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Cam choices

Big Ray

Big Ray

The Older I Get, The Grumpier I Become!
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O.k. ya'll, think I'm going with this one. Comp cams 08-530-8. Linky

Thoughts? Going with their beehive springs also. Good for .550 lift just swapping springs on a vortec head. Thought about the gm 383ht cam, but it's so close to the stock l31 cam I don't think it'd be much of an improvement. For my 'burb BTW!
 
My bad...l31 truck crate motor, 5.7 vortec, nv4500 from Capt Ron. 9.4 compression, 4 bbl. Looking for 4:56 rear, but will settle for 4:10. And 35's for tires.
 
Big Ray said:
O.k. ya'll, think I'm going with this one. Comp cams 08-530-8. Linky

Thoughts? Going with their beehive springs also. Good for .550 lift just swapping springs on a vortec head. Thought about the gm 383ht cam, but it's so close to the stock l31 cam I don't think it'd be much of an improvement. For my 'burb BTW!
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Is this a driver or a multi use rig or what's the application? I would say you could go a little bit bigger for more power and torque and still be happy with the idle and low range. That cam is pretty small.
 
I have read that Comp Cams had a problem about 10 to 15 years ago with a batch of bad cam cores, but supposedly that issue has been taken care of. Before I bought my Comp Cam I did a bunch of research on the problems with Comp Cams, and all the posts and videos that came up where about 10 to 15 years old. I am currently running a Comp Cam with AC/Delco lifters and push rods, and there has been no problem yet except for an exhaust valve starting sticking on me, which caused a lifter to not operate correctly. I believe that was a quality control issue with my GM Goodwrench crate engine manufactured in Mexico.
 
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Ive run 3 different comp cams with no issues. I’m sure there are plenty of nay sayers about most anything out there if you look for it.
 
I have also read that there are only about two companies that manufacture camshaft cores, and no matter what name is on it they are all from the same two camshaft core manufactures.
 
1-ton said:
I have also read that there are only about two companies that manufacture camshaft cores, and no matter what name is on it they are all from the same two camshaft core manufactures.
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That is true, I think they were down to 1 but now Callies started making them too so back to two I believe.

I've used Howards, Comp, Lunati, Crane, Bullet, Crower, etc. It all depends on the build and who has the best grind, and if I need a completely custom one I call Bullet. Comp helped develop the spintron and other game changing stuff over the years, I wouldn't count them out. Every company is going to have failures occasionally, remember when they took the zinc out of the oil and no one was aware and it was causing all sorts of flat tappet cams to go flat on breakin from every manufacturer?

I still use better oils with every engine I build. Unless you have a stock engine I wouldn't be using stock oil, it helps reduce this kind of stuff.
 
folkenheath said:
That is true, I think they were down to 1 but now Callies started making them too so back to two I believe.

I've used Howards, Comp, Lunati, Crane, Bullet, Crower, etc. It all depends on the build and who has the best grind, and if I need a completely custom one I call Bullet. Comp helped develop the spintron and other game changing stuff over the years, I wouldn't count them out. Every company is going to have failures occasionally, remember when they took the zinc out of the oil and no one was aware and it was causing all sorts of flat tappet cams to go flat on breakin from every manufacturer?

I still use better oils with every engine I build. Unless you have a stock engine I wouldn't be using stock oil, it helps reduce this kind of stuff.
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I think Comp Cams does have people that have done there homework on cam specs that work well for certain applications like my TBI/OBD-I engine. Comp Cam was the only company out there that had a cam that worked well with this type of engine. The problem with Comp Cams is that they did not own up to the problems that they had with the bad cam cores. Since they did not want to be financially liable for thousands of damaged engines they just blamed it on the person that installed the cam. If they had been financially responsible for the damaged engines, it would have put them out of business.

I remember when Crane cams was the SH!T back in the day. Back in the late 70's and early 80's they dominated the high performance world. I guess it was sometime in the 90's or early 2000's that they went "belly-up" for some reason. I guess they are back now.
 
Back in the 70's I lived within walking distance of Crane Cams in Hallandale Fla.
I used a lot of their stuff back then.

Saw a few big name drag cars going in and out, and some cutting edge stuff for the time back then..
 
1 more vote for Bullet.
Great service, quality and price, specially for custom cams.

Forget Lunati...forkers can't get the right cam in the right box. Has happened twice to me. Both were supposed to be custom solid cams to my specs. 1 was their copy of the Comp 268 High Energy cam, the other was at least a solid...just not the grind I ordered.
They refused to take the cams back because they were "custom" ordered even though they were never installed (always measure first).

This was over 20 years ago, but I'm still holding a grudge!

...& did I mention, stay away from Lunati?
 
Lunati has changed owners at least twice since then. That's a long grudge! ;)

Personally I find some of their VooDoo cams designed by Harold over 10 years ago(before he passed away) to be some of the best grinds/lobes for a street/strip style performance build, especially for big blocks.
 
folkenheath said:
Lunati has changed owners at least twice since then. That's a long grudge! ;)

Personally I find some of their VooDoo cams designed by Harold over 10 years ago(before he passed away) to be some of the best grinds/lobes for a street/strip style performance build, especially for big blocks.
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Maybe a long time for a grudge but I found better companies to spend my money with. :waytogo:

The VooDoo cams do have some nice ramps, they make lots of noise. :whistle:

Lunati did/does make some great cams, that wasn't the issue. We had really good luck with their solid rollers. Basically being told it was more likely that I swapped the cam than they screwed up was the issue.

Harold had talent. Mark at Bullet is pretty good too (plus he's a bit of an AMC guy).
Either way, I still stand behind, stay away from Lunati. :burnout:
 
acm said:
Maybe a long time for a grudge but I found better companies to spend my money with. :waytogo:

The VooDoo cams do have some nice ramps, they make lots of noise. :whistle:

Lunati did/does make some great cams, that wasn't the issue. We had really good luck with their solid rollers. Basically being told it was more likely that I swapped the cam than they screwed up was the issue.

Harold had talent. Mark at Bullet is pretty good too (plus he's a bit of an AMC guy).
Either way, I still stand behind, stay away from Lunati. :burnout:
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I still say use them all (american cam companies anyway). Just depends on the application which is better.

I have to admit, I was a little mad at their customer service a couple years ago. They sell these "Everwear" distributor gears that are supposedly made for all cam materials, including 8620 steel. I think are melonized gears that they nitride as well or something like that.

Well, I was skeptical, but I bought one to try with the solid roller 8620 cam. Because I was leary I drilled a lube hole in the distributor housing to lube the gear with engine oil, and I pulled it out to check it after only 100-200 miles. And guess what, it was wearing right through the hard surface treatment and starting to make marks on my camshaft gear. I pulled it out and called Lunati customer service, and they wouldn't do anything. I said it specifically says on your website it will work with 8620 cam gears and it is not working, I thought at a minimum you would send me one of your bronze gears as a replacement since I spent $50 on a defective gear that almost cost me an engine (it was shedding hardened steel particles into my oil, luckily I had blocked off my filter bypass). And they literally laughed at me, it really made me mad.

So I bought a bronze gear (from Howards through Competition Products) and put it in and it's been fine for a few years now, I just check the wear occasionally by checking the slop in the shaft, but at least I know it won't eat my cam gear as it wears. I was just very disappointed in their service because they claim something does something, and then when it doesn't, they act like it's your fault and laugh at you when you ask for a replacement.

However, I still like some of their cam profiles you can only get through them and I have had other parts of theirs running for over a decade without issue.
 
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folkenheath said:
I still say use them all (american cam companies anyway). Just depends on the application which is better.
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Completely agree...well except for 1 company, but...:whistle:

folkenheath said:
However, I still like some of their cam profiles you can only get through them and I have had other parts of theirs running for over a decade without issue.
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Still have some Lunati products, mostly sitting on a shelf collecting dust. Even have their sticker on an old tool box that I walk by and kick every once in awhile for old times sake. Seriously though, their quality is no worse (or better) than the others. Whatever cam flavor you choose will have MR stamped on it.

@Big Ray sorry for mucking up your thread.
 
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