[GTO FIREHAWK JOHN]

Hey Guys has anyone had any experience with Howard's Roller cam?
This is for sale locally & very reasonable & new in bow with Howard's Hyd. Lifters & roller timing chain set. Will be going on a spare 455 with ram air IV heads. This cam is 4/7 swap & these are the specs: I was wondering if I should increase exhaust lift with higher ratio rockers. Let me know your thoughts for a street set up as this won't break the bank. Thanks

[Lee]

That won't work with power brakes,

IMHO, that is not a cam I would recommend to anyone. MAYBE for somebody with manual brakes who wants a REALLY nasty sounding idle, but doesn't care that their car doesn't run nearly fast as it sounds,

[steve25]

With the big high lift Exh flow of the RA4 heads, the 455s fast piston speed, and if your running atleast 9.2 comp then that .515" lift is all you need, especially if your running headers!
455's are starved for Intake breathing with non ported iron heads so if your valve spring set up will allow you to run higher ratio rockers on the Intake side, then do so .

And yes that's a very heathy Cam for a street motor, maybe too much of such since that Cams power range stated on there is for D port heads.

[GTO FIREHAWK JOHN]

It will be replacing a solid roller with 600 lift & I have Willwood manual brakes which work really well

[GTO FIREHAWK JOHN]

Yes Steve I have the 2" Hooker headers, so what do you think about that cam?
Thanks for your input

[HWYSTR455]

Originally Posted by GTO FIREHAWK JOHN

It will be replacing a solid roller with 600 lift & I have Willwood manual brakes which work really well

I've been hearing others comment on 'big' cams in reference to lift, maybe I don't have it right? My thoughts are lift is good, and it's only duration and LSA that makes a cam seem/act 'big'?

If that cam were on a diff LSA, I think it would be fine for a 455 with RAIV heads, but it will give up flow before the cam gives up. More lift would help, but P2V clearance may be an issue. (not with that lift though)

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[Steve C.]

"If you want to build a street motor with the most power without a sacrifice of idle and low speed qualities, then lift is the most important factor to maximize, not duration. The best street cams are those that seek to maximize lift while only adding a minimal amount of duration."

David Vizard


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[Formulajones]

When Kauffman spec'd a hydraulic roller cam for my fathers last 455, it had more duration than that (up near 260 @ .050), was ground on a 110 lsa, and had more lift (over .600) And he drove it on the street everywhere for 4 years.
It was 10:1 with Edelbrock round port 330 cfm heads and 2" hooker super comps. Made over 600 ft lbs. of torque on the dyno with a table top flat torque curve.
Was a very fun engine, pulled nice wheelies and 1.5 short times.

He did use an electric vacuum pump for the power brakes, no biggie. But that engine drove nice with a P3 Continental converter behind it.

I've always wanted to try a 4-7 swap but have been talked out of it on numerous occasions because they haven't shown any improvements on the dyno. I'm still intrigued by the 4-7 swap and the split lift along with 6 degrees of advance on that cam. I'd like to see how it would perform. I've also been wanting to try an LS firing order. Haven't seen one on the dyno but heard good things, however the cam core is $1,000

[HWYSTR455]

Whew! Ok, thought I was losing it! Heheh!

I think many cam manufacturers' off the shelf grinds for Pontiacs are limited in that respect (lift), due to consideration of OE iron head and P2V limitations.

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[HWYSTR455]

Originally Posted by Formulajones

I've always wanted to try a 4-7 swap but have been talked out of it on numerous occasions because they haven't shown any improvements on the dyno.

I think the benefits are more so from an ignition perspective, routing plug wires and preventing crossfire.

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[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by HWYSTR455

I think the benefits are more so from an ignition perspective, routing plug wires and preventing crossfire.

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Crankshaft harmonics being more favorable was another that had been explained to me. Seems some builders are believers in it while others are not.

One shop near me has become a huge fan of the LS firing order on the classic engines and likes what he's seen on the dyno. Isn't anyone doing back to back testing that I've seen though. The cam cores, last time I checked weren't falling out of trees yet, and rather expensive too. When I looked into it I had to put my name on a waiting list with Comp.

[steve25]

I would put the Cam in advanced 4 degrees but my concern is those 2" ID headers as you will be down about 15 ft lbs in torque as compared to 1 7/8" tubes.

[Steve C.]

"It will be replacing a solid roller with 600 lift"

Curious, what are the specs on the solid roller you are replacing ?


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[GTO FIREHAWK JOHN]

[QUOTE=Steve C.;5949720]"It will be replacing a solid roller with 600 lift"

Curious, what are the specs on the solid roller you are replacing ?


Hey Steve, this was my street motor I had before I installed my 535
It has a solid roller Isky cam with 600 lift and 260@.50 lift int/exh. It was installed @ 108
That was with Aluminum heads but I sold them & have a set of 614 heads for them that are port matched to Felpro gaskets. 70 block with Ross flat tops & Eagle rods so it's a solid foundation. I want to complete that motor and want it Hydraulic roller

[ponjohn]

Isn't that near identical to the voodoo 243/251 but on a different lsa?

That cam would work well on a 112.

[HWYSTR455]

Originally Posted by ponjohn

Isn't that near identical to the voodoo 243/251 but on a different lsa?

That cam would work well on a 112.

Kind of, 'looks' similar. But since the original poster hasn't purchased it yet, I would say pass, and get the VooDoo, ordered on a 112.

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[pastry_chef]

Originally Posted by ponjohn

Isn't that near identical to the voodoo 243/251

Close but different lobes.
More detail on the OPs cam.

Intake lobe -
bhr243353
162 @ .200

Exhaust lobe -
bhr251343
166 @ .200

Voodoo HRs will have a bit more at .200
Harold's post Voodoo 241 @ .050 has 164 @ .200
The 251 @ .050 has 170 @ .200

[pastry_chef]

Originally Posted by HWYSTR455

ordered on a 112.
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Why not 114 ? (jk).

The OP said he will have "Willwood manual brakes".

Ken Keefer used 109 LSA all the time with great results!
Even something as subtle as valve-train deflection will factor into the optimal overlap-LSA.
112 or 114 sure as hell won't run faster.

[Steve C.]

Do a search and read what Paul Carter says about using a 110 lobe separation with a Voodoo lobe.

In short.... no reason to change it to a 112 if it comes normally with a 110.


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[HWYSTR455]

Yeah, my bad, I was commenting on a previous post and just typed it out.

I actually will be running the 243/251 VooDoo in my current build, and had several conversation regarding LSA with Paul. Although this only brushes the topic, this was the only post I found from Paul regarding, my search skills here are still kinda weak:

http://www.forums.maxperformanceinc....ght=voodoo+110

"No reason to get that cam ground on a 112 LSA. It has plenty of power band now as is on a 110, and will make more power. The Voodoo cams do not need wide lobe seps due to their lobe offset, and asymmetrical design. Like I say, it pulls well to 6000 RPM in a 428 on the 110. In a 455, this cam, on a 110 LSA made 14" of vacuum at 5000 ft. elevation. We ran Johnson-Hi lift lifters. Standard version. These Voodoo cams do not need the extra wide LSA's the old, slow ramp, long seat duration, cams did. The small Voodoo's are ground on 112's, but from 227° and up, they are on 110's, and our experience with them has shown there is really no need to widen it. This cam in the 428 is very explosive when you push on the gas. It has no lack of low end torque. This cam in a 9.5:1 455, made 528 Ft. lbs. @ 3200, and 400 HP, and still made 444 ft. lbs. @ 1800 RPM. It still made 380 HP @ 5700 RPM. Try to beat that with a stick[or bump stick!]! "

Paul also recommended advancing 4-6 degrees, but with my particular parts, I only got +5. Curious to see how it compares to the previous solid roller I had in there (247/254 Crower on a 114). I had no problems with power brakes or A/C with that cam by the way, and even thought I could go bigger after running it for a while. Sold that to a member here, who loves it.

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