Thread: Cam Size, 390FE?? What works best???

Tweet

Hello all, gonna be getting a cam kit here real soon and wanted you're guys opinions. The 2 cams I'm looking at are both comp cams. One is the 265DEH with .484-.510 Lift Int/Exh.,265-275duration,211-223duration@.050. The other is the 275DEH with .515-.541 Lift Int/Exh.,275-285duration,219-232duration@.050. I'm sending my stock Torque Converter in to REMAN Ind. to have it rebuilt with a 2500+ stall. Got a holley 650 4v carb, going to get a alum. intake mainfold. and if I can find the stock shorty headers to fit my convertible I'll do that but if not it'll be stock exhaust. Comp said that both cams will work with stock exhaust. So my question is has any one used these cams before? How about other brands like Melling and Clevite? Let me know! -Danny

Do you have adjustable rocker arms? Do either of these cams require adjustable rockers??? The 265 looks a whole lot more street friendly to me, the bigger one is going to require headers and a good ignition system to work.... FE's make great torque a low rpm's, no reason to scrub it all off with a big cam made for the top end......

Yeah But I was looking at the specs and Comp says it'll work with stock exhaust. My main thing is I'm really looking for a choppy idle. Oh and I am going to adjustable rockers.

Yeah But I was looking at the specs and Comp says it'll work with stock exhaust. My main thing is I'm really looking for a choppy idle. Oh and I am going to adjustable rockers.

That's intake lift .517 right???

Denny thanks for your input! I'm glad I found this site! The info I'm learning is great. I've talked to a couple of others and they've said pretty much the same thing. I was hoping to get opinion of as many ford guys I could just to make sure I'm going to the best setup for my 390. With this knowledge I will prob go with the Comp Cam 265DEH Hydraulic Cam the the .484-.510 lift unless I find something slightly above that to get to the .517 intake lift.

thanks again for the help! -Danny

I have the stock GT/CJ cam in my 390 (.481 in .490 ex). That and the restrictive GT exhaust mani's and C8 heads. Very streetable and pretty mild at idle. Barry at Survival MS sells a nice Melling adj cam with .484 .510 ex. It's a little more than the CJ with lots of low end grunt. Guys on the FTE forum were just talking about this cam. Few of them use it and like it very much. So check the price against the Comp as it appears to be the same grind. B's a good brain to pick too. He'll set ya straight. His pricing is very competitive. He also has all the other odds and ends should you need to do more shopping. With your better flowing 65 LR heads and some headers it'll be sweet.

www.survivalmotorsports.com

I've heard that Melling Cams aren't that great though. Actually I've had 3 tell me this. So you think there ok? have you ran one before?? Just asking. I do like the price difference though. The main thing was the actual advertised lift wasn't actually what the engine owners got..The people I've talked to that is..Or there was no noticable power or performance increase for what was advertised. -Danny

P.S. How does an "adjustable" cam work??

Originally Posted by GalaxieClass64

I've heard that Melling Cams aren't that great though. Actually I've had 3 tell me this. So you think there ok? have you ran one before?? Just asking. I do like the price difference though. The main thing was the actual advertised lift wasn't actually what the engine owners got..The people I've talked to that is..Or there was no noticable power or performance increase for what was advertised. -Danny

P.S. How does an "adjustable" cam work??

Talking about adjustable rocker arms, not an adjustable cam. The advance on a cam can be adjusted at the time of installation....

The cams are not made by Melling just packaged and sold under that name. Same cam is sold by PAW, Melling, TRW, Speed Pro and Clevite. All with their own name on the label. I think Speed Pro and Clevite went to a cheaper supplier recently tho. Anyway at the time they were all made by a well known brand name cam company. And yes I've run them before in smallblocks. Specs were dead on and ran great.

Sorry my error on the "adj" cam. LOL meant to say "hyd" cam...oops.

Give Barry a call and pick his brain a bit. He can fill you in.

change post ...

Ah I see well that all makes sense. ha

Same cam I've got. What kinda springs you going to use? Roller rockers, or factory adj?