512 cam selection, what do you think of these options.

-

Minnesota Muscle

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 17, 2020
Messages
107
Reaction score
75
Location
Mid-Minnesota
I appreciate any advice you guys can give. I've been on the phone with Comp, Howards and Hughes. I've been surprised by the variation of their picks. But in picking their brains I've come to better understand it all, and refined all the choices. One thing I've heard a few times by people who built a 512, was that 512 stroker setups like to "absorb" peak listed 440 cam numbers, such as stall speed and power band. I want to keep my redline are 6000rpm, so train of thought by those who've done it say to get a listed 440 cam that says it's power band goes to 6500.

Anyway, here is the breakdown on the vehicle, and the cams I'm trying to pick through.

'67 barracuda with fiberglass hood, fenders, trunk and bumpers. Interior is half gutted. Estimated to be 3200lbs

Vehicle came with 4.56 rear gear, which I highly suspect will be too tall at the end of the track, even with a taller tire, but I can always change that later.

Looking for a 70% race 30% street setup. Essentially romping in town, and going to the track 20 min away.

Solid flat tappet.

Automatic trans with 3500 stall, still pending order of trans and stall.

TTI 2" headers

10.6:1 compression with 78cc heads.

Mopar aluminum WEDGE dual plane intake #P5153525

Trick Flow 240 heads. 440 source 512 kit with all forged internals. See flow numbers below.
tf numbers.png

Here are a couple cams I'm looking at.

Howards: CL722362-08
Rough idle, Street/strip, Should have 10.5:1+ compression & 3500+ stall converter.
Basic RPM Range:3000 to 6500
Valve Lift Intake:.550
Valve Lift Exhaust:.555
Duration at 050 Intake:254
Duration at 050 Exhaust:260
Lobe Separation:108
Intake Centerline:104

Comp Cams: 21-232-4
Very strong mid & upper RPM power, 10:1 compression with a 3000+ stall.
RPM Operating Range:2,500-6,500
Intake Duration at .050 Inch Lift:244
Exhaust Duration at .050 Inch Lift:252
Intake Valve Lift:0.520
Exhaust Valve Lift:0.540
Lobe Separation:110

Hughes: HUG STL4650BS3-8
Use: Street / strip. High rise dual plane or small single plane. Head porting and oversize valves. Idle: Noticeable. Converter: 3400rpm+ Rear gear:3.70+
SEE ATTACHED IMAGE for cam specs. Couldn't copy the data over.

View attachment 1715674959

hughes.jpg
 
Last edited:
I have a 512 in my Duster with ported aluminum heads (roughly equal to TF240 heads). The other specs are kind of the same, I'm around 10:1 compression with 1 3/4 headers. I used a hyd roller cam with 246@050 duration. It has just a bit of a rough idle with a carb but with EFI I can tame it down a bit. It makes 600/600 on the dyno so plenty stout. The point is that you don't need a big cam when you have good heads even if the engine is 512 inches.
DSC_4078 (Large).JPG
 
Thanks for that Andy. I'll go through that article a couple times, and see what I can pull from it.

What has me perplexed, is that with that Comp cam listed above, a guy is claiming his 512 Dyno'd 632 HP, 696 TQ. Not sure on his compression ratio though.
 
Thanks for the input. I've considered that, but haven't researched it yet. Any recommendations on a company that does custom grinds? Of course I'll do some digging, just curious on who you guys might have had personal experience with.

Is it as straight forward as it sounds that a custom grind is always better considering the tailored factor?
 
Howardscams is good to go, and Hughes as well.
No other experience yet.
Sure its always better, because of the exact grind for your needs without compromíses.

Also, it could be, that there is a of the shelf cam, that fits your needs best! But a custom grind is not that much more expensive
 
I appreciate any advice you guys can give. I've been on the phone with Comp, Howards and Hughes. I've been surprised by the variation of their picks. But in picking their brains I've come to better understand it all, and refined all the choices. One thing I've heard a few times by people who built a 512, was that 512 stroker setups like to "absorb" peak listed 440 cam numbers, such as stall speed and power band. I want to keep my redline are 6000rpm, so train of thought by those who've done it say to get a listed 440 cam that says it's power band goes to 6500.

Anyway, here is the breakdown on the vehicle, and the cams I'm trying to pick through.

'67 barracuda with fiberglass hood, fenders, trunk and bumpers. Interior is half gutted. Estimated to be 3200lbs

Vehicle came with 4.56 rear gear, which I highly suspect will be too tall at the end of the track, even with a taller tire, but I can always change that later.

Looking for a 70% race 30% street setup. Essentially romping in town, and going to the track 20 min away.

Solid flat tappet.

Automatic trans with 3500 stall, still pending order of trans and stall.

TTI 2" headers

10.6:1 compression with 78cc heads.

Mopar aluminum WEDGE dual plane intake #P5153525

Trick Flow 240 heads. 440 source 512 kit with all forged internals. See flow numbers below.
View attachment 1715674971
Here are a couple cams I'm looking at.

Howards: CL722362-08
Rough idle, Street/strip, Should have 10.5:1+ compression & 3500+ stall converter.
Basic RPM Range:3000 to 6500
Valve Lift Intake:.550
Valve Lift Exhaust:.555
Duration at 050 Intake:254
Duration at 050 Exhaust:260
Lobe Separation:108
Intake Centerline:104

Comp Cams: 21-232-4
Very strong mid & upper RPM power, 10:1 compression with a 3000+ stall.
RPM Operating Range:2,500-6,500
Intake Duration at .050 Inch Lift:244
Exhaust Duration at .050 Inch Lift:252
Intake Valve Lift:0.520
Exhaust Valve Lift:0.540
Lobe Separation:110

Hughes: HUG STL4650BS3-8
Use: Street / strip. High rise dual plane or small single plane. Head porting and oversize valves. Idle: Noticeable. Converter: 3400rpm+ Rear gear:3.70+
SEE ATTACHED IMAGE for cam specs. Couldn't copy the data over.

View attachment 1715674959

View attachment 1715674972

The hughs cam is pretty darn close to what I`ve got in my 505, altho mine is a solid roller w/ morell lifters .
I had to drop down to this cam to get my fast fuel inj. to work properly . Idles around 1150 --------------so far so good , now that the rings have seated , it runs like a scalded bear .
 
Did you call Howard’s asking for a cam recommendation or did you ask for a custom cam? If looks like you got a shelf cam recommendation, but if you call back and ask for an optimized custom cam it’s a given they will come up with something completely different. I’d think they would spec lobes maximizing the lift a little bit more, and maybe a single pattern just on head flow and the lift maximums
 
Did you call Howard’s asking for a cam recommendation or did you ask for a custom cam? If looks like you got a shelf cam recommendation, but if you call back and ask for an optimized custom cam it’s a given they will come up with something completely different. I’d think they would spec lobes maximizing the lift a little bit more, and maybe a single pattern just on head flow and the lift maximums

Thanks for the reply. Initially I just called around for an off the shelf recommendation. Not quite seeing what "I thought" it should run for specs, I figured I'd throw it up here and ask.

I didn't get a chance to yesterday, as I was swamped. But I plan too call on Monday for a custom grind quote. I agree, seems those heads should be able to utilize a .600 lift just fine...?
 
Thanks for the reply. Initially I just called around for an off the shelf recommendation. Not quite seeing what "I thought" it should run for specs, I figured I'd throw it up here and ask.

I didn't get a chance to yesterday, as I was swamped. But I plan too call on Monday for a custom grind quote. I agree, seems those heads should be able to utilize a .600 lift just fine...?
Good deal, I just mention that as although I have a small block stroker, I have TF heads that can take up to .650” lift with really good flow. Of all the companies I contacted about a custom cam Howard’s came back with specs that had high lift (taking advantage of the heads) tighter LSA and @.050 durations lower than all the others. The lobes were from their .904” lifter lobe list. I ended up going a different route, but still a custom cam with higher lift.
 
Called Eric at Howards. Super nice guy and a wealth of knowledge. His recommendation echoed what I was thinking, which is nice to know I wasn't too far off on my understanding. Any thoughts on this cam are appreciated as always. Unless there are any major objections, I'll probably run this cam.

.600/.619 lift w/ 1.5 rockers
254/262 @.50
110LSA / 106 Centerline

Will be interesting to see what it does on the dyno. Unfortunately I'll be going in for major spinal surgery soon and won't have it together until early summer. I'll try to update this thread when it happens.

Thanks for the advice everyone.
 
Use David Vizard's 128 rule to determine/check the correct LSA.
 
Called Eric at Howards. Super nice guy and a wealth of knowledge. His recommendation echoed what I was thinking, which is nice to know I wasn't too far off on my understanding. Any thoughts on this cam are appreciated as always. Unless there are any major objections, I'll probably run this cam.

.600/.619 lift w/ 1.5 rockers
254/262 @.50
110LSA / 106 Centerline

Will be interesting to see what it does on the dyno. Unfortunately I'll be going in for major spinal surgery soon and won't have it together until early summer. I'll try to update this thread when it happens.

Thanks for the advice everyone.
Howard's guys are really great, also they make most of Hughes camshafts, good luck through your surgery.
 
Use David Vizard's 128 rule to determine/check the correct LSA.

Thanks for the response, I hadn't heard of that before. I researched it and spent a few hours reading. In his own posts David says not to use it on an engine this large as the equation doesn't work.
 
@Minnesota Muscle Do you have any updates to this? I have the same setup as you do, 512 , tf heads, tti 2.0 , but I have a super sniper on a TF single plane intake.
 
I ran the one-step-bigger Comp XS (.540/.560") solid cam in a friend's 446" RB and it worked really well. We did run 1.6 rockers on the intake for .576" gross lift. I think it would work better in your 512" than the smaller one you listed. That big stroke is gonna want more in my opinion, based on the results we got with the 3.75" standard 440 setup.
 
Yep, wish I would have gone with more lift and the guys at the Dyno said it could use more duration. But the guys at Howard's Cams were pretty hell bent on that custom grind. Hard to argue with them when they're the professionals...
 
-
Back
Top