I've been looking around at cams for a cast 10.5:1 vortec head engine lately, and there are a *ton* of cam manufacturers to choose from. Does brand really make a difference?!? Is a Summit brand cam with similar specs to a more expensive one any different? The Voodoo cams by Lunati are saying their "ramp profile is one of the most aggressive and asymmetrical lobes have slower closing sides, letting your valves down easier for less noise and wear" It's all making my head swim. Also, do Rhodes Lifters really work as advertised and give you more vacuum? I thought that was kinda cool. Thanks guys!
Someone told me a long time ago that it's not the lift that gives you power, but how it gets there. Profile is everything.
To properly answer this question you would need an engine dyno. Then, buy the cams that you think will work for you. Keep very accurate records as to overall performance in different RPM ranges. The cam that suits your needs best is the one to use. Oh, yeah, don't forget to change valves springs with each test. They are damn near as important. Every manufacturer has a different philosophy as to profile, lift, timing and so on. Sort like picking the best tasting individual grape on the vine. Probably not the answer you want, but the question is difficult to answer since there are so many variables. The main one...what is your goal?
Cams from diff manufacturers ARE different. I have had great luck with Comp Cams. I have had terrible luck with cams (that's right TWO cams) from a company whos name starts with the letter E and ends in delbrock. The quality of the "E" product was very poor (that is the opinion of a "many years race engine builder/machine shop owner" who's opinion I sought when trying to determine the cause of my problems). I would suggest buying a cam from a company who's main product is ... camshafts. (for those interested ... my cam issues were traced to faulty camshafts. This was NOT a lobe going flat type problem that could be attributed to incorrect break-in procedure ... the problem was with the dist drive gear. My dist and the cam gear were getting chewed up ... this was NOT a billet cam requiring a bronze dist gear, this was a simple hyd flat tappet Edelbrock RPM cam ... tried a second "E" cam and same thing ... swapped in a Comp Cam and the problem was solved. I took the "E" cam and an old Crane cam I had lying around, to the above mentioned machine shop/race engine shop and from twenty feet away the machinist called out and said "the one in your right hand is the bad one" ... he was correct, he could literally tell from 20 feet away that the cam in my right hand (the "E" one) was an inferior product ... and he was absolutely correct).
There are differences, any of the good cam companies have a tech line you can call to go over all your variables and come up with specs. Vortec head, roller cam motor yes? Make sure you have the correct distributor/oil pump drive gear for whatever cam you end up with.
No kiddin borntoloze?!? Was it a manufacturing process defect, or the grind wasn't as advertised, or it just didn't run well? edit: I really like the comp cams free desktop dyno program. Good suggestion to call tech support *before* purchasing a cam.
I went in to crower cams, they had a big window. There was a bunch of guys at a bunch of machines. so each one is different really.
your really splitting hairs here if you are talking a similar cam between manufacturers....i`ve used all different cams from all different manufacturers.....my favorite for small block chevy is isky, really like their products and have had alot of help from them with weird cam combos, and the stuff they sold me worked very well.....other manufacturers didn`t really carry what isky had but would make it for me at a premium price, so, since then isky gets all my bussiness.....
Art Chrisman once said that you could use a broomstick for a cam and it wouldn't make a difference (that was during the "cam wars" when Isky, Howard, Engle, Herbert, etc. were running wild ads claiming that they had the best. To me, the cam company that listens to what you want and gives it to you (or tells you that it won't work) is the right cam company. Years ago Jack Engle listened to us when we asked for a DeSoto cam with lots of top end after other grinders wouldn't listen...and the car exceeded the 1320 record first time out...
I have seen a huge difference between cam companies on hard core race applications. Years ago I went through an ordeal on an NHRA Top Alcohol car. I was promised an "equivalent to a Crane R296" cam from a cam company that begins with E. I bought the E and put it in our Keith Black Hemi. This was a 275# on the seat, 1000# open, 10000 rpm valve train. I'm super meticulous about clearances and geometry. Our car went out and busted valve train parts for half of a season. We experienced broken links between the roller rockers, worn guides, bent valves, locks sunk into the retainers, lash caps missing. All kinds of weird shit. I was looking everywhere but the camshaft for the problems. Ken Veney was in the process of repairing our cylinder heads for the umteenth time called me and asked who's cam is in the car. He told me that he had seen weird stuff like that before and stated that the I should switch to a genuine Crane cam. I took his advice and purchased a Crane R296 for the KB. Guess what? All of the problems went away.
Johnny1290. Hard to say whether it was a manufacturing defect or "quality of casting" problem. After breaking in my cam for the 20 minute period ... I pulled the dist (SBC) and found that the drive gear teeth were now razor sharp. Realizing this was not good I pulled the intake, waterpump, rad, grill, etc and removed the cam ... the cam gear was also worn razor sharp. I returned to the speed shop that I had purchased the cam from and they contacted "Edel" and apparently the first words from the tech guy were "our parts did not cause your problem". They did however give me a replacement cam. After reinstalling the new cam, and going through the break-in procedure, I pulled the dist and found the new dist gear had been knife-edged as well ...ARGGGGH. Off comes the intake, water pump, balancer etc and out comes the cam AGAIN and I return to the speed shop. This time the speed shop owner decides to send me to a race engine shop for their opinion. I had never been to the race engine shop before (never met owner before this) but the owner was expecting me and when I walked into his shop carrying an old Crane Cam and the new Edel cam, he right away knew who I was and from literally a minimum of 20ft away yelped out which one was the faulty one, and as mentioned he was correct. It was his opinion that the casting of the cam was not done in the US and was of very poor quality. Edel claims their parts are made in the US .... but what exactly does that mean? I am guessing the cam "blanks" are cast in (as the machinist said) either Mexico or China and then "made" into cams when they are machined in the US. Anywho, bottom line was this, I did not try another Edel cam, I installed a Comp Cams cam ... and with absolutely no other changes to the engine (other than draining the oil and changing the filter ... hoping to remove as many of the metal filings from the failed gears), had no more trouble. So, was the drive gear on the cam machined incorrectly by Edel or was the problem that it was machined correctly but failed because the casting was poor? I don't know, but I am now of the opinion that cams should be purchased from cam companys NOT from "we sell, carbs, intakes, fuel inj kits, superchargers, shocks etc".
Kinda like asking whats the difference between women except hair color. On a budget street build that has many other compromises I dont know if you'll notice a lot of difference. If youre spending the $ on balancing, all new parts good heads etc, Id stick with a name brand. You might be able to take advantage of the better profile with quality parts. I used a lot of Northern Performance cams, think they were made by wolverine or something? Always performed great. these were budget rebuilders nothing over 490 lift, "Z28" springs, cast crank, hypereutectic pistons only if it needed new ones, basic 1.94 valve rebuilds with a few extra's
I used Rhodes lifters years ago. Hated them, too noisey no matter what I did. Swapped in a set from a friend (unknown brand) and the problem went away.
My buddy had a Lunati VooDoo cam in his 351C. Had a matched valve train as well. It sounded great, ran like an animal, but he experienced broken valve springs. I realize that this seems a bit vague but he used the entire valve train from Lunati. We swapped out another set of their springs, another broken spring. Changed to a different manufacturer spring and all was solved. I have had great success with Comp Cams in many Mopars and a couple of Fords. Just my two cents.
set aside the hard parts and look at the service. Replacing a cam that fails break in is expensive. No company is going to cover all the gaskets, fluids, time, etc., so make sure the company you choose to work with has a reputation for taking care of their customers when needed. That's where the real value is in a name. Make sure you follow their installation instructions to the letter, use the break in additive they say, etc. You want no little disagreements when you need them.
One of the mags did a comparison test some years back with same spect cams from Summit (cheapy cam) and comp. cams, If I remember it was the 268 hyd and the comp cam made 20 more horse.
Seems to me it's necessary to investigate the source of the blank that the cam was ground on. If the grinder wont tell you, pass and check out another. Chinese billets seem to be the cause of many cam failures, I'll bet US made billets dont have that failure rate. From what I've read the chinese billets are powdered iron, which is comparatively soft.
I don't know how things are now, but back about 15 years ago Sealed Power made cams and lifters for many of the aftermarket companies. Sealed power was an oem supplier to Detroit at the time and had the tooling, processes, and capacity to provide the relatively low volume aftermarket suppliers with product which was then relabeled and sold to wholesalers and retailers with the names we're familiar with. Sealed Power is long out of business (I suppose the name lives on, but only as an aftermarket "brand"). The high volume tooling for cams and lifters is probably all scrapped now and the big oem Detroit supplier plants are certainly long gone. Alot of the internet hub-bub about cam failures attributed to modern oils is most likely really due to the degradation of flat tappet quality out there now that the old oem suppliers (Sealed power, Rochester products, etc) have closed their plants. The aftermarket must now get lifters offshore.
Many of the cheaper off the shelf cams are the same from company to company. That being said, the more "modern", higher end grinds can be very different from each other. 10 cams with similar duration and lift (even at .050) can have 10 different profiles. In reality, you get what you pay for. If its just a fun street car and you dont want to spend too much, go with one of the newer grinds from comp(thumpr)/lunati(voodoo). If you want a cam that really works for your exact setup and you are willing to pay for it, I would go with a custom grind from someone like mike http://www.jonescams.com/ Cam design is actually really complicated. If you are interested there are lots of interesting threads on the subject over on www.speedtalk.com. Just search the forum for "cam design" or or something like that and you will find a lot of info.
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