Good Street 5.9 Magnum Cams for Stock Bottom End and Heads

[TheMoose]

Hey there FABO,

Ive got a good running, unkown millage 360 magnum. Tearing it down soon to swap over to the LA style front dress and run the Huges snout extender so I can use a mechanical fuel pump. While im in there I was gonna replace my rings, crank case seal, rear and front seals, and just general freshening up. I also wanted to throw a hotter cam in there to. This engine is going back into my duster with a 904, 2500 stall, and 3:23's. Im sticking with my 650 4160 vacuum secondary, the eddy air gap, headers, and 3 inch exhaust that are already in the car. Looking for low-mid range torque and im shooting for a 5500 redline. Choppy idle with a lower amount of vacum is fine, im not running any power booster. Any recommendations would be great.

Thank you for reading,

Ethan

 

[Professor Fate]

Hey there FABO,

Ive got a good running, unkown millage 360 magnum. Tearing it down soon to swap over to the LA style front dress and run the Huges snout extender so I can use a mechanical fuel pump. While im in there I was gonna replace my rings, crank case seal, rear and front seals, and just general freshening up. I also wanted to throw a hotter cam in there to. This engine is going back into my duster with a 904, 2500 stall, and 3:23's. Im sticking with my 650 4160 vacuum secondary, the eddy air gap, headers, and 3 inch exhaust that are already in the car. Looking for low-mid range torque and im shooting for a 5500 redline. Choppy idle with a lower amount of vacum is fine, im not running any power booster. Any recommendations would be great.

Thank you for reading,

Ethan

If you're replacing the cam, don't bother with the Hughes cam snout extender, just get a long nose cam. Less stuff to go wrong. Any LA roller retrofit cam will work fine, just keep in mind that the lift will differ because of the Magnum's 1.6 rocker ratio vs the LA's 1.5 and you'll be fine.
I hope the Air Gap is for a Magnum, you DO know the bolt pattern is different from an LA, right?
BTW, welcome to the site!

 

[TheMoose]

If you're replacing the cam, don't bother with the Hughes cam snout extender, just get a long nose cam. Less stuff to go wrong. Any LA roller retrofit cam will work fine, just keep in mind that the lift will differ because of the Magnum's 1.6 rocker ratio vs the LA's 1.5 and you'll be fine.
I hope the Air Gap is for a Magnum, you DO know the bolt pattern is different from an LA, right?
BTW, welcome to the site!

yessir i do, its already got the magnum air gap on it. Thank you so much for long snout cams idea , I haddnt even thought of going down that route. Any roller cams specifically you would recommend? Part #s? thank you

 

[Professor Fate]

yessir i do, its already got the magnum air gap on it. Thank you so much for long snout cams idea , I haddnt even thought of going down that route. Any roller cams specifically you would recommend? Part #s? thank you

I really hate recommending specific cams when I don't know what kind of use you're going for- ice cream/cruiser, hot street with maybe some passes at the strip, or winding it out through the twisties... You say stock heads, but you are likely going to need better springs to go with whatever cam you end up with.
Talk with a tech at Herbert, Howards or the like and they'll get you pointed in the right direction.
I'm sure you'll get plenty of suggestions here shortly.

 

[273]

Here a Magnum with a comp 264r-14 made 350 hp and a later date added airgap and got like 365 hp.

 

[360duster]

again i´d suggest oregon cams Grind # 1341. It´s 218/224 @ .050", .482" Lift with 1.6 Rockers, 110°LSA. From my experience with a 5.2 this cam runs pretty good! Consider upgrading the springs.

Michael

 

[TheMoose]

again i´d suggest oregon cams Grind # 1341. It´s 218/224 @ .050", .482" Lift with 1.6 Rockers, 110°LSA. From my experience with a 5.2 this cam runs pretty good! Consider upgrading the springs.

Michael

yessir, getting springs and liffters to probably. thank you for the recommendation.

 

[273]

If you want to push it you could even go aggressive as the 380hp crate magnum cam that dyno's 400+ hp, anywhere between stock and that you can go it's really up to you what you want.

"The roller is a fairly stout stick, with a long .288 intake, .292 exhaust duration, and .501/.513 lift-much more than any production small-block." Something like 230/236 @ 0.050" 108 lsa

The crate cam could use more gear and stall, I run mine with 2.xx gears and 2,800 rpm and works ok.

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/mopp-0303-360-crate-engine-buildup

RPM	TQ	HP
2500	380.6	181
3000	402.9	230
3500	415.1	277
4000	437.8	333
4100	439.5	343
4500	437.1	375
5000	416.3	396
5400	398.6	409
5500	388.6	407
6000	343.9	395

 

[Kern Dog]

That cam above is soft at lower rpms. I know a guy that has a 3.91 geared 5 speed 68 Dart that had an original 360/380 crate engine with that cam and it was not very peppy off idle. It needed either less duration or more lift to be better at low to mid range engine speeds. A cam that has a torque peak at 4100 rpms is not going to be fun to cruise around in on the street.

 

[273]

That cam above is soft at lower rpms. I know a guy that has a 3.91 geared 5 speed 68 Dart that had an original 360/380 crate engine with that cam and it was not very peppy off idle. It needed either less duration or more lift to be better at low to mid range engine speeds. A cam that has a torque peak at 4100 rpms is not going to be fun to cruise around in on the street.

It makes 381 lbs-ft at 2,500 rpms, 403 lbs-ft at 3,000 rpms, it don't have a lack of low end torque

Makes similar low end torque as that smaller cam in the video I posted.

I got that cam too with 2.xx gears, not sure if 2.76 or 2.94, not saying the OP should run it just saying choices are fairly open.

 

[Speedy Pedi]

I'm very happy with the results I'm getting from my Comp Cams 20-604-9 Computer Controlled 210/220 Hydraulic Roller Cam for Chrysler Magnum 900-5,200 RPM Operating Range 210/220 Duration at .050". 112 Degree Lobe Separation Angle 0.512/0.512 Valve Lift. I'm running with stock bottom end, Air gap intake, 750 Edelbrock carb., ported iron heads, cam degreed with 6 degrees of additional advance. the engine is mated to a A833 4 spd and a 3.91 rear gears in my 67 Barracuda. There is a ton of low and mid power, good idle with a little bit of chop. Engine idle vac at 18.5 inches @650rpm. Easily overwhelming the 245 BF Goodrich tires just offering it 3/8 of an inch of throttle. I get throw you back in the seat throttle response.

 

[TT5.9mag]

yessir, getting springs and liffters to probably. thank you for the recommendation.

No need to get lifters. The stock ones work perfectly when in good condition. With a 2500 stall and 3.23 gears in a light street car you can use up to about 224 @050 intake duration before you loose some low speed drivability. Stay under .525 lift with stock unmodified heads, more than that and you have to cut down the guides and change seals. Whatever you do, make sure to do the springs. Stock springs were barely adequate for the stock cam.

 

[TT5.9mag]

Here a Magnum with a comp 264r-14 made 350 hp and a later date added airgap and got like 365 hp.

It runs good.

 

[DionR]

It runs good.

Are you the one that owns the dyno motor Holdener used? I know someone around here does, but couldn't remember who.

Edit - after watching the video, I just gotta ask...how's the toe?

 

[TT5.9mag]

Are you the one that owns the dyno motor Holdener used? I know someone around here does, but couldn't remember who.

Edit - after watching the video, I just gotta ask...how's the toe?

Yea I bought it and a bunch of other mopar stuff from westech when they downsized. It’s the engine in my D100 now. Thanks for the concern about my little pinky toe. He’s hangin in there.

 

[TheMoose]

Thanks for the suggestions, you guys appreciate it.

 

[TheMoose]

I really hate recommending specific cams when I don't know what kind of use you're going for- ice cream/cruiser, hot street with maybe some passes at the strip, or winding it out through the twisties... You say stock heads, but you are likely going to need better springs to go with whatever cam you end up with.
Talk with a tech at Herbert, Howards or the like and they'll get you pointed in the right direction.
I'm sure you'll get plenty of suggestions here shortly.

Sorry your right, I should have clarified. While the car is not my daily, I certainly want to build it to be a good, everyday, low end-mid level street car, this thing isnt making any passes at the strip, just for some hooning around out in the backroads. Ive talked to techs before but I also value the experiences that individuals have had with certain cams too. And yes I am going to be replacing the springs as well.

 

[273]

Sorry your right, I should have clarified. While the car is not my daily, I certainly want to build it to be a good, everyday, low end-mid level street car, this thing isnt making any passes at the strip, just for some hooning around out in the backroads. Ive talked to techs before but I also value the experiences that individuals have had with certain cams too. And yes I am going to be replacing the springs as well.

Availability is gonna play a big part in deciding, I'd shop for something in the 220 @ 0.050" .500" lift 108-112 range, possibly a regrind, good thing any reasonable choice over stock gonna wake it up.

 

[TheMoose]

Availability is gonna play a big part in deciding, I'd shop for something in the 220 @ 0.050" .500" lift 108-112 range, possibly a regrind, good thing any reasonable choice over stock gonna wake it up.

Agreed, and this project is kinda far out so im not totally concerned with how quickly I can get one here. Thanks for the input

 

[Mopar Sam]

Ask @318willrun his Drag Truck runs really good with a mild cam. He has close to stock magnum in it.

 

[273]

Ask @318willrun his Drag Truck runs really good with a mild cam. He has close to stock magnum in it.

From the video I just look at seems like a 218/224 on 110 .520/.530

 

[318willrun]

Ask @318willrun his Drag Truck runs really good with a mild cam. He has close to stock magnum in it.

Mine has a Oregon regrind on a LA roller cam with the long snout. Ground for 1.5 rockers, it's .492/.501... but of course the magnum stock rockers are 1.6 so add about .030 lift. Duration at 050 is 218/224. 110 lobe separation

 

[TheMoose]

Mine has a Oregon regrind on a LA roller cam with the long snout. Ground for 1.5 rockers, it's .492/.501... but of course the magnum stock rockers are 1.6 so add about .030 lift. Duration at 050 is 218/224. 110 lobe separation

Thank you for the input sir, love your videos

 

[glhs0426]

Bullet reground a stock 5.9 cam for me 25yrs ago. 212°/218° .510"/.525" 113°lsa. It has a mild idle, great torque and power to 6k. If I had to do it over, I would use a 318 core and have it ground on 110°lsa. Bullet checked several cams for me and said the 318 roller cams both long and short nose were 110° lsa and the 360 roller cam long nose version was 114°lsa and the short nose varied from 112°-114°lsa. If getting one reground the lsa can't be moved much (typically 2° at most).