recommended cam for a 5.9 magnum?

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magnumdust

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What would you guys suggest for a great street/strip cam on a 5.9 magnum(w/ rhs heads)
 
I say custom grind. Since its hydraulic roller its expensive anyway, and with a Magnum you can have it ground on an LA core, so you get the snout for the mechanical fuel pump.
 
LXguy said:
I say custom grind. Since its hydraulic roller its expensive anyway, and with a Magnum you can have it ground on an LA core, so you get the snout for the mechanical fuel pump.
Click to expand...

well that's not really an issue. I bought the snout adapter from mancini.

who does custom grinds?
 
Roller of course.....Really need more info to make an educated guess,
Intake manifold? single or dual plane advertised power sweet spot
exhaust headers/manifolds?
carb cfm, vac or mechanical secondaries?
rear end gears?
converter stall speed?
tire size?
distributor stock or aftermarket?
heads 1.92 or 2.02 bowl work or ported?
compression ratio?
power adder nitrous/turbo/supercharger?

good place to start to get a general idea go to compcams.com and download camquest6
 
dustoff440 said:
Roller of course.....Really need more info to make an educated guess,
Intake manifold? single or dual plane advertised power sweet spot
exhaust headers/manifolds?
carb cfm, vac or mechanical secondaries?
rear end gears?
converter stall speed?
tire size?
distributor stock or aftermarket?
heads 1.92 or 2.02 bowl work or ported?
compression ratio?
power adder nitrous/turbo/supercharger?

good place to start to get a general idea go to compcams.com and download camquest6
Click to expand...

I'll fill in what i can:
Intake manifold? dual plane air gap knock off, 1500-6500 range

exhaust headers/manifolds? hedman long tubes(may go to the tight tube if i bang these up too much)

carb cfm, vac or mechanical secondaries? 600cfm edelbrock 1406 w/ electric choke. Although i may need to go to a bigger carb?

rear end gears? 3.55

converter stall speed? As far as i know its a stock stall converter. Staying that way until i get together an A500. Then i'd probably copy the other guys here that have a 2800 stall

tire size? 245/45/17s. May get some drag wheels in the future.

distributor stock or aftermarket? stock

heads 1.92 or 2.02 bowl work or ported? 1.92s ran as they're cast.

compression ratio?whatever the stock magnum 5.9 is

power adder nitrous/turbo/supercharger? plan to run a nitrous kit at some point
 
oh btw edit, doubt it makes a difference, but:

I've decided to go with the EQ iron ram heads. Same 1.92 intake valves.
 
magnumdust said:
oh btw edit, doubt it makes a difference, but:

I've decided to go with the EQ iron ram heads. Same 1.92 intake valves.
Click to expand...

I've also got a 360 Magnum I just finished building and am waiting to install. Read this thread I started before you go to nitrous if you have stock magnum pistons .

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=143523

Also I cant find it now but I bought my cam from a guy who can sell you Magnum Cams about 12 different grinds to choose from for 120 bucks delivered to your door. I'll try to find his email and post it later tonight.I think you will be in sticker shock when you start pricing Magnum cams, they are substantially more expensive than flat tappet, roughly 2-300 bucks for cam only. Comp Cams wanted 300 bucks for a custom grind camshaft only!!!
 
Call Brian at IMM.

He can get you a custom cut comp for same or less than most shelf grinds.

Don't sweat the nitrous if you run it with using some common sense
 
Yea, the guys name is kenneth caudillo
his email is [email protected]

go to http://myspace.com/utilitycomponents scroll down to mopar grind list

The hr286 msbs looks like a good possibility for you

many to choose from 120 buck to your door, you can reuse your stock roller lifters without a problem

Everything I have given you here is predicated on I'm thinking that you would like to do this as cheaply as possible, If you've got plenty to spend please disregard
 
Ok I found it, if you have plenty to spend go with crackedbacks advice, If youre on a budget and want quality parts at a really good price read on.

The guys name is kenneth caudillo
his email: [email protected]

the mopar master grind list is at:
http://myspace.com/utilitycomponents

looks like the HR 279 280 or 286 might be good for you if you get that converter you were talking about. I went with the HR 276 because the stock magnum heads will have retainer to valve guide clearance problems at about .530 lift. Its lift is .512 and when I had it assembled and in the motor I had less than .020 clearance. Incidentally, I degreed the cam after I installed it and it was exactly as advertised on lift and only 1/2 a degree of on the centerline but I attrributed that to the timing gear quality control.

I bought one from him and turned two other FABO members on to him who were also please with their cams and especially the price 120 buck delivered to your door. of course rollers lifters are entirely reusable so your probably looking at a set of valve springs to go with the cam unless the heads you are getting are already assembled, the absolute best deal I could find for magnum springs that will fit the without machining are the 1102 from Hughes engines for 65 bucks, they will support a camshaft lift up to .550 lift
 
If you like 112 LSA cam then have at it. It's a good price for a hyd roller stick. He's likely regrinding magnum cores, just a guess. There's maybe 2 cams in that list I'd use if I planned on n2o.

I'll go back to my cave.
 
crackedback said:
Call Brian at IMM.

He can get you a custom cut comp for same or less than most shelf grinds.

Don't sweat the nitrous if you run it with using some common sense
Click to expand...

yeah i'm not too worried about the N20. I don't plan to run some massive shot.(likely 125 at the very very most) and i'm gonna get it setup and make sure its tuned accordingly at a dyno shop.
 
dustoff440 said:
Ok I found it, if you have plenty to spend go with crackedbacks advice, If youre on a budget and want quality parts at a really good price read on.

The guys name is kenneth caudillo
his email: [email protected]

the mopar master grind list is at:
http://myspace.com/utilitycomponents

looks like the HR 279 280 or 286 might be good for you if you get that converter you were talking about. I went with the HR 276 because the stock magnum heads will have retainer to valve guide clearance problems at about .530 lift. Its lift is .512 and when I had it assembled and in the motor I had less than .020 clearance. Incidentally, I degreed the cam after I installed it and it was exactly as advertised on lift and only 1/2 a degree of on the centerline but I attrributed that to the timing gear quality control.

I bought one from him and turned two other FABO members on to him who were also please with their cams and especially the price 120 buck delivered to your door. of course rollers lifters are entirely reusable so your probably looking at a set of valve springs to go with the cam unless the heads you are getting are already assembled, the absolute best deal I could find for magnum springs that will fit the without machining are the 1102 from Hughes engines for 65 bucks, they will support a camshaft lift up to .550 lift
Click to expand...

You're right to predicate your opinion on my low budget. Afterall, my original intention was to throw this engine together as is, but then i got it to my friends shop and he insisted on a pulling the heads for new gaskets etc etc. So if i'm gonna go this far, might as well go all the way.

Will i need new pushrods?

The heads i'm getting are the iron rams assembled from hughes:

"assembled with new valves (1.920" stock style alloy steel intakes and 1.620" one piece, non polished exhaust). The heads come complete with Viton valve stem seals and our 1110 spring kit. "

Would the HR279 280, or 286 work well with the stock converter? At least for the time being. Its likely that i won't be getting an A500 until at least tax return season.

Another thing i should mention, part of this thread is that i know nothing about cams.
 
magnumdust said:
You're right to predicate your opinion on my low budget. Afterall, my original intention was to throw this engine together as is, but then i got it to my friends shop and he insisted on a pulling the heads for new gaskets etc etc. So if i'm gonna go this far, might as well go all the way.

Will i need new pushrods?

The heads i'm getting are the iron rams assembled from hughes:

"assembled with new valves (1.920" stock style alloy steel intakes and 1.620" one piece, non polished exhaust). The heads come complete with Viton valve stem seals and our 1110 spring kit. "

Would the HR279 280, or 286 work well with the stock converter? At least for the time being. Its likely that i won't be getting an A500 until at least tax return season.

Another thing i should mention, part of this thread is that i know nothing about cams.
Click to expand...

If you are definitely going to get a looser converter then you have more choices. From what you described as your parts if you get a converter that stalls from say 1800-2200 you could run the 268, 270, 276, or even the 280. All 4 of them call for a stall between 1800 and 2200 and at least 3.42 rear axle ratio which you already have with 3.55's. The compression ratio on your stock 5.9 is factory advertised at 9.1 to 1(depending on the year). The problem with that however is that what the factory advertises the CR to be and in actuality is probably a whole different story. I wouldn't be surprised if your pistons were .050 down in the hole and you actual compression is actually 8 to 1 or maybe even less. I have found best success when you have unknowns or "unsures" or borderline specs necessary to run a particular cam that using a little less camshaft than what "desktop dynos" call for as a maximum cam is a good bet.. . If it were mine I would probably run the 270 or 276 if you get a converter that will flash to 2000. Of course the higher you stall will lend itself to the 279 or 286. If your definitely getting a higher stall converter then you can always put more cam in there till you put the converter in there. But then youre back to the limiting factor with the CR, I wouldn't bank on youre having a true 9.1 to 1, so that would put you down to the 270-280 range. But you can measure everything when you pull the heads and mill the heads to achieve the compression ratio you want. I don't know what the combustion chamber volume is on the heads you are getting but i'm sure that you can make a situation to raise it . But, now were spending even more money, .All these cams are running an LSA of 112 which will definitely take some of the lopiness out of the camshaft. However not all is lost with that. I did a bunch of research on what cam to run with nitrous. It seemed that the more I read the most common specification that was common to most advertised "nitrous cams" was a lobe seperation angle of 112-114 degrees. So your cam might not have that heavy lope and sound very "cammy" but you will make more power on the 112 LSA with nitrous than one with say a 106-108 LSA. The wider lobe seperation angle is more conducive to getting the spent gases out of the combustion chamber which is very important in a nitrous motor to get the heat out as quickly as possible to avoid heat build up and detonation. If you currently have a 904 and want to get out of this absolutely cheap until you acquire and build an A500, you can get a slant 6 converter (72-80 had 27 spline input shaft and 27 spline slant 6 904 converters are plentiful and cheap) and install it behind your V8 904 and achieve an 1800 to 2000 stall speed. There have been so many free slant 6 engines and slant 6 trannies advertised here that you can probably get someone to give you one if you pay shipping. Hell, I have one I would give you but it is out of my 70 and has different number of input splines. Do not need new pushrods or lifters.

The bottom line here , (no pun intended, LOL) is that I don't think you can find a magnum roller cam for less than 120 bucks delivered.
 
Do yourself a big favor and get the heads machined so they can take a better spring down the road.

There's nothing that goes on these heads in stock form that's better than the 1110 springs, and my car could definitely use an upgrade already. I'm thinking about buying the 2.02 head just so I can get better springs without taking the heads off and having downtime.
 
LXguy said:
Do yourself a big favor and get the heads machined so they can take a better spring down the road.

There's nothing that goes on these heads in stock form that's better than the 1110 springs, and my car could definitely use an upgrade already. I'm thinking about buying the 2.02 head just so I can get better springs without taking the heads off and having downtime.
Click to expand...

But would it be worth it for me? After looking at the various magnum build ups, they all seem to be in the ballpark of what i want out of my car with those springs. With your times being faster than what i'm looking for.
 
dustoff440 said:
If you are definitely going to get a looser converter then you have more choices. From what you described as your parts if you get a converter that stalls from say 1800-2200 you could run the 268, 270, 276, or even the 280. All 4 of them call for a stall between 1800 and 2200 and at least 3.42 rear axle ratio which you already have with 3.55's. The compression ratio on your stock 5.9 is factory advertised at 9.1 to 1(depending on the year). The problem with that however is that what the factory advertises the CR to be and in actuality is probably a whole different story. I wouldn't be surprised if your pistons were .050 down in the hole and you actual compression is actually 8 to 1 or maybe even less. I have found best success when you have unknowns or "unsures" or borderline specs necessary to run a particular cam that using a little less camshaft than what "desktop dynos" call for as a maximum cam is a good bet.. . If it were mine I would probably run the 270 or 276 if you get a converter that will flash to 2000. Of course the higher you stall will lend itself to the 279 or 286. If your definitely getting a higher stall converter then you can always put more cam in there till you put the converter in there. But then youre back to the limiting factor with the CR, I wouldn't bank on youre having a true 9.1 to 1, so that would put you down to the 270-280 range. But you can measure everything when you pull the heads and mill the heads to achieve the compression ratio you want. I don't know what the combustion chamber volume is on the heads you are getting but i'm sure that you can make a situation to raise it . But, now were spending even more money, .All these cams are running an LSA of 112 which will definitely take some of the lopiness out of the camshaft. However not all is lost with that. I did a bunch of research on what cam to run with nitrous. It seemed that the more I read the most common specification that was common to most advertised "nitrous cams" was a lobe seperation angle of 112-114 degrees. So your cam might not have that heavy lope and sound very "cammy" but you will make more power on the 112 LSA than one with say a 106-108 LSA. If you currently have a 904 and want to get out of this absolutely cheap until you acquire and build an A500, you can get a slant 6 converter (72-80 had 27 spline input shaft and 27 spline slant 6 904 converters are plentiful and cheap) and install it behind your V8 904 and achieve an 1800 to 2000 stall speed. There have been so many free slant 6 engines and slant 6 trannies advertised here that you can probably get someone to give you one if you pay shipping. Hell, I have one I would give you but it is out of my 70 and has different number of input splines. Do not need new pushrods or lifters.
Click to expand...

will the slant 6 converter hold up to the abuse?

Honestly, its not an issue to have that "cammy sound". V8s that start to sound too lopey are not for me.
 
magnumdust said:
will the slant 6 converter hold up to the abuse?

Honestly, its not an issue to have that "cammy sound". V8s that start to sound too lopey are not for me.
Click to expand...

On the converter, I haven't done it myself but have seen posts by other members who said it had worked for them no problems. They were of course running an aftermarket tranny cooler. I was considering it for myself but found out that the /6 converter I had had the wrong number of splines and found a 3000-3500 "street fighter" cheap and in good shape.

on the cam, Yea youre right about the lopiness, not necessary and the lopiness doesn;t mean that you are making big power. It is nice however to drive in to car show with that big lope if youre into that sort of thing. Anyone that really knows cars knows that many guys equate lopiness with their car being bad *** but in reality many guys put too much cam in their cars to get that "lope" but are actually losing power and would have been better off with much less cam.


Just for ***** and giggles go to compcams.com and download camquest6 and plug in all your parts.
 
My advise, call bullet cams & have your stock peice reground for a 150.00, keep the 2800 stall, drop on a 650dp, get a VG ignition system so you can adjust the timing curve easy, If your planning on Nitrous, just do this stuff & spray away & have fun, I was running really good in my 360 magnum swinger with just a 125 shot.
 
So after reading this thread several times, i think i've come to the conclusion of getting the 276 cam(from that list).

Ideally i wanted to run the 286, but it seems like it might be better to air on the side of caution w/ my comp. ration.

However, what about using a thinner head gasket? Are there downsides to doing so? is it even an option on the magnums?
 
THE 276 or 270 are also the two that i would run. as you said tis better to err on the side of caution on camshaft selection. IF you want more power later you can keep you eyes open for some used viper 1.7 rockers arms which will increase your lift about 7 percent or so if I REmember correctly. . Running a thinner gasket is an option to help raise your compression ratio a little, however i would buy an inexpensive tool to measure for your lifter preload because when you have a thinner gasket you will be changing the lifter lifter preload and it may be borderline now and even a few thousandths could change the preload clearance enough to end up with noisy or ticking lifters. save your head gasket money for nitrous.
 
So my cam came today. I shot an email to the person that dustoff440 suggested. He never replied and so i gave a call to brian at IMM and ordered from him

Specs are: intake exhaust

adv. duration: 276 282
dur @ .50: 224 230
valve lift: .513 .513

110 lobe separation

It came 1 business day earlier than i expected :D
 
magnumdust said:
So my cam came today. I shot an email to the person that dustoff440 suggested. He never replied and so i gave a call to brian at IMM and ordered from him

Specs are: intake exhaust

adv. duration: 276 282
dur @ .50: 224 230
valve lift: .513 .513

110 lobe separation

It came 1 business day earlier than i expected :D
Click to expand...

That cam is VERY close to the 276 that the other guy I told you about has. I think you made a wise choice. Let us know how it works out!!!
 
magnumdust said:
oh btw edit, doubt it makes a difference, but:

I've decided to go with the EQ iron ram heads. Same 1.92 intake valves.
Click to expand...

RHS is a better head, imo than the iron ram

If Im not mistaken...the iron ram is based on a stock mag head when it comes to port volume.


Btw You should listen to crackedback on the no2, he knows what he's talking about and has been doing it for decades.
 
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