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440 cam opinion

Bobby Sixkiller

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Ok here goes. About 16 years ago I built a 440 for my pickup. 73 block standard bore. 452 heads. Polished intake runners. Kb pistons. Compression ratio is 10.3 to 1. Mopar purple cam 284/484 Edlebrock dual plane intake. 750 double pumper. Used a 2500 stall converter. 3.91 gears. Put me in high 13s. Now years later I’ve put in new bearings. Resealed the oil pan. Basic other parts like fuel pump and water pump etc. rebuilt the carb and installed it in my 73 Roadrunner. Stock converter with 3 .23 gears. I’m thinking maybe the cam is too big for the new combo. Runs great in mid range up but a bit lacking in lower end. I’m thinking of a stock 440 magnum cam. Open to other suggestions as all the cams I’ve used have always been mopar purple. I’m not gonna race it. Just a nice ole hot rod. Street only. Daily driver type of car.
 
Ok here goes. About 16 years ago I built a 440 for my pickup. 73 block standard bore. 452 heads. Polished intake runners. Kb pistons. Compression ratio is 10.3 to 1. Mopar purple cam 284/484 Edlebrock dual plane intake. 750 double pumper. Used a 2500 stall converter. 3.91 gears. Put me in high 13s. Now years later I’ve put in new bearings. Resealed the oil pan. Basic other parts like fuel pump and water pump etc. rebuilt the carb and installed it in my 73 Roadrunner. Stock converter with 3 .23 gears. I’m thinking maybe the cam is too big for the new combo. Runs great in mid range up but a bit lacking in lower end. I’m thinking of a stock 440 magnum cam. Open to other suggestions as all the cams I’ve used have always been mopar purple. I’m not gonna race it. Just a nice ole hot rod. Street only. Daily driver type of car.

Maybe, but I think it’s more a mis-matched converter and gears. Either way, easiest and cheapest option is to swap cams. I’d give Oregon cam grinders a call, they can take that very cam and given your combo, custom cut one for 75-100 bucks
 
Hi Bobbysix. You can use all of your components, but, Deep Purple needs to be put on the shelf and instead of dissecting my reasoning I will move on to the point. Lots of cam companies and parts to chose from but I see your problem as a simple cam change. Comp cams has a impressive past,R/D second to none and several Dyno cells that they use every day and have you seen the choices and pricing for BB Mopar cam kits. I have been using the Xtreme Energy hyd,flat tappet but in my car I use the Extreme Energy solid flat tappet. the grinds I like are the XE262Hyd. and have used both Xtreme Energy xs274s and the xs282s, both solid f/t. I believe these cams perform well and make excellent power, they start tune and run well on the street/strip. Not downing any other products.
 
Yea I know the purple cams are really out dated. And I know the cam I have really hates the 3.23 ratio. I built it years ago and totally different setup. I’ve been looking at the comp cams. Just have zero experience with them.
 
A Mopar .455 cam would give you excellent low end power.
 
Yep that’s it.
It would have more bottom end if the gearing was better or the torque converter let it come up sooner. But then what rpm do you want to run at when doing 50 mph.

Changing the cam would be easier and less expensive but it's all in what kind of a driver you want.

I went with the Summit 6401 and it is suggested to use a higher rpm torque converter. The change to the 3.23 really helped but a looser than stock torque converter would be perfect. Thing is I don't really have that option at the moment with the early trans that I'm useing. I can live with what I have for now. It's not all that bad.
 
I’m thinking hi energy 268h. It says great torque. Good magnum replacement for 383 witch I’m sure used the same cam as 440 magnum
 
I know my gear ratio and converter are not matched to the cam. But I really like turning 2500 at 65. If I could afford a gear vendor I’d swap it in with a 3.91 gear and be set but a cam change is cheaper. Easier and will be fine if I can pick the right one.
 
The 268h is fine, all over at 5000rpm though, but worked for me with 3.23 gears and stock stall.
 
With adjustable rockers and solid f/t's these cams really come alive and have no trouble hitting 5800 easily. I don't have a real need to spin my 512 low deck higher but I hit 63,64 a few times. I have used solids since the late sixties and wouldn't think of hyd's in a real performance engine. Just my opinion. Good luck
 
What about summit k6400. Does summit make good cams?

I'm using the summit k6401 but I have a turbo car so I like it for its rpm range, i also like the older school grind because I'm also using rhoades lifters, and for a few other reasons. The 112 LS on the 6400 will broaden your powerband a bit, good for a tight converter, but will be tamer than the XE262h. The XE cams are more "modern". I have personally not tried an XE yet.
 
I just haven’t built an engine in a while and I always used purple cams. Ok. Let me change that. I build caterpillars and Ariel compressors all the time. But it’s just repair what breaks and they are far from mopar. It’s changed so much in the last x many years. You know what they say about old habits. There are so many choices now it’s amazing. I remember when you looked at cam specs and they were basically Chevy grinds on most of the aftermarket.
 
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