Question about Comp cams

[Taylorman]

What do you guys think about this thread bashing comp.
http://realoldspower.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=62006#62006

[sanger rat]

Well, I've been running my Comp Cams valve train hard all summer. No problems here. Never had any problems with Comp in any of my other motors.

[Liberator TJ1984]

I had a Crane Hyd .Cam go bad ....13 out of 16 lobes went flat while breakin it in...
called Crane and aparently the cam I got was one of several in the same batch that missed hardness treating step ??
Maybe just a bad batch of cores also that's hit Comp. ??
Crane stepped up and gave me a Free solid roller with the purchase of matching springs for my troubles ...
Call Comp. ? and see what they say :wink:

[sanger rat]

BTW. Comp did waranty that guys cam.

[Sleek-Jet]

Sounds like a bunch of pissy old men...
I tried to log in, but it wouldn't let me. Ask them what they think is the best cam going right now.
If even one of them says Crane... laugh them off the board... :D

[cstraub]

It's lifters boys, I keep telling you. If you don't check crown on flat tappet lifters you are going to get burnt.
Chris

[steelcomp]

I'll second that.

[SmokinLowriderSS]

Check the crown on NEW lifters, or just old ones being re-used after engine work? (same cam & locations obviously of course)

[SmokinLowriderSS]

I'd be willing to bet that if anyone posted anything similar to that on any message board, with any cam maker's name, it'd get a similar response from some people. There are folks who have had a problem, maybe even repeat problems with almost every product out in the world. Doesn't necisarally prove the product is trash.
When I broke in my setup from DuaneHTP, we discussed oils. Since I had a full crankcase of Syntech, brand new, he said that would be fine BUT, that he advises against using Syntech BLEND durring a cam break-in. He told me he's seen more of his cams go flat with that as a comon item on break-in than any other apparent cause. He said running the blend seems OK, normally, but he has had (and seen others have) better luck breaking-in on either Dino oil or pure synthetic than on syn-blends.

[LakesOnly]

Everyone's talking about the increase in cam failures. I'd be surprised if that many lifters shipped defective or are the sole cause. On the other hand, I know of an engine builder who had a cam go flat and when he called the manufacturer, they sent him a replacement cam but with a different brand of lifters. So it might be a materials compatibility issue, too.
I read on another forum that unlike cams of yesteryear(s), about 90% of all iron blanks today are coming from the CWC Foundry in Mexico and that there are higher impurities in the raw iron of these blanks. Combine this with the more aggressive ramp rates of today's profiles, and it becomes obvious that extreme measures must be taken (and a prayer) to make it past break-in.
My next grind will be done on an 8620 blank, thank you very much,
LO

[mrcrsr]

i had a comp cams cam package in a 350 w/ 12:1 compression and it sucked!!! put a crane in it and forgot about it!! nite and day difference!!, anyway, companies like crower(much smaller,higher quality control) then comp, and companies as such these produce a better product- i have a crower in a blown 383 sbc that makes 650 hp with one carb on pump fuel. so they work, i have comp in my boat and it suffered from reversion issues until i put stainless marine exhaust on it, and they swear that it works w/ stock manifolds!!! so another thought

[steelcomp]

quality is one thing...but to bash a company because the cam didn't perform as expected is another, and IMO, lame. You can't trust someone else to choose your cam for you. Trust me, the techs are going to push what ever cam they have an over-inventory of, no matter what your app. They're going to tell you exactly what you want to hear, and sell you teh cam they need to sell. Learn how to choose your own cam, or have someone like Chris Straub help you design a cam for your app. Dave Ebbert is another, at DNE racing. If you're just guessing at it, or going by what someone else tells you, you're just lucky to get one that works right.

[Norseman]

quality is one thing...but to bash a company because the cam didn't perform as expected is another, and IMO, lame. You can't trust someone else to choose your cam for you. Trust me, the techs are going to push what ever cam they have an over-inventory of, no matter what your app. They're going to tell you exactly what you want to hear, and sell you teh cam they need to sell. Learn how to choose your own cam, or have someone like Chris Straub help you design a cam for your app. Dave Ebbert is another, at DNE racing. If you're just guessing at it, or going by what someone else tells you, you're just lucky to get one that works right.
Besides how many guys buy the cam recommended or the one that's just a little bit bigger?????
Because bigger is always better , RIGHT!!!!!
Been there done that!!!!!! :hammer2:

[Sleek-Jet]

Besides how many guys buy the cam recommended or the one that's just a little bit bigger?????
Because bigger is always better , RIGHT!!!!!
Been there done that!!!!!! :hammer2:
It's always the one at the bottom of the page.... :D
3/4 race always works... :D

[steelcomp]

mmm-hmmm. :D

[DeputyDawg]

Make that a 3/4 race cam with a set of mushroom solid lifters

[396_WAYS_TO_SPIT]

I have used comp and never had a problem. On the other hand I am running a clay smith solid in my bbc now and I love it.People told me that it wouldnt work well guess what...........WRONG, it does work and very well at that! You can feel my cam pull hard at 3500r's but wait thats the starting operating range;) I will run clay smith in my motors for now on out plus he gives you a choice in lobe seperation like 106-114,choice in lift depending on rockers 1.5,1.6,1.7 so there is a difference in his stuff. I looked at comp and crane and they have a few decent grinds but I will stick to clay smith;)
just my .02 pennies;)
396

[SmokinLowriderSS]

Learn how to choose your own cam, or have someone like Chris Straub help you design a cam for your app. Dave Ebbert is another, at DNE racing. If you're just guessing at it, or going by what someone else tells you, you're just lucky to get one that works right.
That is why I discussed my thoughts on cam upgrade with DuaneHTP before doing anything. Was looking for guidance in selection, and am quite happy with the Isky setup he had made for me. Cam, lifters, springs, retainers, polylocks. I had to deal with heavier pushrods and new rockers (my old ones were GM smooth-ball short-slots and 5/16" pencil-rods). Had no problems with the cam, still running hard, very solid, very happy.

[TIMINATOR]

I have a Cam Doctor. It can analyze a cam profile to .1 degree on duration, lobe separation, and 1/10,000 inch on lift. It also analyzes and computes the area under the curve, graphs and prints everything, it will plot and print the base circle runout and lift at 1 degree increments of both lobes of each cylinder (yep, all 16 of 'em). It will display acceleration rates, inaccuracies of grind and about 12 other things. The most accurate cams with the fastest ramp rates are almost all by Comp, period. Other companies have a few good cams, stuff that was/is ahead of its time, for example the Crane R-274 Roller from 15 or so years ago. Its still state of the art today for some applications. ALL of the stuff that I have tested from the smaller companies is of slower rate and or less area under the curve. I test every brand of cam that I get through here (customers provided of course, I only sell the good stuff), I use Comp. Many companies will sell you what they recomend and mark it as what you asked for! Yes! There are three smaller companies that I have checked several "CUSTOM" cams from (each)that were not even close to what was ordered and marked on the end or on the cam card. We were sued in small claims court for "bungeling" the valve spring/head setup on a set of BBChevy heads. We provided springs and installed height setup based on the cam card. It was a custom ground unit, the company ground what they recomended (bigger) than the customer ordered for a nitrous "shootout" car. The springs coil bound (lightly) and several broke, 3 valves hit the pistons, you figure out the rest. I cam doctored the cam in court, brought two other "customs" with the cam cards,(luckily they were serial numbered) and the case was dismissed. In my experience, when someone runs a smaller companies cam and thinks it is "better" than a name brand cam, its usually because they overcammed their motor with the name brand cam and the off brand cam has less area under the curve so it acts smaller and gives better results IN THAT CASE ONLY!!! If you don't have a cam analyzer, anything that you speculate on is just that, speculation.... If anybody wants to see Crane "quality, I will post a pic or two of the roller from my boat, (the Crane was in there when I bought it), it had 8 dyno pulls, and less than 3 hours running at the lake when the billet broke next to the dist.drive gear. Its marked CRANE, and serialized. They refused warrenty, but said "send it in, we want to see it, we've never had one do THAT". Yeah,right.... TIMINATOR P.S. sorry for the long post.

[TIMINATOR]

P.S. some of the smaller companies sell cams as say a "280", they state that their 280 in independent dyno tests made more power than the leading brands "280", of course it did. Their 280 is actually a 288. You can't tell what a cam is by looking at it. Most people (and shops), don't have any way to verify any of this. You run what you want, we use Comp. TIMINATOR

[jack sparks]

To go and mother f a company like that is a joke .I have used Comp in hundreds of engines from street to full up WOO sprint car engines dont think i have ever had a problem with the quality of the product .

[TIMINATOR]

MRCRSR: making a statement about the apparent quality of a cam or a company without having the equipment to analyze it/them is irresponsible. I have analyzed over a thousand cams from pretty much all of the companies that I have ever heard of and some that I haven't. Some truths: Comp Cams have, by and large, faster ramp rates than anything else that I have seen. They are the ONLY cam company that has all current lobes listed in the back of the catalogue, with advertised duration, and at .050, and at .200, this allows a knowlegible builder to determine the ramp rates. Some people and engine builders haven't the knowledge to use the cams or the info effectively. The higher the ramp rate on a non-roller cam, the more the lifter bores HAVE to be correctly machined. On most every cam failure we have seen, the lifter bore angle was at fault. If you replace a new Comp that went flat with a lesser brand with a slower ramp rate, it usually lives, it will just not make as much HP as the Comp would have. When this happens to one of my customers cams, I tell/show him what happened, and what options he has. Use an inferior cam, get a custom "high taper" cam ground or put a roller in it. Cams have an angle built into the lobe, and the lifter face is crowned to promote lifter rotation, if the lifter bores are not correct,then the lifter wont rotate correctly and failure occors. The higher the ramp rate, the more important all of this is. Comp pushes the edge with cam technology. If you can't handle it, get somthing "safe", and be an also ran. We are aware of several engines by year from all of the manufacturers that have had this problem. I have a trash list of engines/years that we won't build with a "hot" cam, you either get a different year block, put a roller in it or sign a waiver, I'm not going to "eat" the labor. I didn't build the block, and you will be warned. One of my customers just went through this, he put a roller in it. You know who you are, jump in whenever you like. TIMINATOR