A little cam info please? Thank you

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TrailBeast

TrailBeast

AKA Mopars4us on Youtube
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I have a stock 318 with a A999 trans and I don't know jack about cams.
I got one of (Tony's) Whitepunkonnitro's MP cam and lifter sets because it was a heck of a deal and I figured it was worth having even if I couldn't use it myself.

Keep in mind that this is a daily driver and I don't want to totally destroy the fuel economy.
It will never be on a track, just short hard pulls through the mountains and small town side streets mostly.
I do plan on putting lightly milled 360 heads on it later and drive it till the 360 bottom end is built and ready to drop in.

Here's the specs,

497 lift with 1.5 rockers
288/288 and 72 overlap
108 centerline

What would it run like in a stock 318 with headers, dual plane intake and a Eddie 600?
Have a stock converter right now.

I read somewhere that these cam specs are really close to the 340 factory cam, and I have also read that it is really close to the smallblock Hemi cam.

Also, if it's totally out of whack for what I want to do with it can it be reground to where it is usefull?

Can someone clear a little fog for me please?
Thank you
 
moturbopar said:
I think that cam would be a dog in a mostly stock 318. Even with steep gears and a hi stall converter. The overlap of that cam and the loss of low end torque is going to hurt your economy. If your looking for a cheap cam that will give a nice boost over the stock cam, this one http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-6900/overview/make/chrysler should do what you want.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply, want to get out of the heat and do a cam swap? :D


Keep in mind that it would probably go into the 360 later, as well as the milled 360 heads.

Basically the same problem though right?
 
Nice little cam for the 318, I run a Comp XE256H in mine. How about get the inexpensive Summit now and save the other for the 360.
 
Coronet 500 said:
Nice little cam for the 318, I run a Comp XE256H in mine. How about get the inexpensive Summit now and save the other for the 360.
Click to expand...

This is what I was thinking just about the time I saw your post. :D
I have always heard/read that it is always better to end up with a little smaller cam than a little too big of one.
 
What part of AZ you in? I would just save the mopar cam for the 360. Even with the 360 your still going to need gears and converter. I think a 3000 stall and 3.91 would be a good match for the cam, but not good for economy. I would at least do some pocket porting on the heads also. Do you know what gears you have now?
The 318 with a stock converter and most likely hi-way gears, the summit cam will work well. if you want to spend more, a comp xe256 will help even more.
 
Coronet 500- How is that 256 cam in real life?

I really like the way it looks on paper.

Can you tell us what the rest of your setup is, what you had in there before (if any), and how the performance vs MPG is?
 
Close to a 284/484 camshaft. The stock 340 cam is DINKY compared to that stick. 268/274, 208/214 @ .050, .429/.445

If you put it in a 318, I'd install it at really advanced, in the 100 area to get some low end grunt back. Just a guess, it's likely in the 240 @ .050 range so it's not a small cam. Plenty of initial advance too.
 
moturbopar said:
What part of AZ you in? I would just save the mopar cam for the 360. Even with the 360 your still going to need gears and converter. I think a 3000 stall and 3.91 would be a good match for the cam, but not good for economy. I would at least do some pocket porting on the heads also. Do you know what gears you have now?
The 318 with a stock converter and most likely hi-way gears, the summit cam will work well. if you want to spend more, a comp xe256 will help even more.
Click to expand...

I'm in Prescott area.
I think I will save the MP cam for the 360 and go with a smaller one for the 318. (since the 318 is a temporary motor)
Now that I said that out loud I might skip the cam in the 318 all together.

I have not even bothered to chk the gears because it still has a 7.25 in it.:D
I would like to do the 8.8 with disc brakes some day since I have the equipment to do it.

I do occasionally need to drive it a few hundred miles at a time on the freeway so it would make sence to get the smaller cam from Summit if I end up getting one for it at all.



crackedback said:
Close to a 284/484 camshaft. The stock 340 cam is DINKY compared to that stick. 268/274, 208/214 @ .050, .429/.445

If you put it in a 318, I'd install it at really advanced, in the 100 area to get some low end grunt back. Just a guess, it's likely in the 240 @ .050 range so it's not a small cam. Plenty of initial advance too.
Click to expand...

I was hoping you would chime in on this Rob.
Sounds like WAY too much cam for my little teener as a daily driver so it's not going in it.

Thanks everyone for your input.
 
That's a way big cam for a stock 318. If you want something that sounds good and runs good, the Whiplash cams from Hughes are made for low compression engines.
 
This 318 is an '87 in a '92 D250 with 302 heads with recommended springs retainers and locks, port match, pocket port, Ed Performer, has had 3 different carbs on it all 600-650cfm MP electronic ignition and headers. 904 with lockup convertor, 3.91 9.25, soon to be 3.55 Auburrn LSD.

The 256 has a nice muscle car smooth idle, high vacum with snappy break away. The top end surprised the hell out of me and with the 625 Carter Performance series carb when the secondaries opened it sounded like a hotrod and moved out. We have towed with it hauled scrap pipe and this is the most grunt I've ever had out of a 318, very happy.

I had one with open chamber 360 2.02 heads and a 284/484 cam which was a dog out of the hole with a 2500 convertor but when it hit 3500 rpm it went like hell, faster than it should. Sounded really tough at idle.

The 256 on Comp's program had the highest torque numbers, any larger cams had torque fall as HP went up.

I forgot about the MPG, the stock MPFI Mag it had was a mutt compared to this engine and my son who has used it as a daily driver to work says fuel is about the same maybe slightly better but not as much as he hoped for. Sorry can't give you a number, or look up a '92 D250 5.2L 3.91 rear.
 
RustyRatRod said:
That's a way big cam for a stock 318. If you want something that sounds good and runs good, the Whiplash cams from Hughes are made for low compression engines.
Click to expand...

"LOW COMPRESSION"?

Why I'll betcha it is at least 1 to 1 and thats a 100 percent right? :D

Seriously though, thanks.
I think I'd be better off leaving it stock since I plan to change it eventually.
 
Oldmanmopar said:
Compression ratio determines the cam shaft compatability. Big cams lower the cranking pressure.
Click to expand...

That is one of the few things I did know.
Cam swaps is something I never got into over the years so I watched a crapload of video's and read tons of info on them.
Had to read some of it more than once just to understand what they meant.
Looked up all the terms to even start to know what they were talking about.
So now I know what everyone means when they talk about them, just not what the details in the differences change when actually running in an engine.
 
Thanks 500 I think we talked about this before...

What was the CR or year of short block?

I hope it doesn't seem off topic, as this could be a great cam for the OP.
 
I think it can help too.

Truck 1987 block and heads = 8.4 c.r.

1970 block and 360 head = 7.8 c.r. was 8.8
 
This would be a good low cost cam for a daily driver, imo. There is nothing radical about it, but you would be able to tell it's got a cam. Slight, choppy idle, good low and midrange, and you won't have rev the crap out of it. Add new lifters and springs and you're good to go.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-6900/overview/make/dodge

Since you said you don't knw much about cams let me give you a couple pointers.

1: Learn to shop for cams by looking at the duration at .050" lift. Cam companies' "advertised duration" numbers vary from company to company, so going by the .050" number helps with comparing cams from different manufacturers. For exampe the cam I listed has an advertised duration of 278/288 degrees, which at first glance looks too big, but if you look at the .050" numbers (204/214 degrees of duration) it's apparent that it's much tamer. Compare that to the Comp XE274H.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/cca-20-224-4/overview/make/dodge

Notice that the advertised numbers for the Summit cam suggest that it's a bigger cam (Summit 278/288 vs Comp 274/286), but look at the .050" numbers. The Comp cam comes in at 230/236 degrees at .050", which is far too much cam for what you want. It would be better suited for a warmed up street/strip 360.

2: As a general guidline (there is much more to it, but this helps), the tighter (lower number) the Lobe Separation Angle (LSA), the more lope you'll get due to overlap between the intake and exhaust valves. Most carbureted cams come in somewhere between 108-112 degrees, with 110 being the most common. Having a tighter LSA also tends to bring in the torque a little sooner. The cam I listed has a 112 LSA, again, not radical, but appropriate for the amount of duration and for what you want to do, imo. A cam with 108 or lower LSA will thump pretty hard, this is one of the characteristics with Hughes' Whiplash and Comp's Thumper series cams.

3: Generally, a cam for a 360 will seem "bigger" in a 318. Keep this in mind when doing research. The Comp XE268 is a very popular cam for a street sbm, but the cam would idle/run differently in a 318, there woud be a stronger lope among other things. A 360 might have to run the XE274 cam to get the same idle/running characteristics. Now, I know that isn't 100% correct, and other factors come into play, but I wanted to give an example to help explain my point.

I didn't mean to write so much, but I hope this helps get you started,
 
UOP said:
This would be a good low cost cam for a daily driver, imo. There is nothing radical about it, but you would be able to tell it's got a cam. Slight, choppy idle, good low and midrange, and you won't have rev the crap out of it. Add new lifters and springs and you're good to go.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-6900/overview/make/dodge

Since you said you don't knw much about cams let me give you a couple pointers.

1: Learn to shop for cams by looking at the duration at .050" lift. Cam companies' "advertised duration" numbers vary from company to company, so going by the .050" number helps with comparing cams from different manufacturers. For exampe the cam I listed has an advertised duration of 278/288 degrees, which at first glance looks too big, but if you look at the .050" numbers (204/214 degrees of duration) it's apparent that it's much tamer. Compare that to the Comp XE274H.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/cca-20-224-4/overview/make/dodge

Notice that the advertised numbers for the Summit cam suggest that it's a bigger cam (Summit 278/288 vs Comp 274/286), but look at the .050" numbers. The Comp cam comes in at 230/236 degrees at .050", which is far too much cam for what you want. It would be better suited for a warmed up street/strip 360.

2: As a general guidline (there is much more to it, but this helps), the tighter (lower number) the Lobe Separation Angle (LSA), the more lope you'll get due to overlap between the intake and exhaust valves. Most carbureted cams come in somewhere between 108-112 degrees, with 110 being the most common. Having a tighter LSA also tends to bring in the torque a little sooner. The cam I listed has a 112 LSA, again, not radical, but appropriate for the amount of duration and for what you want to do, imo. A cam with 108 or lower LSA will thump pretty hard, this is one of the characteristics with Hughes' Whiplash and Comp's Thumper series cams.

3: Generally, a cam for a 360 will seem "bigger" in a 318. Keep this in mind when doing research. The Comp XE268 is a very popular cam for a street sbm, but the cam would idle/run differently in a 318, there woud be a stronger lope among other things. A 360 might have to run the XE274 cam to get the same idle/running characteristics. Now, I know that isn't 100% correct, and other factors come into play, but I wanted to give an example to help explain my point.

I didn't mean to write so much, but I hope this helps get you started,
Click to expand...

Thank you.
It did help.
 
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