cams? let's hear your experience good & bad

I was talking about camshafts with an acquaintance, and a small disagreement ensued between he and another over Competetion Cams. One guys was saying they were great & the other guy was saying they really sucked. As it turns out the guy who was defending them had never actually used one of their cams & was simply regurgitating their ad claims, and the other guy had actually purchased one & was very dissatisfied.

I also remember speaking to someone who'd purchased a cam from Poston (Buick specialist), and they basically said that what they got was a shitty regrind that looked so bad they just sent it back. The wierd this is that I've spoken to others who are running Poston cams & they swear by them!

I'm sure some of you have had really positive & really negative experiences with different manufacturers, so let's hear them.

 

I have a Comp Cams 292 Magnum in my 355. I have had no trouble out of it as yet, and it has been in there at least two years.

I had another Comp Cam in a previous vehicle with no trouble, and also had a Chet Herbert Cam at one time with no problems.

 

I have a Comp 268 in my 350 that's in my '58. It has over 100,000 miles on the rebuild and no problems.

Duck

 

I have had a couple and have had no problems.

 

I have only used a couple and it is about the same as every other aftermarket cam. If you break them in right and get the correct specs for your application you will be happy with them. If you don't, You won't.

Crane,Comps,Lunati,Isky.
A slug is a slug get the right one,Do what you are supposed to and drive it till it comes apart.
Then start over again . Ah The American Dream.

 

Flattened a lobe on an Engle Cam in an early Olds due to my own stupidity.
The next one ran fine as did the Engle we stuck in little brothers Y-block.

Ran a Kenne-Bell in a late Buick with no problems.
I've also run a couple of Crowers in late Buicks, no problems there either.

My friend has run a couple of the PAW performance cams in his SBC's, both 327's and reports no problems.

 

I run a real cheapo Speedway 282 cam & lifters, broke it in right & had no trouble at all, i'll be honest too i rev the ass off that motor & still no trouble.

 

I have all my cams made by Jim Dowell at Racer Brown. All they do are custom grinds, tailored to the specs you give them, and they cost the same as an off the shelf grind from crane, crower, etc. When I first started dealing with Jim, he spent an hour on the phone with me explaining the hows and whys. Cool guy to deal with.

 

I have always run Comp cams, and had great luck with 'em. When it was time to order a cam (solid roller)for my Chevy II however, I called their "CAM HELP LINE" and the guy I talked to was a COMPLETE AND TOTAL ASSHOLE. So I called Lunati, and the guy I talked to was awesome. I would reccomend Lunati to anyone. I do have to say though, that I went to the Comp Cams trailer when the Hot Rod Power Tour was in MI, and I spoke with a guy (his name eludes me at the moment), that was like VP of sales or something, and I told him exactly what happened, and he was really cool. He was VERY apologetic and told me that he wished I knew the name of the guy I talked to so it could be addressed. He then gave me his business card and told me that if I was ever willing to give their company another chance, to call him personally, and he'd make sure I was "treated right". Very cool. I will probably use their product again.

 

I've used Comp Cams for about 20 years and recommend them highly. Just like any engine component you have to buy the right part for the application. I always tell people when chosing a cam, call the manufacturer and discuss YOUR particular situation. The manufacturers have spent millions developing their products and they want you satisfied. A$5-$10 phone call will get you SOLID advice and save you a lot of headaches if you have no experience in the proper selection of cams and related hardware.

Frank

 

i am running a 280h in my 383 and i havent had any problems. i emailed them with questions i had and the returned my email the next day.

diego

 

Wasn't really looking to attack Competition Cams or anything, just that they happened to be the subject of a discussion that got me thinking about this. For all I know the dude complaining could have made an error during installation & screwed things up himself, and was conveniently blaming their product to cover for his own incompetence.

I've heard pretty good things about Lunati, Crower, and Schneider, and some mixed reviews of Crane's stuff.

I'm thinking about yanking the motor out of the Riv this summer & heating it up a bit, so I figured I'd ask.

 

I'm running a 292 in my 406 ni problems at all. Its been in there for about 7yrs or so.

 

I was reading some stuff on another forum........yes there are others and they had a Big BrewHA HA about Comp Cams going. The old stuff did great. The new stuff was soft, wiping lobes, and the cam break-in lube was ineffective. Most of those guys talked like they knew what they were talking about.

I have used them in the past. Then changed to Lunati. Their tech guys seemed to be more knowledgeable and friendly.

Their stuff works good.


Just my 2 cents........

 

FYI.......

I interviewed with Crane for a job (machine shop) years ago (mid 70's). A guy I had worked with in Charleston worked there. I wanted the warm Florida weather. I was in Charlotte NC. Got a offer but the $$$ was not good enough to move.

Wish I had NOW.


.

 

My beef with Comp Cams is that most of their grinds are catch-penny single pattern cams. Cheaper to make, for sure...but not optimal for a street vehicle.

That said, single pattern cams DO work well on engines with good, free-flowing heads and open headers...but you'll want a dual pattern cam for anything driven on the street through a full exhaust system with stock heads. Even the OEM car makers use dual pattern designs, and you KNOW they wouldn't if they didn't feel it was neccessary!

I had a Comp Cams 270H Magnum in one of my old project cars, and it sucked! It had a decent lope at a hot idle, but it was flat through the whole powerband and actually slowed the car down compared to how it ran with a milder dual pattern cam from TRW!

I also observed problems with quality in Crower cams. EVERYONE I know who ran one, had problems with them...mostly broken dowels, premature distributor gear failure, or accelerated lobe wear. It may just have been coincidence with other factors contributing to the problems, but it's kept me from buying Crower.

Then there was General Kinetics, which I'm sure is long out of business. You could check the lobes of a brand new General Kinetics cam with a dial indicator and find them all to be different! Dual pattern? Hell, we're taking octa-pattern!!!

Over the years, I've come to rely on Crane for quality workmanship and well-engineered cams with effective profiles. I've never been disappointed with a Crane cam, and it's made me a loyal customer!

I also used TRW replacement cams quite often with excellent results for low-buck mild build ups. By selecting their 350-400 grind for a 305 Chevy, you get a strong running 305. Same when using one of their 351 Windsor cams in a stock 289, etc! I worked for an auto parts store that sold TRW engine and chassis parts, and never had any trouble with their cams, either.

Those are just my personal experiences, since you asked for them! I'm sure there are guys who LOVE their Crower cams, and some who have had bad experiences with Crane...but I just calls 'em as I sees 'em!

 

I ran a PAW cam in my coupe for 5 years with no problems. I decided to put a Comp Cams 280 Magnum in it a couple months ago. The first one wiped 3 lobes flat during break in. I think it was because of the poor lube and insufficient quantity of it. The speed shop gave me a new one with lifters and I broke it in with a liberal coating of molybdenum disulphide and it got through the break in procedure this time. I only have about 1000 miles on the new cam. So far, so good.
Other experience with solid lifter Comp Cams in big block Chryslers has all been good.

Several years ago I had a Sig Erson cam in a 440 MoPar break right behind the 2nd to last cam bearing. The engine kept running on the front 6 cylinders albeit very badly.

 

I had a comp 280 in a 406 and put 90,000 hard miles on it. I have a real nice 355 with a mail order speed shop cam in it and it runs like crap. I would've saved the money and reused the stock cam. I loved the comp cam, made more power than it should have.

 

Haven't had an Edelbrock yet, but plan on getting the Performer cam for my 390 FE. Had originally planned on getting the Peformer RPM, but the machine that did my heads discouraged it for daily driving.