Worn Cam lobe.....Grrrr.....

[TylerCharger69]

Okay...a new issue has arisen with my car...I noticed a miss on the right bank this morning.   I checked the plugs, and cylinder no.2 looked out of the ordinary.   I replaced the plug,   and there was still a miss.   So.....I did a leakdown test and discovered that on the exhaust stroke, the valve apparently wasn't opening.   I took off the valve cover,  checked the lash on the pushrod in the closed position and it looked okay.   I turned the engine by hand  and the valve IS opening and closing....OKAY!!!   Off comes the intake, valley pan  to check the lifter.   Lifter looks to be fine.  So....off comes the dampner, and timing cover  and out comes the camshaft.   The number 2 exhaust lobe is worn down to nothing!!!   Lifter looks okay, like I said...no scarring or anything, nor is it collapsed.  The lobe is almost perfectly round!!!  And, also   early on in the diagnosis....like I said  the valve opened and closed just fine.   I pulled the oil pan,   oil filter  and pump housing   and found not a speck of metal shavings or anything!!!     I'm stumped!!!    Has this happened to one of you guys before?....It's a 383  with a 484/292 purpleshaft.    I know the factory cam is a split duration shaft as opposed to this one.  The car ran great  before this occured...(Well...it still runs  "okay"  but not like it should)   There was no excessive noises coming from the engine either!!!    And...it doesn't smoke!!! So...what's the deal?           Ace Tyler

[MOPARHOUND!]

How many miles on your camshaft?

MP cams are notorious for quality problems, usually shows up during break-in though.

[TylerCharger69]

Well...probably  between 100  and 200 miles on it.....But...there is absolutely NO  metal shavings or fragments anywhere from that cam lobe  that I can find!!!     Is this a common problem with these purple shafts?.....Should I just get a Crane cam, or  maybe someone could suggest a good camshaft for my set up including lift and duration numbers?   The car is basically stock, 383   with an electronic conversion kit, Edelbrock 1405 carb with a dual plane Edelbrock Performer intake,  Doug Thorley headers going into a 2 1/2 inch pipe,  Ford rear end  with 3.00  gear ratio  (for high speed highway driving)   I have incorporated a GM style alternator to eliminate the external regulator, a Mopar  high volume oil pump,   and of course the purple shaft   with a 484 gross lift/292 advertised duration  and I believe it's centerline is 108 degrees.   Transmission is a 727  Torqueflite with a B&M shift kit.  I'd love to hear some feedback on this!!!           Thanks  people!!!.....Ace Tyler

[Rolling_Thunder]

How many miles on your camshaft?

MP cams are notorious for quality problems, usually shows up during break-in though.

MP cams suck hard

[TylerCharger69]

Well......hmmmmmmmm....that really helps me out......

[Rolling_Thunder]

well my car has a miss actually in #8...    havent traced it out yet...    hope i dont have the same problem...    I ran the MP 284* .484" lift and it wasnt working well at all...    went to a stock 268*/284* and now i have a miss in #8  ---   I would suggest going with a different cam manufacturer...   

[694spdRT]

I have not heard of a 292/484 cam. Any chance you have the 284/484 cam or the 292/509 cam? The 509 is not really a good street cam especially with 3.00 gears and anything close to a stock torque converter.

I used an Engle cam in my Charger upon the advice of others here and really like it. They offer more lift at lower duration numbers to give you a good usuable powerband in a street car with the benefit of more lift. I would suggest looking at an Engle K54 or K56 on a 110 or 112 LS to give a lower and broader powerband for a street car. I am sure others will post shortly and it would help to know your compression and stall converter speed.

I used a little bigger K56/K58 split grind in my 9.5 to 1 compression 440 4 speed with 3.54 gears and it has the perfect power band for what I wanted.

[694spdRT]

Here is the link to the Engle mopar cam page.

http://207.178.130.99/catalog/search_results.php

[TylerCharger69]

I stand corrected.....it is the 484/284  camshaft.....I had to look at the cam card again!!!....lol     So...is this a decent combo with what I have?....It's also a stock converter by the way

[MOPARHOUND!]

Factory HP cam was around 268/284 total duration, 213/225 dur. @ .050", and .450"/.458" lift, 115 lsa.

Consider the larger of the 2 Summit cams, 282/292 total dur, 224/234 duration @ .050", and .465"/.488" lift. Crane makes them, has 114 lsa for a decent idle quality. Around $99 for Cam and Lifters delivered to your door.

Want more lift, with a little more peak in the HP curve? Consider the Crower 271 HDP, a proven performer in mild 440s, should wake up a 383. 271/284 total dur., 222/234 dur. @ .050", and .486"/.496", ground on a 112 lsa.

Another canidate, Comp XE268H, 268/280 total duration, 224/230 dur. @ .050", and .477"/.480 lift, ground on a 110 lsa.

[TylerCharger69]

Okay...Moparhound!!!     Now we're talkin'!!!    I'll probably go with the Crower.   It sounds like it would fit the application best....unless somebody has even MORE ideas...I'm willing to listen to them all!!!          Thanks people!!!!         Ace Tyler

[694spdRT]

I would consider using something around a 2500 stall converter if you plan on running a cam with 222/234 duration @ 0.050 and 3.00 gears.

[Headrope]

How many miles on your camshaft?

MP cams are notorious for quality problems, usually shows up during break-in though.

MP cams suck hard

Not all of them. I had a hydraulic lifter get stuck in its bore and grind against a Purple Shaft cam. Enough of the lifter ground away that its core was exposed, causing the lifter to collapse, etc.
I swapped in a new lifter and have been driving it since. The cam? I didn't scope it, but it looked fine and has been running fine.

[Rolling_Thunder]

How many miles on your camshaft?

MP cams are notorious for quality problems, usually shows up during break-in though.

MP cams suck hard

Not all of them. I had a hydraulic lifter get stuck in its bore and grind against a Purple Shaft cam. Enough of the lifter ground away that its core was exposed, causing the lifter to collapse, etc.
I swapped in a new lifter and have been driving it since. The cam? I didn't scope it, but it looked fine and has been running fine.

well maybe my luck is just bad enough to get all the crappy ones then

[Chryco Psycho]

Take a look at the Engle Hyd cams assuming you are going with hyd ?

[TylerCharger69]

Okay, everybody......which cam  would YOU use for the application, and if I need to go with a 2500 stall converter I will.    I will choose the most popular opinion, but  I'm not a rich man, and I only have so much money to make this repair  (and some suspension upgrades I'm doing) so....let me hear  the opinions!!!

[dodge freak]

Well you have that 3.0 gear in back for gas mileage I would think, so I would not go with a 2500 stall . What with you have I would go with the engle cam out of their old catlog and pick part #2318 -thats the ep-18hyd. It is not too big or small and should idle great and still run ok. If you had more gearing like 3.55 then I would go one size up but with limited funds  I would  go with the ep-18hyd. And with its low lift it should last a long time. Its a lot of work to change a cam, not hard but it does take a while so I would play it safe and go with that. It is still alot better than stock and should make good power in your power band range.

[694spdRT]

Okay, everybody......which cam  would YOU use for the application, and if I need to go with a 2500 stall converter I will.    I will choose the most popular opinion, but  I'm not a rich man, and I only have so much money to make this repair  (and some suspension upgrades I'm doing) so....let me hear  the opinions!!!

Because you are on a budget I would use the Engle K54 like I mentioned earlier. You can keep the converter and gears you have without problems. It is much more friendly than the 284/484 cam you had before. I would expect good performance on the street with power from 1500-5000rpm where most street cars spend 99% of their time. The K56 would be better suited to 3.55's and a 2500 stall IMO.

[dodge freak]

That would work great too. You be very happy with either one I would think. Don't go any bigger that those 2. You just have to change gears and T. C. to get it to drive right if you do. Those are great cams and the engine will make good power at your rpm range.

[TylerCharger69]

well...to me...changing camshafts is no big deal.   It doesn't take very long and with air tools.....blows apart really easy....i just needed opinions from what everybody has been through to make my decision a bit easier...I'm leaning toward the engle k-54 though!!!...lol

[dodge freak]

Air tools ? Im to cheap to buy those, yeah that would speed it up a bit maybe I break down and buy those one day.

[MOPARHOUND!]

The Summit (Crane) cam's 114 lsa will help with the off-idle acceleration. 

The 100 miles or more the .484"/292 MP cam made it, did it drive okay for what you do with your Charger?

As far as stall converters.......

I run the MP 166K converter behind the all street driven 496, 10,000+ miles and no problems.  Should work fine behind a 383, or might even step up to the MP 175K if you'd like.

Bought it at Mancini on sale for $159.95.  Here is there current listing of the MP converters, $199.95 each:


http://store.yahoo.com/chucker54/mopper41.html

[TylerCharger69]

Well...the 484/284  cam was a bit boggy on the take off, but  once  I reached about 35  m.p.h. or so...it took off!!!   I'm going to go back with a split lift/duration shaft.    I'm still unsure what stall speed converter I should utilize for this  "near stock" application.   I tell you what....everybody....I really appreciate everybody getting involved in my questions.   This forum is extremely awesome and helpful, and everybody here seems to have gone through many trials and tribulations, thus  helping others with their decisions.   Ive restored a few Mopars   (well....more than a few)  but  those were all factory spec cars, and it's not hard to figure out what belongs where, but when there is upgrades involved, I like to hear opinions of other peoples successes and failures so we all know  which direction to go with our builds.  I've learned...when you ask a Chevy, or Ford guy about uprading Mopars.....they really haven't much clue as far as Mopars are concerned,  for example,  when a 4:11 Chevy rear end  works decent for some highway driving....Mopars  4:10 gears  are a bit too much...I put a 3:91 in mine once  and  it tached a bit too high on the highway for my liking.   But...I'm glad to see a forum  that is based strictly on Chargers and other Mopar cars....Thanks  again y'all   I REALLY appreciate this!!!                  Ace Tyler

[TylerCharger69]

okay.....I've made a decision on which components to buy.   But....does anyone know what caused this in the first place??   Just a POS camshaft perhaps??   Also....there are no metal shavings in the pan, oil filter, or oil pump either!!!  It's a mystery!!!

[Rolling_Thunder]

hmmmm    sounds like you are on your way to fixing her - good job man