FE Power Forums
FE Power Forums => FE Technical Forum => Topic started by: mygasser on March 15, 2026, 05:18:26 PM
-
hi all, i'm looking at using a retro-fit hyd' roller cam in a 390 i'm collecting parts for. as i'm cheap i'm looking at summit brand cams with howards lifters. anyone have issues with either of those?
thanks, neil.
-
Howards FE lifters are made by Morel, so they're fine.
-
We were looking to do a low budget experiment a few weeks ago for a local friend and chose to skip the Summit cam
I have zero experience it, although I am leery of the "Pro BBF Big Block FE Best Hydraulic Roller Cam" name, sure sounds like an offshore grind and who knows the quality. Although it would be neat to see someone try the Summit cam, I would say that saving a couple hundred, after all the other costs and what can be wrong with a cam grind and materials, may not be worth it in the long run.
If you want to save a buck, sometimes you can find Melling hydraulic roller lifters almost 100 dollars cheaper than the Morels, although I have not used them, I know guys who have successfully. As Brent said, Howards (and Lunati if you run across them) are just Morel.
-
I think the new FE hydraulic rollers are just that - very much new.
I doubt that anyone has a lot of experience with them yet.
I will probably try one out in the coming weeks since availability on other brands has been terrible.
-
As with all shelf cams, they will work, but chances are that they will not be optimal. When you're dealing with preset valve events, you can bet it will open and shut the valves, but doing it correctly will be another story.
-
thanks for the replies everyone. i've not decided on cam choice yet but i'm happy with the lifters from what you all say. ;D
neil.
-
I think the new FE hydraulic rollers are just that - very much new.
I doubt that anyone has a lot of experience with them yet.
I will probably try one out in the coming weeks since availability on other brands has been terrible.
Bullet is generally backordered, but Comp has been spitting FE cams out for me in about a week.
-
If you look at the catalog description, it plainly says, Made In the USA.
My guess is they are made by Howards and are new lobes for them. They have a fairly new cam engineer and the lobes may be his product. If you run the numbers on the duration, LSA and ICL, there not bad cams, in my opinion. Lift is a little low for the larger cams but, I bet the .200 duration makes up for it.
If they are made by Howards, the quality will be as good as you can get. The only draw back to Howards is they don't have as large a lobe selection as Bullet and CC.
-
They are not made by Howard’s. Summit has their own Landis cam grinder.
-
No one has mentioned Oregopn Cams. He has been in most previous cam conversations.
-
I have used Oregon in a few builds. I like Ken and if doing a regrind it's a good option. Not a lot of lobe choices though compared to Comp and Bullet, but if you mix and match you can usually get there.
I am seeing the same as Brent though, Comp is about 1 week, hard to beat.
-
when talking regrinds remember i'm in the uk so that's not really an option.
neil.
-
when talking regrinds remember i'm in the uk so that's not really an option.
neil.
What it boils down to is if you can find a Summit shelf cam that would work for you if you're really budget oriented. They are universal cams, just like any other catalog cam.
If you want something custom tailored to your engine, to fully optimize the combination, a custom camshaft would probably be a better fit, even with the added cost.
-
agreed, but this is a street car that may see occasional use at the local track. if i wanted every last bit of power i'd be getting a stroker kit and aluminum heads too. those things will be for the 'next' build, lol.
thanks, neil.
-
Let us know how it goes!
-
Interesting
Several of those have a wider duration split by a few degrees than the average shelf cam.
Seem to hover in the 53-55 degree difference in ADV/.050. That seems like it might be an issue with fairly stock (heavy) valve train, seems like they are pushing beehives (lighter)...
Descriptions of behavior seem typically vague and off.
Assuming the the quality is there might not be a terrible choice on the cheap.
Love to hear how it works if anyone try one.
-
i ran a hyd roller from comp in a 428 cobra jet engine and it ran great,had power to 6200 rpm. tons of bottom end torque,cam was from barry,232 236 at .050 and .565 lift.would not run a flat tappet again.
-
Shame about the overlap on 8919, little wider LSA would get the vacuum up and the rumpty rump down which would be good IMO.
Also, the cam card numbers don't jive the valve events spit out by wallace on several of them.
-
Let us know how it goes!
i will do, it'll be a while though. ;) ;)
neil.
-
a little update on this... i just ordered a set of the howards retro fit roller lifters to go with the summit cam i have. the ebay sbf lifters will be sold on.
neil.
-
Good.
-
So which cam did you get?
How does it and the packaging look?
Did it have anything other than the cam card shown on summit racing dot com with it?
What springs/retainers do you plan to use?
-
scroll down here to see the cam and card. https://forum.nsra.org.uk/showthread.php?81897-plan-B-ish-58-nash-rambler-project/page28
as far as packaging it was the same as other cams i've bought, whether they be 'brand' names or generic melling ones. i'm not at the springs/retainers stage yet, it depends on whether i get aluminum heads or rebuild the iron ones for now. it's all budget dependant really. if the used 360 runs ok it'll go in the nash while i collect parts for and build the 390. you never know, if the budget will stretch and the 360 is ok i may get a stroker kit too.
neil.
-
Cool,
I was curious if you were going to get a fancy report form their supposed super duper quality checking thing ma bob they talk about in some of the "articles" about other PRO Series cams.
-
scroll down here to see the cam and card. https://forum.nsra.org.uk/showthread.php?81897-plan-B-ish-58-nash-rambler-project/page28
...
that cam card doesn't match the one on summit racing dot com. IVC 71 to IVC 77 and 10 degrees more Advertised is a pretty big difference. Also your cam card indicates 1.75 vs 1.76 rocker ratio.
The discrepancies in the specs on these cams are wild.
-
Be interesting to run one across the cam dr and see what it really is and what the ramps look like.