383 Super Bee cam selection help.

[MrSnrub]

Hey!

I have been working on building the 383 in my '69 Super Bee for the last while. I want the car to be a nice street/strip machine with a nice lopey idle. I have a 3.91 to put in, and the convertor stalls at 2800 RPM. The car weighs 3595lbs. My intent is to get as quick a 1/4 mile out of the car as is at all possible, while still being a decent street car.

• 383
• 9.5:1 compression
• Comp XE262 or Comp XE274... or simular cam
• Holley Street Dominator single plane intake.
• Edelbrock 750 (Edelbrock 600, Holley 750 & 850 Vac, Holley 700DP, and Thermoquads big & small)

The heads are template ported '452's with stock valve sizes, and have been modified following Mopar Muscles series of articles and now flow (according to the article) :

lift /in /ex
0.050 /33 /34
0.100 /71 /65
0.200 /142 /105
0.250 /168 /120
0.300 /192 /132
0.350 /207 /142
0.400 /221 /151
0.450 /229 /159
0.500 /235 /165
0.550 /247 /169

I have the program Desktop Dyno 2000, and it allows you to enter your own head flow specs, so I figure that it should be at least somewhat accurate. I have been using it to try to compare some different cams. According to the program, the heads wont really flow past 5500RPM or so.

Here are the power estimates that Dyno 2000 produced. Now, I know that these most likely are opimistic (I dream of 400HP though!), but I am going on the assumption that the power curves are at least somewhat accurate.

Comp XE 262
(224*/230* @0.050) (.477"/.480")
RPM / HP / TQ
2000 / 128 / 337
2500 / 170 / 358
3000 / 215 / 377
3500 / 268 / 402
4000 / 320 / 420
4500 / 363 / 424*
5000 / 397 / 417
5500 / 411* / 392
6000 / 402 / 352
6500 / 380 / 307

Comp XE 274
(230*/236* @0.050) (.488"/.491")
RPM / HP / TQ
2000 / 120 / 316
2500 / 161 / 339
3000 / 205 / 359
3500 / 258 / 387
4000 / 311 / 408
4500 / 359 / 419
5000 / 393 / 412*
5500 / 413* / 394
6000 / 412 / 360
6500 / 396 / 320

According to the program, I dont really get any more horsepower by going to the XE274 until 5500RPMs, and then its only a few. Same with torque, the XE274 seems to be trailing the XE262 by a wide margin till it reaches 5500 again... other bigger cams produced the same basic result.

My question is... which would be the better of these two cams for my intended purpose? Can anybody recommend a cam that would be better? What kind of times do you think the car could run with these specs?

Thanks a million!
Paul Cassar
www.mopar-stuff.com

[PRO]

Having run a 12.98 second 1/4 mi in a daily driven 383 68 sport satellite for years I found that you have to consider the bore/stroke relationship,it loves to rev and rev quickly.I ran 4 different cams in it over the years and hands down the Lunati .480/292 was KILLER,I had unported 906s and this motor pulled hard to 6500rpms(ask "DART" how many pairs of extra underwear he used to bring)I tried to find lobe separation and duration @ .050 but its not available, I also ran the mp 484/284,a crane fireball(.457/272) and a p.a.w. 480/292,the lunati was THE CAM...........PRO.......

[MrSnrub]

Hey!

Thanks for the input PRO! The specs on that Lunati are 230/230 @0.050 .480"/480". Sounds nice!

Couple of questions:

• Did that cam make the car a dog on the street?
• How was the Idle? I want a nice 'n lumpy idle.
• What was the rest of your combo for that Sport Satellite?
• What kind of times did you run with the Mopar 484 cam?

Ran that Lunati 230/480 through the Dyno 2000 program... seems like it performs very well in the computer!

RPM / HP / TQ
2000 / 127 / 334
2500 / 169 / 355
3000 / 216 / 378
3500 / 270 / 405
4000 / 322 / 422
4500 / 369 / 431
5000 / 404 / 424
5500 / 415 / 396
6000 / 413 / 362
6500 / 391 / 316


Thanks a million!
Paul Cassar
www.mopar-stuff.com

[charger500guy]

I recently put a Comp Cams XE274 cam in my 70 Charger 383. I have been real pleased with this cam. It pulls hard to at least 6 grand and counting (still breaking it in). I also put in some Crane Roller Rockers 1.6 ratio (see my thread for my issues with those!). I have great low end torque as well. The only downside is that the idle is not MAD DOG mean, but I guess with only 60 degrees of overlap, it won't sound like the MP 509 cam. I expect I can run a 13 flat with my 383/3.91 auto/TCI break-a-way convertor. I know others have stated their dislike for the XE line of cams, but I can't' say enough about them . . . Not sure how it compares to the 268 degree one . . .