Erson cam

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Moparguy1

Moparguy1

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I am rebuilding my 360 and the engine builder is recommending an Erson cam with 292 duration and 480 lift. Does anyone have any experience with this cam? Here are the specs that I know of so far that I plan to run. This will be ran on the street and maybe a trip down the track every once and a while.

74 Dart Sport
30 over 360 balanced with flat top pistons
10 to 1 compression
X heads
Headers with 2 1/2" TTI exhaust with flowmasters
391 gears
3400 stall in a 727 transmission

What do you all think about this combo?
 
I will also be using a air gap intake and a 650 holly carb.
 
On the cam...do you know what the duration @ .050 lift is?
Lobe Separation Angle?
Cam center line?
 
No, I don't. I can't find the cam specs on the web. He gave me a part number of 420022 but I can't find it anywhere. Maybe I'm not looking in the right place.
 
...............U have an oldschool builder if he is suggesting that cam, I don't remember the specs offhand, but personally I would go with a newer fast ramp cam........kim........
 
Is it a hydraulic or a solid? I have an old NOS solid Erson that's close to those specs. I have the cam card and all. I like modern grinds in some cases, but remember, fast rates of lift ain't always the best thing. They usually have some valve train noise because they are slamming the valves open and closed. Not necessarily a good thing for a car that sees 90% or more street time. What ET difference will you see between that good olld reliable old school grind and a modern one that's similar? Maybe 1/10 of a second? Sounds to me like he might know a thing or two.
 
I used one that sounds like that many moons ago. It was a basic shelf grind in the [email protected] range and a 108LSA. I wonder if he has it there and is trying to unload it on you, or really likes it. Nothing wrong with it, but there are much better/similar cams available now days.
 
Moparguy1 said:
This will be ran on the street and maybe a trip down the track every once and a while.
Click to expand...

This is really the most important part. If you're really gonna put some miles on it, then the old school, soft ramp cams like "Rusty" spoke of, may be your best bet.

With the comp. ratio, gear and converter you're talking about, you can go more aggressive with the cam choice. If you decided to go bigger, a 750ish carb should probably be part of the plan also.

There's nothing wrong with your original plan. You just need to weigh drivability and the amount of street miles vs. performance use.

Good luck, Rick
 
Sorry to post again, but the valve spring requirements could play a role in your decision also. If i'm right about the cam your speaking of, I ran single springs and they didn't require valve guide mods. If you get too aggressive with cam choice, you'll end up needing dual springs and the appropriate guide/seal mods to accommodate them.
 
The heads that I am using already have the mods made to use the dual springs and I have to but springs anyways so if I need to go to a larger spring I can. He don't have the cam in stock and has to order it. He said that Erson will custom grind a cam for the same price it will just take a week longer to get it. Can you guys recommend a good set of grid specs? I want a good performance with a choppy sound. This car won't be driven more than 10 or 15 miles at a time. This is my first engine build and I am trying to do it on a budget but want to do it right.
 
I ran a Sig Erson cam similar to that back in the day in my '69 Super Bee. It was a dead stock 440 HP engine other than the cam.
It sounded good but for some reason, it was about 3 tenths slower in the 1/4 mile than the old Direct Connection ''street hemi grind'' purple shaft cam that it replaced.
I put a Holley 750 double pumper carb on it and headers after that and only gained about 2 tenths back.
It pulled pretty hard from about 3000 to 6000 rpm, and it was a 4 speed with a 3:54 Dana with L-60-15s on the rear.
In my opinion, if you want to go old school, get a Mopar Performance purple shaft cam. They DO work.
Just my 2 cents.
Tom.
 
I don't need to go old school, I just want something that performs good, sounds good and I don't have to mess with after its installed. I had a solid lift cam in the past and I was always adjusting the valves. That's fine in a race engine but I don't want to have to do it in a street engine.
 
I'd look at the Lunati Voodoo cams. I did an XE268 in my 318 not too long ago, and wish I would have done a Voodoo instead. The Comp XE is great so far, but I think the Voodoos are a better design from a better company.
 
It's not the company. It's Harold Brookshire.
 
The design, yes. The quality of the product is the company. It's just my opinion though, and like your signature says..."The heck if I know."
 
Well I do know every cam company harold has ever worked for made the best cams available. Bar none. Even those he didn't work for have had to come around to his way of thinking to remain competitive. He's a legend genius.
 
Have to agree,RustyRob. Comp's Magnum series,Ultradyne's killers, and the Lunati Voodoo series. And that's his mellow stuff.
 
Sig Erson is good stuff especially if your running it on the street, it will perform well. Anything above .500 lift is not going to be very streetable so I would say the mechanic knows what he's doing!
 
65CudaFish said:
Sig Erson is good stuff especially if your running it on the street, it will perform well. Anything above .500 lift is not going to be very streetable so I would say the mechanic knows what he's doing!
Click to expand...

I gues i better swap out my .570/.576 lift solid roller then since i thought for years that it was a nice and very drivable streetcam,and the previous cam was on the other side of .600 lift and was in my humble opinion a much better cam all around compared to the present one.:banghead:

Back on topic

dont know much about Erson cams but i cant see anything wrong with 292 degrees and 480 lift with those gears, converter and compression.
 
I have the Sig Erson TQ50 in my 340...part # E420223

specs are .472 lift on both
228/235 duration @ .050
110 lobe center
installed at 105-1/2

rest of motor is .040 over
10 to 1 compression
j heads 2.02 valves
2400 stall
3.55 gears

so with your more cubes, better gear ratio, and higher stall it will be even better

here is video of it idling with flowmaster mufflers

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th_00031_zps23c60d78.jpg
[/ame]



Here is it idling without mufflers

[ame=http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/bbrroowwnn/1929%20dodge%20coupe%20video/000021.mp4]
th_000021.jpg
[/ame]
 
bbrroowwnn said:
I have the Sig Erson TQ50 in my 340...part # E420223

specs are .472 lift on both
228/235 duration @ .050
110 lobe center
installed at 105-1/2

rest of motor is .040 over
10 to 1 compression
j heads 2.02 valves
2400 stall
3.55 gears

so with your more cubes, better gear ratio, and higher stall it will be even better

here is video of it idling with flowmaster mufflers





Here is it idling without mufflers

Click to expand...

Nice ride, sounds fast:headbang:
 
1Fast340 said:
I gues i better swap out my .570/.576 lift solid roller then since i thought for years that it was a nice and very drivable streetcam,and the previous cam was on the other side of .600 lift and was in my humble opinion a much better cam all around compared to the present one.:banghead:

Back on topic

dont know much about Erson cams but i cant see anything wrong with 292 degrees and 480 lift with those gears, converter and compression.
Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with the high lift cams, they make awesome power as long as the other equipment is right for the application of the cam. But they are still not designed for any kind of extended highway driving. Streetable in every respect but designed for high end horse power. My main point here is not to over cam (+stall converter +low gears, carburetor) a frequently driven vehicle with a camshaft that cant stay at sustained speeds required in usual driving standards. Erson did in fact make some killer high end horse power cams but also had a really nice baseline assortment of cams that were able to stay at sustained speeds and tow with awesome midrange to fair upper end power!
 
I grew up in the "old school" days and managed a parts store/speed shop before Comp Cams was in business. We sold a lot of Crane, Isky, and TRW TP series cams. At that time Crane, Erson, Isky and Schneider were the top brands. Cam technology was advancing faster than drivetrain parts were. Rarely did we sell a cam with more than .500 lift and the cam grinders made horsepower with duration and not much lift. Many of the street cams were installed with stock valve train components and that worked fine. The Purple shafts were of the same era and worked well. Your machinist may have that cam laying around and wants to sell it or he may have put it in many engines with good results. Nothing wrong with a old school grind. They have a fun lope at idle and do make horsepower without fancy and expensive valve train components. tmm
 
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