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Mar 17, 2020 | 07:35 PM

77custom408

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From: Fayetteville Arkansas

Cam help

I’m gathering the parts now for my 400 build for my Bronco and I’m looking to get 400hp/450tq out of this build and need some advice on a camshaft to get me there, I’m looking at 3 options right now and I was gonna use a Crane standard base roller cam with link bar lifters but $1,200 for the set up nah I’ll stick to flat tappet.
here is what I have so far for my motor.

TF 195 72cc heads
Holley SA 670 carb
Edelbrock manifold
FK water pump
Cloyes timing chain
every ARP bolt or stud I can find
gonna use TMeyer pistons

the 3 cam options I’m considering are
Comp XE274H
Comp 268H
or a custom grind from a MPG

any advice on a cam would be appreciated thanks

Mar 17, 2020 | 08:07 PM

kopfenjager

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From: In the woods of Oregon

Comp XE274H should net you well over 400hp with those heads, and the Comp 268H is going to net you just a smidge under 400hp. Both will provide well over 450tq. paying attention to DCR your going to want to up your compression for the XE274H, with the 268H you should be fine with the compression you have. And depending on what you want, the edelbrock manifold will net you a little more torque and the weind manifold gives a little more horsepower. I found on my build that the ports on the weind manifold matched the TFS 195 heads a whole lot better then the edelbrock and made gasket matching a bunch easier.

Mar 19, 2020 | 09:48 PM

77custom408

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From: Fayetteville Arkansas

Do you think with my heads and Tim’s pistons that I wouldn’t have enough compression for the XE274 cam? What cam would you recommend to get me to my goals? Thanks

Mar 19, 2020 | 09:55 PM

77custom408

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From: Fayetteville Arkansas

Also I went with the Edelbrock intake over the Weiand after reading lots of reviews on it, I have a Weiand CJ Intake to match my FR SCJ heads for my 521 build and it’s a nice piece but I heard the ones made for the 400 were junk but I have no experience with them

Mar 20, 2020 | 03:54 PM

kopfenjager

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From: In the woods of Oregon

I have found that the new weinds are a better manifold. Larger, rounder, more even runners and it lined up better with the ports in my TFS 195 heads. There is a thread were Tim does a dyno test with both manifolds. The weind made 473hp and 503tq and the edelbrock made 452hp and 512tq.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...shoot-out.html

Mar 20, 2020 | 08:48 PM

Beechkid

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From: Southern California

IMHO, Comp is a mass production (McDonald's type) company which - seems to have experience more cam lobe failures than most and places the blame on the low ZDDP in the oils...then experiences valve spring failure, and it just does a cycle..... the owner, is an attorney (or at least was) and the atmosphere inside Comp has ranged from good to beyond bad...to the point about 10 years ago they hired (IIRR) Harvey Cranes son to help straighten the place out.... IIRR he was there for a few years but left.. like just about every senior machinist.

With regards to their cams billets, I highly suspect that they are also using Chinese & they do not include Parkerizing their cams unless you want to pay extra for it (Parkerizing is the final step and a crucial step to help break the cam in- a heated acid bath that microscopically etches the metal surface and adds a very thin layer of graphite coating which allows the cam lube to hang onto and penetrate into the cam surface during cam break in) unless you specifically request and pay additional money for it. Some will swear by their Comp Cam and when I have spoken and inquired with them I have found in most cases the cam is cut on Comps 8620 core (copper colored base) which runs $400+. But the typical MacD production cam has a silver / metal camshaft made from the cheaper 5150 cores that won't last 20K miles before wiping out and failing.

This is a not so unusual posting about Comp and their components…..

http://forums.vintage-mustang.com/vi...-camshaft.html

Considering the cam has such critical importance to the engines performance and life, to me it makes sense to use a cam grinder who will talk with you directly- even modify the cam grind to fit your needs even better and to address the possibility of cam lobe failure with the new oils. When it comes to making an engine breathe, there are so many variables including elevation, humidity, fuel blends/available octane, most cam mfgs will vary a "core grind pattern" to match the external impactors in addition to the internal impactors- which today IMHO makes the different between and engine that runs well, to one that just seems to run a little bit better, smoother and gets better mileage than expected.

With regards to price...the difference is nil- especially considering its cheap insurance to know exactly who is machining such a critical part for your engine. And remember, advertized lift/duration/lobe separation is just that- advertized and not the specific grind including ramp profile that is used on the cam. Which is why you can take to cams with the same lift/duration (nearly) from 2 different cam grinders and each will perform differently. Also, avoid Eddy cams like the plague.... they really have nothing as far as design goes that's really good or really bad, its just ok from a performance standpoint but QA.... is back to where they were in the mid 80's when the place darn near closed it's doors as far as the cams go.... you couldn't get me to put one of their cams in any of my engines....lobe specs off as much as .060 has been reported.

I highly recommend Iskenderian (who I personally know to this day physically tests/inspects every single valve spring before it leaves the shop) & Crower & Chet Herbert & Lunati...all are family owned, been grinding cams for decades, and both will even re-grind your oem cam if possible- saving you even more $.

I don't want to beat the Comp Cam QA issue to death, but here are just a few examples to validate the “McDonald’s environment” of which operate:

Tech Support Issue:
Fuel Pump Rebuild

Valvetrain Failure: