are pretty mild. I used the Crane 272 in my street build 3.4 and it works very well.

And yes Crane cams is still in business.

quote Originally posted by BillS: Comp cams are very good to deal with. A cam is not the key to significant power increase on these engines though - you have to improve flow in both exhaust and intake tracts before a cam change will do much good. The horrible design in the Fiero exhaust where the factory avoided one extra machining process that would have resulted in an increase in flow that would have given a surprising number of added bhp. The heads also benefit from work to improve flow - a fully prepped cast iron head will give flow numbers approximately the same as a dead stock unmodified alloy head off the later Gen 2 engines. If you do all of that first, then a cam will certainly improve matters, but the usual suggested cams are pretty mild. I used the Crane 272 in my street build 3.4 and it works very well.

Fortunately, I had previously ported the exhaust manifold (classic GM cost cutting at its finest, I'll accept the shortcomings of the intake and head to be explained by the technology of the era but the exhaust manifold is just ridiculous). I've been timid about grinding on the intake manifold or head itself though, afraid I'll mess it up but I'm considering finding a reputable machine shop. I'm only really shooting for moderate improvements so I may just end up leaving the heads be.

Is yours in a manual or auto? Mine's auto (I should've included that in the original post) and I heard the more aggressive cams don't play nice with the autos. I am glad your set-up works well for you though!

Oh and funny enough, the Edelbrock cam is made by COMP. Came in a COMP box and everything. I assume they must pay them to grind it to their specs. I'll post a few pics in case anyone is interested.