Thoughts and opinions on this cam

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hemichuck

hemichuck

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I bought a 408 magnum shortblock and this cam was in it. The motor is a 4 inch stroke with forged dished pistons. I am running Edelbrock magnum heads on it with a Performer RPM air gap. Has anyone ever used this cam and how did it do. It's a Hughes SER1418 ALN14, its 533/539 lift, 114 lobe separation, duration at .050 is 214/218
 
Are you putting that engine in a tow truck?lol. On propane?
As usual,Hughes doesn't list the "advertised" numbers for that cam, so working out the numbers is a guessing game. But I got a hunch your static compression ratio better be low to sucessfully run that small a cam, on pumpgas.
 
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AJ/FormS said:
Are you putting that engine in a tow truck?lol. On propane?
As usual,Hughes doesn't list the "advertised" numbers for that cam, so working out the numbers is a guessing game. But I got a hunch your static compression ratio better be low to sucessfully run that small a cam, on pumpgas.
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AJ, why would they grind a cam with well over 500 lift and a wide 114° separation and weak duration. I would expect a cam like that to have a 110° angle and a [email protected] duration or so. Just wondering. RV cams have bigger specs than that.
 
OK, that's what I was thinking by looking at their specs. This motor is going in a 1970 Dart that has power steering, power disc brakes and air conditioning. I don't want it to be too wild and unmanageable because it's just a driver but I do want it to make plenty of torque and have a little thump. Anybody have any suggestions?
 
It's a hydraulic roller. Hughes is known for putting plenty of lift on all their cams, but especially on their rollers. And the lift spec is with 1.6 arms
Hope that helps.
Strokers make instant cylinder pressure, cuz of their very large swept volumes.And cuz they run the same chambers as every other sbm. The cure is in the D-cups, or dish. To run a small a cam as that,on pumpgas, will require careful co-ordination of parts to stay out of detonation.
It will make enough torque to tow a 53 foot trailer around the world,lol. Ok, so that's a bit of a stretch; but it will make waaaay more torque than my chassis could stand.
 
If the compression ratio is well worked out, you can put a 1 barrel carb on it, and expect "plenty of torque and have a little thump." But if by thump, you mean idle lope, no, um, not hardly noticeable.
If the engine is not yet installed, I urge you to figure out the exact compression ratio, and get the advertised Intake Closing point,(or figure it out), and do some math to see if this beast is gonna be driveable, on pumpgas.
Here is an example;
The 408 has a swept cylinder volume of 408/8x16.387 =835.7cc
The total chamber volume to run that cam would need to be around (I'm doing some guessing on the roller),98ccwith iron heads. This would get you an Scr of 9.5,a Dcr of 8.27, and cylinder pressure of 166psi. This is about the limit for pumpgas.
So lets look at those 98cc.
The gasket might be 9cc, the eyebrows 5,the heads 62?. So we are up to 76cc. That means you are gonna need 22 in the piston and deck. That's a lotta cc's.
Just a reminder, I guessed at the ICA of that roller.And the gasket spec is for a FellPro .039ers
 
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I will have to look up the dish volume on the pistons tomorrow. I do remember that with the magnum heads that the compression should be about 9.5 to one. The engine is not assembled completely so changing the cam is no problem at all.
 
I think it sucks balls for a 408. JMO.
 
Well, since you asked for opinions;
I would love that puppy under my hood, but to take advantage of it,I'd have to back-half my poor old Barracuda. I could probably go back to 3.23s and a 727 with a tiny TC, and still spin the tires to a hundred miles an hour, in second gear......lol
 
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AJ/FormS said:
Well, since you asked for opinions;
I would love that puppy under my hood, but to take advantage of it,I'd have to back-half my poor old Barracuda. I could probably go back to 3.23s and a 727 with a tiny TC, and still spin the tires to a hundred miles an hour, in second gear......
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hey AJ you need to work on your traction problems lol :poke:
 
I should probably give up some compression lol, and get rid of those dual 3" pipes(not enough back-pressure) lol, and crank up the timing to be all in at 2500 lol,like everybody else. Oh, and electric fans,and MSD,and a 160stat,and I just know that 230 cam is too small......maybe I should degree it.
I think part of the problem is 295/50-15s come in exactly 2 flavors,(And I'm not interested in switching),and both are too hard. But you know what?If nothing else, they are predictable. And that counts for a lot when I am sliding,or plowing,or if I getting a bit out of shape...... I am actually quite happy with the traction the way it is;it suits my driving style perfectly. If I had bite, I'd actually have to learn to drive all over. I did get down to 2.0, 60ft this one time........but I had to baby the clutch out big time for that one.lol.
3.09 x 3.55 = a 10.97 starter gear, and that is a whole lotta street-fun.
You know something else, my 367 isn't that big a deal. It goes just 93 in the 1/8. And I know I brag on it from time to time,lol,but it's not anything special. I got lucky with parts selection, and the combo came alive.That's all.But it proves one thing.A streeter doesn't need big cubes or a big cam to be big fun. Put some money in the heads, put a fast-rate cam in it,bump up the compression a bit to match the cam, let the cold air in and help the hot air out;and Shazzam! Oh yeah and live closer to sealevel,heehee.
I still remember the sales rep. at TTI telling me those 3 inchers were too much for my sbm, and that my motor would need some back-pressure.
Well if that were true, I suppose I should weld some plugs into the turndowns. That oughtta solve my traction issues!lol
 
Some turn downs to get the pavement hot in front of the tires will fix all that. :D
 
The dish on these Pistons is 26cc and the chambers on the edelbrock magnums are 58cc, the head gasket is .040. The motor is 4 inch stroke .030 over
 
Another question, would this cam be a torque monster in a stock 5.9 magnum motor? I have a 4x4 Dakota I am building also.
 
hemichuck said:
The dish on these Pistons is 26cc and the chambers on the edelbrock magnums are 58cc, the head gasket is .040. The motor is 4 inch stroke .030 over
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How far are the pistons down in the hole or are they at zero?
 
hemichuck said:
The dish on these Pistons is 26cc and the chambers on the edelbrock magnums are 58cc, the head gasket is .040. The motor is 4 inch stroke .030 over
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hemichuck said:
They are at zero
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OK so 26 +58 +0deck +9 gasket + 5 eyebrows = 98 Magic number!!
(835.7Swept + 98) /98 = 9.53 right on the money
 
AJ/FormS said:
OK so 26 +58 +0deck +9 gasket + 5 eyebrows = 98 Magic number!!
(835.7Swept + 98) /98 = 9.53 right on the money
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I believe the 26cc piston measurement includes the eyebrows which would make it 10 to 1 instead.
 
And if that is true 10/1 may be tough to tune at WOT . Plugging the numbers in with 10/1 and an ICA of53*( guessing remember), I get a Dcr of 8.74/178 psi. I'm not so sure this is a good idea for iron heads.
But remember we don't actually know the ICA.
 
I have aluminum Edelbrock heads. So really what I am trying to do is have a drive able torque monster that makes power up to 5500 rpm and idles well enough to run my A/C and has enough vacuum to run my power brakes. I'm running an automatic and 3.23 posi and this car will not be a drag car or a street racer, just a cruiser.
 
Oh well with aluminum heads it's all good, slap it together and hammer down. My notes are stuck in post #1, and #8 where aluminum wasn't mentioned.
No , you are good to go. Aluminum will give you a half point easy, maybe even a full point. Just make sure the cooling system runs rock steady. Once you got that bugged out, try to run as hot a stat as you can find/dare. Aluminum heads with a tight quench design like yours, seldom need or want more than 32* timing, so sneak up on it. Don't be afraid to run dual 3inchers all the way. That engine is looking to be a pretty nice set-up. You are back to towing a 53 footer! Enjoy it.
 
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AJ, if you had your choice what would you look for as a cam for this engine? I would love to button this thing up and put it in the car. I can buy whatever I need so it's not really a budget deal.
 
hemichuck said:
AJ, if you had your choice what would you look for as a cam for this engine? I would love to button this thing up and put it in the car. I can buy whatever I need so it's not really a budget deal.
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https://www.summitracing.com/parts/hrs-771915-12

SPECS WITH 1.6 ROCKERS

274 278 . 221 225 . 507 533 . LSA 112 . ICL 108

This will have more lope than the Hughes cam and good torque and will hit harder. The Hughes cam is for a fuel injection engine.

You would benefit from having some porting done on those heads.
.
 
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