anyone tried one out yet? looking for people saying good things about them...and bad...just trashed my 2nd XE series comp. cams cam....not going with them again

Can't give you a lot of info here but one friend used a Crane
Z series cam in a recent motor with no problems and good results. The Lunati Voodoo stuff looks good too. No experience with it. I'm on my second XE series cam too but for different reasons (cam bolts came loose causing the cam to walk forward in the block nicking the lifter edge.)

Comp Sells way to many of these popular cams and probabily is outsourcing the production.
Quality control of the production and the core material may be an issue.
I've had another Comp cam crap out on me before.

All cam companies are haveing more flat tappet cam breakin failueres for two reasons.

1. changes mandated by your federal government as to the additives allowed in over the counter engine oil. ( anti wear/ anti scuff) (Zinc)

2. less and less mass OEM use of flat tappet lifters in assembley line motors allowing the quality control to slip.

Further these "extreme " cams take the design to the limit of a .842" dia lifter. the more radical the lobe, the more chance of premature wear and early failure.

All part of the joys. Makes selecting a more stable design like Crane's PowerMax/ HMV series cams more attractive for a motor that has to last. (these cams are still plenty powerfull but are more reliable) If you don't like the off the shelf LSA they can custom grind for ya.

I'd consider using light springs for the next break in and definatly dump some GM EOS and a can of Moly slip in the motor for the breakin. If you'll be using .510" or less lift you can use "stock springs" for the initial run in and change to the performance springs after.

Isky has a great Mega cam series that is performance proven. They make very good power. Isky cams seem to have a reputation of being a cut above the rest as far as quality is concerned. Well worth a look. Never seen a Isky cam go bad. Ya get what you pay for.

So is Comp cams going to Warranty the cam?

i've had my comp xe cam for about 5 years, with no problems

they are going to warranty through JEGS and JEGS said i could go with any cam i wanted with a $175 credit. this motor HAS to last....can you suggest one of the powermax cams? i need it to be more reliable than fast at this point...but fast isn't a bad thing. wouldn't mine a mid 12 at this point. i'm not going to go with a solid lifter cam, though i REALLY appreciate the info you gave me and when i FINALLY get around to building my BBC, i'm going to use a solid lifter cam.

again, the combo is:

360 ci
10.2:1
113 casting heads with mild bowl blending, 3 angle valve job and a back cut on the valves
holley street dominator intake (idle-7200)
holley 750 double pumper *(will be using a 600vs for street use, gas mileage baby!)
hedman longtube headers w/ dual exhaust
10" ATI 4000stall converter
700r4
4.10's 275/60/15 m/t et street radials.

I have the Crane Powermax Part # 114122 and really like it, the power/torque seems to come on strongest about 3500-4200, but you would probably like a little more lift and duration, look at part # 114132 or # 114142... just my

Brett

For power Crane #114051 is a good match to the other parts you have. Will work fine with comps 981 springs.
Check the specs here This cam has a rough idle.

If easy cruising and fuel mileage is more of a factor
Crane #113801
Is a nice street cam. It is slightly milder than what you had before, but still makes very strong power to 5500+rpm.
Very easy idle and cruising to live with for daily usage. likes a 1.6:1 intake rocker ratio and 1.5's on the exhaust side. If you happen to have a half set of 1.6's laying around.

These cams are no wimps when it comes to valve action and still require proper breakin procedure but are very stable designs.

looking at the comp 280H cam...what do you think?

ive got the 268 voodoo....nice cam.

heres an article in CHP about the same cam i have...

http://chevyhiperformance.com/techarticles/0511ch_spot/

It falls right in the middle of the two Crane cams I mentioned. Thought you wanted to stay away from a Comp Cam this time around?

i think i want to stay away from the aggressive grinds like the xe series, Zcams, and voodoo stuff in general...i want something a little more dummy proof....and i know tons of people who run comp with great success...i'm gonna chalk this one up to lack of QC on comps part on the XE series cams (since it seems to be an issue with that particular series, but none of there other stuff...)

I thought your choice of the Crane F-278-2 solid street cam was a sweet choice. better than the 280H magnum. What scared you off using a moderate mechanical lifter street cam?

not sure....just scared i'm gonna kill another camshaft i think.

i've already hurt two.

Same cylinder and lifter bore, both times?

no, first time was ALL the intake valves cause i installed the cam incorrectly. that was my fault. i got in a hurry and didn't line the cam gear up with the crank gear. (lined the cam gear up with the key-way instead of the mark)

the second one, the #2 intake valve pushrod was bent, but it was the #2 exhaust lobe and lifter that was messed up, and the intake lobe and lifter was in great shape. i noticed a tick coming from that portion of the motor as soon as i fired it up to break the motor in, however, i continued cause i thought it was just an exhaust leak. ran valve lash after break-in and noticed the #2 exhaust rocker was a bit loose. reset the lash and everything seemed to be fine, except for the intermitant tick. it was there sometimes and wasn't there others. didn't really vary with rpm and temperature didn't seem to effect it either, which made me think it was an exhaust leak.

think i may need to take that cylinder head off and look?

i'll also be going to a comp pro-magnum roller rocker....1.52 ratio instead of re-using the aluminum 1.5 roller rockers i have right now. they are simply too wide to get to fit under my centerbolt style covers and i'm not going to modify my brand new moroso covers.

until i have a failure with the Comp XE 274 cam i'll stick with it

I have the crane cam Z cam 274 under my bed right now, hoping it will be enough cam for my 383.

just FYI, i'm going with the F-278-2 solid cam by Crane! i'm sending my cam/lifters back today and have the appropriate paperwork written out for the exchange.

Sounds great. Do you have any 1.6:1 rockers to experiment with? (Just a tuning idea, not a nessessity)
Will you be "degreeing in the cam" during the install?

no and no

but i do have a brand new set of pro-magnum 1.52 ratio rockers going in

NICE

I like that voodoo cam!

lol! that's AWESOME! i'm so glad you "like" the voodoo cam! did you have an opportunity to read my thread here or just post a reply?

i'll be going with the F-278-2 Crane Solid Lifter cam, which has much more duration than any of the other cams i've been looking at and should make some pretty serious power.

out of curiosity, were you guys running flat tappet lifters or roller lifters? We put an xe flat tappet cam in my freinds car and it wore 5 lobes down in about 3 months (and lead to engine bearing failure). I got an xe roller lifter cam (the biggest they listed for tpi) installed in my 355 but have yet to run it. most all of the failures i have seen or read in the xe series were the flat tappet ones, and never the roller cams.

thanks

hydrualic flat tappet.