Symptoms of wrong cam installation

[RustyRatRod]

Ok, so I have a question about degreeing the cam. My 360 is not running right, and I have come to the conclusion that the cam is probably retarded. It idles ok, but it seems like it is just not making any power. The car has 4.10 gears but will not spin the tires. Period. If I open the throttle in park, it will rev up, but it is slow to respond, and always smells rich, even with the idle mixture screws leaned out. I have an MSD 6 plus and MSD billet distributor in it, I have played with the timing, both retarding and advancing, and while it clearly prefers advance, it is still a complete dog. I ran a near identical setup in my last Dart, and it was a screamer, even with 3.23 gears and stock Mopar electronic ignition.
Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome, I installed the cam "straight up" at least according to the marks on the timing gears.
Thanks

First thing I'd do......and totally NOT being a smartass here, is start your own thread so this one doesn't get anymore hideous books written in it more off base than it already is. That way it'll be YOUR thread and there won't be any kornfrooshun.

Now, the SECOND thing I recommend is running a compression test on YOURS. Other than that, I won't respond HERE. We'll wait for you thread. Fair enough?

 

[RustyRatRod]

you must not have noticed i liked the post you just quoted.
I am willing to admit i was wrong.
Do try and not be a asswipe

I wasn't and still am not, but I came here with original intentions to help and was argued with.....twice. Now called names. Stick a fork in me for anymore useful information.

 

[B3422w5]

I wasn't and still am not, but I came here with original intentions to help and was argued with.....twice. Now called names. Stick a fork in me for anymore useful information.

“Advancing a cam, whether ground in at the outset, or by using an adjustable timing set, does not change the relationship between the intake and exhaust lobe. The amount of overlap remains constant, so any change in idle quality (chop/lope) would be very minor, if you even noticed at all”

This agrees with what you said, and i admitted i was wrong thinking that.
I got confused by the LSA of a cam( narrower is choppier) and advancing retarding a given cam effecting idle… if that makes any sense.
The cam in question is on a 106, it is very choppy. Was in my 360, is in my 418.
In my brothers 340, it doesn't sound as choppy for some reason. I wrongly thought it perhaps being installed wrong might account for that

 

[PRH]

I assume at no point going down the track the motor finally wakes up?

 

[B3422w5]

I assume at no point going down the track the motor finally wakes up?

correct. Based on the incrementals it seems doggy throughout.
He had it on the street after the changes and thought it was much stouter than it was prior. He was like..wow, night and day difference..
I suspect the spinning tires/ wheelspeed helped it “ act” like it had more vert/ bottom end on the street
Get it to the track and it hooks… dead fish

 

[justinp61]

Don
Did your brother ever do the compression check? IMO that's a big cam for a low compression 340, then top that off with a converter that's not right = pig. I'd think if it had enough compression and the right converter it would need more gear to run it's best. This and $1.75 will buy you a cup of coffee in some places.

I ran a Hughes 260/264 @ .050 in my 408 and it was done by 6400 even with ported Edelbrocks. My 340 ran a Hughes 236/242 @ .050, 11.4-1 with the Edelbrocks and ran 7.24.

 

[70aarcuda]

We used a Hughes 260/264 in our 360 for 10 yrs....with ported Eddy heads....ran a best of 10.31 @ 128 mph.....with 4.56 gears and 29 tire....was around 7000 rpm....

 

[B3422w5]

Don
Did your brother ever do the compression check? IMO that's a big cam for a low compression 340, then top that off with a converter that's not right = pig. I'd think if it had enough compression and the right converter it would need more gear to run it's best. This and $1.75 will buy you a cup of coffee in some places.

I ran a Hughes 260/264 @ .050 in my 408 and it was done by 6400 even with ported Edelbrocks. My 340 ran a Hughes 236/242 @ .050, 11.4-1 with the Edelbrocks and ran 7.24.

compression test is gonna get done here soon.

gear shouldn't be an issue. 4.10’s with a 26 inch tall tire

 

[B3422w5]

Don
Did your brother ever do the compression check? IMO that's a big cam for a low compression 340, then top that off with a converter that's not right = pig. I'd think if it had enough compression and the right converter it would need more gear to run it's best. This and $1.75 will buy you a cup of coffee in some places.

I ran a Hughes 260/264 @ .050 in my 408 and it was done by 6400 even with ported Edelbrocks. My 340 ran a Hughes 236/242 @ .050, 11.4-1 with the Edelbrocks and ran 7.24.

remember i ran that same cam in my 10 to 1 360 the last few seasons. Ran good

 

[justinp61]

remember i ran that same cam in my 10 to 1 360 the last few seasons. Ran good

I ran 6.57 @ 104 with the Hughes 260/264 in the 408 with 4.10 gears. Dave Hughes told me it was too big for my engine.