340 Cam Question?

[cudacarl]

My 340 just ate up a lifter & lobe on the #8 Exhaust. It's a 340 w/x-heads not sure of the compression but it does have the forged steel crank. I had a blown head gasket a while back and got antifreeze into the oil. I used a gunk motor flush and ate the lobe up soon after. I always had a ticking sound from that cylinder from the beginning so it may have been waiting to happen. Anyhow the cam was the MoPar P4452992 280/280 .474/.474 . I see comp cams has a Purple + cam that is 280/287 .474/.474 . Is this considered to be a better camshaft?
I was also thinking about the Comp 268 Xtreme Energy Hydraulic that was used in the Feb 2001 issue of Mopar Muscle in a 340. They said it's not much bigger than stock but it doesn't seem that way to me being stock is 268/276 .429/.444.
I do miss having a decent idle and was thinking about the stock 340 restoration cam. I don't take the car to the strip but i would like better than stock power but reliability is a must since i do take the car on 400+ mile trips. Don't Really care about gas mileage being its a smallblock weekend car. Any other cam recommendations would be appreciated. The Car is a '73 'cuda 340 4-speed w/354 ratio 8 3/4 posi rear, Edelbrock RPM performer intake & Edelbrock 750 cfm carb, Hooker Comp headers w/stock mufflers. The Heads Have Spring P4120249 installed already and were completely gone through recently. - Thanks

[wedge440]

I don`t think the comp. 280/287 .474/.474 is any better then the mopar .474 cam is but then again I have never tried it.
I use only mopar cams, they work very well for me now and in the past..
I do stay away from the mopar lifters, I`ve found that there hyd. lifters are junk, they don`t pump up right and a few of them were soft and ate the lobes of the cam...

I would use the 340 repro cam or the 268/272 .450/.455 lift mopar cam.. Both have a good idle and make good low to mid range power...If you use the lifters that come with a mopar cam make sure you break it in right...
Hope this helps
Joe

[rumblefish360]

The comp cams Extreme cam has a fast rate of lift. Thats why it is that way. There purple split duration unit from Comp, would seem to be about the same as the one that was in there with a slight edge in exhaust duration. That in turn should help with a cleaner intake charge.

[The-Challenger]

hey carl i used the comp 256 xtreme engry in my 340 rebuild and am very happy with it.
i ordered the 268 cuase of the mag. artical but they shipped the wrong one. i decidede to install it any way the cam has a great low end and runs strong thru 5300 rpm. good miliage too i get 21.97 mpg highway

[raymond]

Hey carl, This is a very good question. A good mild cam for a small block is a Crane cam- HMV-278-2-NC. This is the grind . The part number is 693801. It has 278/290 duration advertised.
222/234 @ .050" .467" inlet lift .494"exhaust lift . This is a sweet cam I have used it many times , always with good results. It makes good power everywhere but does like a bit of compression.
Hope this is a help