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what cam do you prefer?

  • crane

    Votes: 53 22.4%
  • comp

    Votes: 129 54.4%
  • crower

    Votes: 21 8.9%
  • summit

    Votes: 11 4.6%
  • lunati

    Votes: 23 9.7%

what cam brand do you prefer?

29K views 99 replies 77 participants last post by  racecar100 
#1 ·
its an engine question.

i know there are more cam manufacturers but thats what i listed.
 
#27 ·
Just to back up whats been said,open a summit catalog and view the specs on the performer plus and rpm for 86 and back small block Chev's,then look at the summit cams,hmmm,seem familiar? By the way,edelbrock numbers look very crane like as well. Gotta love marketing.
 
#30 ·
Where can you get details and specs for Summit cams? I know it's a stupid question but the summit site tells you very little about their grinds.
The other thing is the SigErson cams were huge over here in the eighties, and think were big in the US as well. Does the brand still exist? I remember the TQ series grinds. There was the entry level TQ10. But if you wanted a lopey idle you'd go the TQ20. Then there was the TQ30 for the bad meen mother lol.
 
#33 ·
SSI/PAW generic cams, they are cheap and work good with their cheap lifters too. I noticed the casting ID#'s on a goodwrench 350 were the same as an SSI cam I had laying around(same casting blank) so there must be allot more re-boxer's out there than cam manufacturers.

Most of the grinds listed by SSI seem a little dated though, there are better cams out there for a little more money IMO. Quality of machine work seems to be good on the SSI stuff too.
 
#35 ·
I use Reed Cams because they are 30 min. from my house and I get to pick it up from the guys that made it. I've never met a nicer bunch to work with. They will offer help without asking you for a dime in return.

Just be careful when you get advice from them. Most of the techs are seriously addicted to hp. You could end up with more hp, time, and money in it than you intended. :) Most of the lobe profiles they offer are very radical. Be careful when making a selection, be clear about what the intended use of the engine.

I've also had good experiences with Ultradyne, Clay Smith, Howards, and Engle.

Be very careful when selecting cams from Comp Cams. The advertised comp. ratios are the minimum acceptable based on 350 cu.in. The quality control is sometimes lacking as well. I've had cams from them delivered with rust on the lobes and found lifters with so much trash in them that they wouldn't work.

Larry
 
#39 ·
like isky always have but....
heard so much good stuff about summit cams i woulda got one of those except they dont have complete engine kits with pistons in them and gaskets and all so i ordered from someone who does and have to get a custom cam to get other than stock so...
since i have heard nothing except Comp ex262 over and over on this site and others about how great they are, i went ahead and paid an extra $75 to get one. we'll see :drool:
 
#40 ·
All the choices out there!

Comp rules, all other just try to measure up!

Every had a Comp cam that didn't perform? Didn't think so!

Summits are ok for generic but I don't like that wide of a lobe seperation for racing. They are more for the 1st time street guys with low compression and do produce a wide powerband.

Something to look for in a good cam will be high lift with low duration. If you notice the lower brands can't pull out the high lift/low duration numbers.
 
#41 ·
I've had 2 bad experences with comp cams, both undersized bearing jounals causing low oil pressure. Crane has just as many grinds as comp if not more. Don't believe me look in the Crane catalog. Same goes for Crower and Isky. No problems in 40 years I've been buying cams.
 
#47 ·
pretty limited here. i like the brand x Elgin cam in my truck. the comp seems pretty good in my camaro but i have only put about 50 miles on it or less so i dont know. i really loved the crap out of my 270 Iskendarian cam that i had in my truck before. it would wail up to 6300 rpm
 
#48 ·
I'd vote for Crane, but the stupid poll says I already voted - which I didn't. We have had a few problems with Comp. One cam had a journal oversized - luckily enough oversized that the cam didn't fit. Another cam had lobe ground irregular on the #1 intake that we discovered while degreeing in the cam. Basically the dial indicator showed that the lobe had a bump on the intake ramp. Both problems were caught at the time of installation. Comp acted like we were crazy until they received the cams back, then replaced them without further coment.

My all time favorite cam? Engle.
 
#50 ·
For off the shelf stuff I either go with Comp Cams or Howards (gotta love the yellow tube from Howards). For the custom stuff it's either Reed, Comp, CamMotion, or CamCraft. Used to love the old Cam Dynamics grinds, you can still get their stock/superstock grinds through Crane.
 
#51 ·
badknuckles said:
its an engine question.

i know there are more cam manufacturers but thats what i listed.
Well if I'm broke at the time, which is normally the case, I use whatever used cam I got layin around!! But, if I've got the cash to spare it just depends on the motor. For stockers I go for the good ole MP purple shaft. Usually on built 440's I will get a comp. I've snapped waaayyy too many Summit cams to make that mistake again.
 
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