The fact is Comp, Howards, Lunati, Crower all of them are just cam grinders , they don't produce the blanks. and they mostly use the same suppliers. but there are better blanks so you get what you pay for.

Like I said before there isn't any point in debating who has the best cam for your needs, just get one ground for your needs. it's basically the same price so it's a no brainer.

there are also only a few lifter manufacturer left as well. just lots of brands selling them as their own and there is a difference here. I don't know who comp uses but I don't like them they're too noisy. I use either Morel or Lunati. which are also sold under many names just not Comp. for flat tappers I use only Howards because I'm sure they're the good ones. others sell them as well but I'm not sure who.


If you go roller match the springs, change your distributor gear and set your preload to .060 and you're good to go. the retro fit roller is the answer to our classic engine cam problems so take advantage of it.

 

I would respectfully disagree from the standpoint that with the exception of 1 cam (that was the 3rd cam ed Eskenderian ever ground back in the 40's for one of my dad's racing engines......and it was a junkyard cam that was reground- as most people did back then, and upon fire-up it split in half as a result of a hairline fracture), we (our family) has never had a camshaft related failure because of QA issues from Isky or Harvey Crane or Sig Erson (back when he actually owned the company)...but Isky's son has the shop today and still tests every valve spring before it leaves the shop....few others do that.... and tech support is always excellent from selection to post installation....Crower sometimes has tech support issues when dealing with 60's engines and the younger crowd gets on the phone, but the quality of their products is excellent as well. There are 2 cam billet mfg's in North America, but many of the cheaper billets come from china..... I need not say more than that..... it's no better that the QA the engineer demands....and if we are talking US stansards...the QA is 1% failure in the marketplace....China, unless otherwise spec'd, it's 15% at the consumer level.

 

I don't necessarily agree that a custom grind is best. I have spec on custom grinds from howards and crower; isky wouldn't spec a custom unless I knew what I wanted. Back to original theory that custom grinds were spec for 6000' + elevation, pump gas, hiway speeds, steep mountain passes, extreme temperature variations, within the last month we at my house have had -11F to 52F. That is 65*f temperature variation DAILY. or at least weekly. Try the next town over from me, gunnison, COLDEST CLIMATE IN THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES. The cam grinders come up with some hocus pocus large duration, large LSA, biglift single pattern camthat flat doesn't work, matter of fact it is a terrible configuration. I discussed this earlier. I have ran a lot of cams, if properly assembled and properly lubed seem to have great success. Who has a dent with a engine that they built and a transmission they built and a platform they specd for a daily driver? Every single day. LONG road trips, 600-700 miles a day, cruise and ac work, egr hooked up and work, timing curve dialed by ME. Alldone,specd and assembled by me. ME. I bet my engine and truck has more hours than any 2 put together and I bet mine will start at -20 or -30 with an 11 year old autozone battery idles around the farm pulling pipe trailers, runs don the hiway, hauls, tows, and just cruises. It works. Nooilconsumtion and no leaks. none.

 

Custom grind means just that, custom to YOUR specs not someone else's. I'll wait 10 days for them to grind it to get that.

I understand cams but not nearly well enough to custom spec one. that's why I rely on a cam guru in the business to do it for me. for almost the same money you get a cam tailored to your specific needs , it's a no brainer I'll never buy another generic grind again.

If you have a 9 to 1 small block chevy with 3.54 gears at sea level the off the shelf cams should work just fine. that's what 90 % of the grinds are for so they're custom for your application. so it's not that generic grind won't work, sure they will. but why settle.

 

I have.

 

I don't think it's a question of bravery as one simply can't recommend an optimal cam without knowing ALL the detail. (But you already know that. )

 

I had my 351M dropped off a few years back, Had a valve head snap off and crack #5 P.O. had a cam that made power from 3500-5500 in a 4x4 truck with 35's?????? Was a dog pulling another dog...sssslllooooowwwwww....Told the builder what I wanted, low end torque and able to cruise at 65 without drinking like Barney from the Simpsons. I gave him a rv/towing Comp Cam and he said return it, He put in a custom grind rv/towing style cam and straight up timing set, new everything else. Total world of difference, pulls off the line gets about 14mpg where it was maybe 8 before, cruises on I-80 at 65 and still pulls when you get on it to pass someone. Very impressed with what a custom cam can do.

 

Let me clarify of what I meant as far as a custom street grind...….. as an example of a discussion I had with Isky a few years ago...… I have this car with this specs (tranny, diff, etc.), it's a street driven car, it's a weekend cruiser, I would like a slightly lopy idle, but a power band that runs from about 2500 to 6k rpm...with a redline of around 6500 rpm.....for mine, he simply "swaped out" the exhaust pattern that is used on another cam profile for another cam grind of there's....
whereas with a pro-racer, yes, many will say with is the spec I want but, the smart ones, tell the cam grinder the issue they have and let them decide the best course of action...… and yes, in some cases (a real life one that I personally know of).. Ed Eskenderian himself advised the team that the engine was producing too much power at the lower end and if he pulled a little out of the cam profile the engine would run the 1/4 mile faster.....they didn't believe him and went on fighting the issue for several seasons...About 6 years later IIRR, they sold the engine, the new owner contacted Ed and he gave them the cam that he thought would best...… and sure enough, they turned about .3 second faster on the 1st run.....

 

I've spent enough time with the tech line for some of the grinders to know I wouldn't want them deciding anything for me. if you got the right guy maybe, but you probably won't so find someone who will. it's not their job to set up custom grinds they just read from the book for you.

I use Brent Lykins at Lykins Motorsports. there are lots of guys who are competent but Brent certainly is.

 

agree...that is why I always recommend speaking with the cam grinder directly...not a corporate representative......and typically you are going to get the real solutions from family owned businesses such as Isky, crower, chet Herbert, etc....although the last I heard Harvey Crane's son went to work for comp....IMHO at that point their QA was basically gone due to their mass production style.

 

Here's the recommendations from Ford Muscle Mag article for the 400M performance.[***************]Popular 351M/400 Flat Tappet Camshafts Comp Cams[/color]CamshaftSpecsUsage GuideDual Energy 255DEH203/216 @.050
.465/.495
110 lobe sepGood torque and mileage. Good RV and towing cam. Works well with stock exhaust.
1000 RPM to 5500 RPMDual Energy 265DEH211/223 @.050
.484/.510
110 lobe sepVery strong midrange and torque. Everyday performance with stock exhaust.
1500 RPM to 5750 RPMExtreme Energy XE256H212/218 @.050
.487/.493
110 lobe sepStrong torque thru low end and midrange, good idle
1200 RPM to 5200 RPMExtreme Energy XE262H218/224 @.050
.513/.520
110 lobe sepStrong torque, excellent response. Good midrange, stock converter, 3.23 gears.
1400 RPM to 5600 RPMExtreme
Energy
XE284H240/246 @ .050
.584/.588
110 lobe sepStreet/Strip with minimum 2800 rpm stall, 9.5:1 compression, headers, gears. Rough idle. 2300 RPM to 6500 RPMMagnum
270S224/224 @ .050
.540/.540
110 lobe sepSOLID - Excellent Torque, good for everyday street performance. 9:1 compression, noticable idle. 1800 to 5800 RPM

 

I have the Xtreme Energy 256H from Comp Cams. I really like it. Very good throttle response, and gives you that nice "seat of your pants" feel when you put it to the floor

 

``provide maximum top-end performance for your high performance car.`` I don`t think that`s necessarily what you`re looking for. I`m going with the lunati voodoo 256,262 cam for my mild 390 build. 1000-5300 rpm range with heavier emphasis on low to mid-range.