Camshaft help, Manf. Question

I am looking for a low end torque/economy cam kit for my sbc. I have contacted several manufacturers with specifics and get close to the same numbers for each.
My question is this:
There are differences in pricing from each. Say the cam numbers are the same from each, is there one manufacturer that is more "worth the dollars" (quality, accuracy, cust svc, made in USA) than any other?
Compare Comp Cams, Lunati, Edelbrock, and Summit store brand. I only want to do this once so I welcome the advice!

Thanks.

 

I guess you're talking about what is most often called and RV grind cam. Have you checked the price for a Melling cam from your local auto parts stores, they've been doing valve train stuff as long as there have been valves to train.

 

Thanks for the new lead! Is the mellings cam a good item?
I know this is easy for most but with the way things are I'm looking for all the help I can get!!!!

 

Well...the question's a little vague. If you are comparing two cams that are exactly identical in spec, from well-known manufacturers, then as you say, it comes down to intangibles. Unfortunately, most cams aren't that easily compared...different opening & closing points, different LSAs, and so forth.

If this helps, here are my (personal) opinions on the manufacturers you mentioned. Others' opinions will vary, as they say.

Comp: a good manufacturer, good customer service, great lobe profiles....also, a LOT of hype. They are very, very good at promoting themselves and have become the industry leader as a result. Some of their off-the-shelf lines & designs are damned good. Others, like the High Energy & Magnum, are in some cases 30 year old designs. Decent, but outdated.

Lunati: an excellent company that is now more mainstream after being bought by Holley. They have some older designs like the Bracket Master series. Their new Voodoo lobe profiles are as good as the Comp Xtreme Energy, and maybe a bit quieter. A lot of "custom" cam grinders use the Comp Xtreme & the Lunati Voodoo lobes with their own preference for LSAs, to make their custom designs.

Edelbrock: old designs, made by another company & sold under the E-brock name for a lot more money. Very limited choices, and, quite frankly, I don't think their recommended cam/manifold pairings are all that good a match in many cases. Love their intakes for the most part, but it stops there.

Melling: compare their cam specifications to some other cam companies and you'll see some interesting things. Melling cams are often reboxed and sold as "big-name" basic cams. Their designs are older, but still pretty effective, and often hard to beat for the money. (Sometimes, though, sellers will ask big $$ for Melling cams, so keep a careful eye). Speed-Pro cams are often similar to Melling cams spec-wise and can be found inexpensively as well.

Summit: again, if you look at some of the Summit specs they are identical to some Melling grinds. Summit seems to be adding a bigger selection as time goes on. People seem to have good luck with them and again, they are hard to beat for the $$.

You might also look at Elgin cams, which are in the same category as the Melling/Summit/Speed-Pro basic lines and you can sometimes get a good deal on them.