Cam?

[Mopar2You]

hi, I've got a 360ci v8 outo f a 76 Plymouth Fury Sport suburban that I am lookin to drop into one of my convertibles. The engine DOES run because we drove it about 300 miles to make sure it ran good. Its a 4 bbl and I'm tryin to figure out what kinda cam I wanna get for it, I want a pretty good lope but still street use! I dont want anything radical, just a nice increase and power and make it sound a lil beefier. THe car will have dual exhaust as well.

Thanks!

[Jims451]

I would use one of the small Hughes Cams like the HE0914AL or HE1423AL, but these require the stiffer springs from Hughes along with matching retainers.

On the budget side, the Mopar Performance P4452759
or P4452761 cam /lifter package can be found fairly inexpensive from Summit or Jegs or other mail order. You might be able to use the Original valve springs with shims, but the General performance valve springs are a good idea and will work with the stock retainers.

I would install sub-frame connectors in the convertables too.

[Mopar2You]

thanks! I will be checkin on those. we are only installing the 360 untill we finish rebuilding the 440, then that will go into one of the convertibles and the 360 will go into whatever dodge truck we have at the time. When the OTHEr 440 is done THAT will replace the 360 in the Dodge truck. So the 360 will be the engine we use as a 'temporary' fix over the 318 which just doesn't have enough power

[Jims451]

Here is the info I have:
Mopar P4452759 260/268 Advertised Duration, 0.430"/0.450" lift, 110 Lobe seperation
Mopar P4452761 268/272 Advertised Duration, 0.450"/0.455" lift, 110 Lobe seperation

Hughes HE0914AL 252/260 Advertised Duration, 208/214 Duration @ 0.050", 0.458"/0.470" lift, 112 Lobe Seperation
Hughes HE1423AL 260/270 Advertised Duration, 214/223 Duration @ 0.050", 0.470"/0.504" lift, 112 Lobe Seperation

Mopar does not list duration @ 0.050" and Hughes "Advertised" Duration is rated at 0.008" Tappet lift where I believe the Mopar "Adertised Duration" is rated at 0.006" Tappet lift.
This makes the "Advertised" duration numbers of the Hughes cams "look" smaller, but these cams should be simular in "Advertised" duration, but the Hughes has much quicker lobes, hence the higher valve lifts, and the need for the stiffer valve springs.

Did I mention I just bought a '69 Coronet R/T Convertable, 440 4-speed
One of 99 440 4-speeds, also in B5 blue with White top/interior, Ralley Dash and Power Windows and Power Top, Track Pack with 3.54:1 Dana 60 sure-grip. Currently condition is presentable and driveable (probbly between a #3 and #4 car), but will need a complete restoration to fix the so-so restoration/rust work done back in the '70's or '80's when the car was "restored?"

[Mopar2You]

nice car man! wish we could find one of them, u musta paid big money for it. WE bought the coronet 500 for pretty cheap considering it is original paint and is from florida, only ONE spot of rust on the WHOLE car, it has the ORIGINAL undercoating from the factory too! Everything about this car is original. It has the bucket seats and the console automatic. It is very nice, we are going to be droppin the 360 into that probably, until that 440 is done and then we will make it our own personal customized Coronet R/T . It'll be a nice street rod, we'll probably put 4.10 or 3.92 gears and the 440 will be pretty nasty, so we'll only be able to take it to the track once before they make us put a roll cage in it . But it wont turn under 13.5 with the 360 .

Thanks for the help!

[Darn Dart]

I would put in the orignal 340 cam installed at 110 LC. This cam makes awsome power in a low compression 360. Crane makes a blueprint version of this cam for about $69, check with PAW for sure on the pricing. I think PAW has a version of this cam themselves.

[Mopar2You]

um... I musta missed something... what original 340 cam?

[Darn Dart]

An orignal 340 spec cam from MP, Crane, Summit, etc.

[Mopar2You]

all right, will it give me a nice lope? My father wants a nice lope to it!

[Dart]

I agree on the stock 340 cam. A very good choice!

[Jims451]

The MP part number for the 340 replacement cam is P4452782. It specs out at 268/276, 0.429"/0.455", 114 Lobe seperation angle.

The reason I did not mention this cam is that it was originally designed to work in a 340 with 10:1 compression. With the 360's approx. 8:1 compression the 114 LSA may not work as well as the P4452761 268/272 with 0.450"/0.455" lift and 110 LSA which has nearly the same duration, but more lift and on a tighter lobe seperation angle.

The 110 LSA will slightly increase overlap, so it will have a rumpty idle, but it should make more midrange torque. With the 360's low compression I would install the cam 4 to 6 degrees advanced.
In my opinion this cam is too big for 8:1 compression (along with the rest of the stock parts) and you probbly should use the next sized smaller cam for better results, or get compression up to 9:1.
If you want to use this sized cam with the stock 360, then you should be using a high stall converter and 3.55 or lower gears (higher numerically.)

[Karl43]

Here's my opinion.

Original 340 cam:
268/272/44 0.429"/0.444 Lift (jim 51 typo)

MP P4452759
260/268/44 0.430"/0.450" Lift 1200-5200 RPM

MP P4452761
268/272/50 0.450"/0.455" lIFT 1500-5800 RPM


The MP 759 cam is slightly bigger in lift 0.001" intake 0.006 exhaust than the stock 340. However, it has less duration 260/268 compared to 268/272. Both have 44° duration. Therefore the 759 cam has a slightly lower power band than the 340. I am running it right now in my 68 Cuda 318 car. It has a nice idle with Rhoades lifters, very smooth. If you want a little lope to the idle I would recommend going one step up to the 761 cam. I chose the 759 because I want low end torque, power and economy in a daily driver that has to go on the highway. It is a nice cam with nice power on the street. My next 318 I will try the 761 with Rhoades lifters.

The Rhoades lifters bleed down at idle and make the cam milder at idle. By 3500 RPM they have the full lift and duration of your cam. It is like having your cake and eating it too. I ru them in the same car and got 170, 000 miles with a 252/252 .410/.410 lift cam. I wanted a little more power and economy so I went with the 759 this time. I have 9.2:1 compression in this engine also.

Mancini Racing sells the cam and lifter kit for $135, or will throw in pushrods for $150. Summit Racing sells the Rhoades lifters for about $70. I spend the extra money for the Rhoades even though the cam comes with lifters because the Rhoades will pay for themselves in economy in the long run.

If you want a nice smooth idle the smaller 759 will work nice, if you want a little thump-thump in the idle go with the 761. :cool