Help with cam selection with 452 heads

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hawaii five-0

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I have a couple motor home 440's with 452 heads that I'm going to use to bracket race in my 67 Dart. Trying to figure out what cam will yield the best times with my set up. I don't mind changing out the valve springs to upgrade the cam, but would like to use the heads and lower end as is. I'm looking for recommendations from people with experience raising the performance of these motors, as they are pretty common. I have not weighed my car, but it is a 67 Dart with 440 engine/727 transmission/9 inch Ford rear end. Nothing has been done to lighten it. The transmission has a 2500 stall converter. Rear gears are 4.10. Motor mods include Schumacher Tri-Y headers, Holley 850 double pumper, Holly Street Dominator intake, Holley electric fuel pump, and electronic ignition. I've read about the Hughes "Whiplash" and Lunati grinds, but haven't heard what kind of times guys are getting out of them in cars similar to mine. Perhaps other cams are a better choice. Interested in some feedback from guys who have had good luck with a similar set up. Thanks
 
If he has time, @Bighead440 is good at this kinda thing. Maybe he will chime in.

I don't have a lot of big block experience like he does, but your build is old school. I like it. A good old school cam to go with it would be the Mopar .528 solid. It's mild, but would tear it up with bottom end torque. ....I am sure you'll get some good responses.
 
These are low compression smog motors. Don't expect too much performance out of them. Adding all these aftermarket items will only increase performance marginally.
 
Honestly I'd give a cam company a call. You will want to spec something with fast ramps for lower overall duration and to maximize the .050 duration (area under the curve as commonly stated) You will want to close the intake valve as early as possible to maintain compression but still get enough cylinder fill. The 452 heads will be a bit of a bottleneck too. Rusty is on the right track if you can do a solid lifter. Fast ramps, short duration, max lift.

Garth
 
I’ve noticed that there is giant bell shaped recesses in the face valves. If you swap the cam, you will most likely be into springs, etc. That space adds to the volume of the chamber. I regret not putting flat ones in my 400 with 452 heads. Any little bit helps
 
I weighed the car this weekend. It weighs 3220lbs. Not sure of actual compression ratio, but two of the motors are stock 1975 motor home engines, with stock 452 casting number heads. Plenty of guys say you have to raise the compression to get power, and I have no doubt that that would be a surefire way to do it. However I'm also aware that many people are pulling some pretty good quarter mile times with the bolt on accessories my engine and car have, and the right cam. Without changing the compression ratio. Thanks
 
Murray said:
These are low compression smog motors. Don't expect too much performance out of them. Adding all these aftermarket items will only increase performance marginally.
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That's funny, especially considering who posted right before you. Maybe you should look up his 440 low compression build posted on this forum before you say stuff like that. lol
 
Thanks for the replies, and keep 'em coming. I had read that thread about dyno testing the 440 with .509 Purple cam. Also talked to several guys at the track who put the .509 Purple cam in internally stock/low compression engines that had the 452 heads like mine, and bolt on items that ran high 11's to low 12's. Many have also recommended the 284-484 Purple cam. I like information that comes with an actual quarter mile time to back it up. Read quite a few statements online that say these Purple cam designs are dated, and there is much better stuff out there. However, the quarter mile times that have been pulled with them are impressive to say the least.

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hawaii five-0 said:
Thanks for the replies, and keep 'em coming. I had read that thread about dyno testing the 440 with .509 Purple cam. Also talked to several guys at the track who put the .509 Purple cam in internally stock/low compression engines that had the 452 heads like mine, and bolt on items that ran high 11's to low 12's. Many have also recommended the 284-484 Purple cam. I like information that comes with an actual quarter mile time to back it up. Read quite a few statements online that say these Purple cam designs are dated, and there is much better stuff out there. However, the quarter mile times that have been pulled with them are impressive to say the least.

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With the rest of your combination (not so much the 4.10 gears but the STALL speed of the converter and the low compression), I believe the .509 or even .484 will be a little soft on the bottom end. You really don't get much out of the .509 in a 440 until 3000 or better, with stock heads even. With a 9.5/10" converter and some head milling and .018" steel shim gaskets you might get some decent numbers out of it, however.
 
With a tight converter, you are better going with less cam and short-shifting, say 5400-5600rpm and getting to high gear quicker where the torque characteristics of the motor can shine. Years of running BB MoPars and 455 Buicks have taught me this. Just because it "sounds" wicked and WILL rev to 6500 does not mean that you should outrun the band where the most torque and power is. With a stock 440, Street Hemi .474 cam and a 2200rpm stall with 3.91 gears, 5400rpm was our best shift point. It was no faster/slower at 5600 and it slowed a little at 5800 and 5200. Small ports/valves, short cam timing and a tight converter CAN be your friends.
 
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