390 cam options
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Apr 2024
Posts: 810
Likes: 265
From: Laramie Wyoming
390 cam options
Hello
I have a 64ish 390 out of car that has a 4 bbl OEM intake that’s been ported and polished. The engine has also been blueprinted and balanced. It has around 10.5 to 1 compression. The engine has a comp 262 cam in it.
I have the engine in my 70 highboy. It is fueled by a Holy sniper system.
To me the engine seems soo very underpowered. I’ve talked to a few people who think it’s under cammed but I am not sure.
with this limited information given above does anyone have any recommendations or a cam to suggest?
Thank you in advance.
I have a 64ish 390 out of car that has a 4 bbl OEM intake that’s been ported and polished. The engine has also been blueprinted and balanced. It has around 10.5 to 1 compression. The engine has a comp 262 cam in it.
I have the engine in my 70 highboy. It is fueled by a Holy sniper system.
To me the engine seems soo very underpowered. I’ve talked to a few people who think it’s under cammed but I am not sure.
with this limited information given above does anyone have any recommendations or a cam to suggest?
Thank you in advance.
Cargo Master
Joined: Oct 2020
Posts: 2,703
Likes: 798
XE262H is 218/224 @ .050 with .513 and .520 valve lift on a 110 lobe sep that would a long way from "under cammed" I think if anything it is overcammed by quite a bit. What I think it needs is a single pattern or nearly so cam with about 10-12 degrees less duration on about a 107 lobe sep to get it to make some torque. Does the engine have headers?
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Apr 2024
Posts: 810
Likes: 265
From: Laramie Wyoming
Thank you for the reply.
Yes it has headers. Currently it has long tube headers on it but I’m going to have to change that to a shorty header due to clearance issues with them and suspension articulation.
Yes it has headers. Currently it has long tube headers on it but I’m going to have to change that to a shorty header due to clearance issues with them and suspension articulation.
Cargo Master
Joined: Oct 2020
Posts: 2,703
Likes: 798
Just last week I ground a cam for a customer with a 390 in a Cobra. This engine was pretty similar to yours but with a little less compression. I used 217/223 @ .050 on a 107 lobe sep in on 105. .492/.496 lift. This looks pretty similar to what you've got but I used lobes with little less lift to make it all work with the springs etc that he already had.
Cargo Master
Joined: Oct 2020
Posts: 2,703
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A 268H is just too much duration for your application. The engine is overcammed. Being out on 110lsa is not optimum for making mid range torque and being up there at almost 220 @ .050 is about 10 degrees too much duration. They have the cam 7 degrees advanced and while advancing the cam tends to help low end torque by closing the intake valve earlier, all events are moved so that means that you're also dumping the exhaust early and this hurts torque and makes the EGT higher.
Last edited by DaveMcLain; Apr 13, 2026 at 04:03 PM.
Thread Starter
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Apr 2024
Posts: 810
Likes: 265
From: Laramie Wyoming
What setup would you suggest for my application?
I would like this thing to be as powerful as it could be with good drivability and ability to push the truck in overdrive.
Thank you
I would like this thing to be as powerful as it could be with good drivability and ability to push the truck in overdrive.
Thank you
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Cargo Master
Joined: Oct 2020
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I think that it would be best with a cam that's about 205 at .050 on a 108 lobe separation. Then put it in the engine with some advance on a 104 intake centerline. Your engine has got some compression but you're also at a pretty high altitude so that mean it really needs to be cammed using a strategy for low compression. This should give it a lot more low end torque when compared to a stock cam or what you have right now. It will have a somewhat noticeable idle but not too bad.
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Thread Starter
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Apr 2024
Posts: 810
Likes: 265
From: Laramie Wyoming
I think that it would be best with a cam that's about 205 at .050 on a 108 lobe separation. Then put it in the engine with some advance on a 104 intake centerline. Your engine has got some compression but you're also at a pretty high altitude so that mean it really needs to be cammed using a strategy for low compression. This should give it a lot more low end torque when compared to a stock cam or what you have right now. It will have a somewhat noticeable idle but not too bad.
do you have a link you could post for said cam?
im fine with a noticeable idle. I honestly was hoping for one when I had the engine built for nothing more than the coolness factor.
Cargo Master
Joined: Oct 2020
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If you have a used stock Ford FE core I can regrind it to those specs for about $150 with shipping back to you. But any cam grinder should be able to do the same thing.
There is always a centerline that's optimum for a given cam in an application. Usually advancing will help low end power and idle vacuum but only to a point. Going farther tends to go in the opposite direction. You could try moving it back 4 degrees as a test. It won't hurt anything and you've already got the cam, its broken in and installed in the engine.
There is always a centerline that's optimum for a given cam in an application. Usually advancing will help low end power and idle vacuum but only to a point. Going farther tends to go in the opposite direction. You could try moving it back 4 degrees as a test. It won't hurt anything and you've already got the cam, its broken in and installed in the engine.
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Apr 2024
Posts: 810
Likes: 265
From: Laramie Wyoming
I have my engine torn apart to reseal the intake manifold.
would there be any advantage to pulling the timing cover off and seeing what that looks like? I haven’t done a timing chain in twenty years but I can’t remember if you can see if the cam is advanced or not.
I talked to the builder and his best memory is that the came
was set at zero.
would there be any advantage to pulling the timing cover off and seeing what that looks like? I haven’t done a timing chain in twenty years but I can’t remember if you can see if the cam is advanced or not.
I talked to the builder and his best memory is that the came
was set at zero.
Cargo Master
Joined: Oct 2020
Posts: 2,703
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On your cam card someone wrote that the cam is advanced to a 103 ICL. That is already 7 degrees advanced due to the 4 degrees that's already ground into the cam. The problem with advancing the cam to try to crutch a cam that has too much duration is that you do get the intake valve closing event moved ahead which does tend to help low speed power. BUT you advance all of the valve events so now you're dumping the exhaust early due to the duration and even earlier because the cam is way advanced. This tends to raise EGT and reduce torque especially in a low compression engine.