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Hey guys,
I'm swapping cams in my 440/493. The 292/509 is out and the Lunati 316/326 is going in....sorta.
With the cam going in, its fine until the last 1/2 inch. From there, it gets tight. With a cam sprocket on, it takes about 25 lbs or more of torque to spin the cam. I tried it with the '509 and it spins with just a little effort. Its not as if it rotates freely like a wheel bearing with the '509 though. I have about 3000 miles on this build.
None of the bearings are nicked. They are all in right with the oil holes pointing down. The '509 cam shows no hot spots or irregular wear. After putting the Lunati in and spinning it, it still looks the same as well.
I measured the journals of both cams.

# Lunati..... 509
5 1.75..... 1.74
4 1.95..... 1.94
3 1.96..... 1.96
2 1.98..... 1.98
1 2.00..... 1.99

The slightly larger #1 and #5 journals is the only thing that looks out of whack. Can .01 difference be enough to cause this?

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You should be measuring closer than 2 decimal points..
even at 3 points its some time not good enough.. if
you turn the cam around and check the front bearing
you can touch that journal with fine paper... if
its the rear its a bit harder to do

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Turns out the 'tight cam" is a pretty common thing. This is the first I have heard of it. Sorry about the "less that precise" numbers. My cheap ass dial calipers only go to two points past the decimal!
Looking through the archives, I have read the following ideas:
* Take a junker old cam and cut a groove in the journals. Install the cam and spin it slowly. The groove will take down any high spots.
* Take a junker old cam and install it. Tap it at the 12:00 position, 6:00, 3:00 and 9:00, then spin the cam 180 degrees and repeat.

With the engine still in the car, I hesitate to try the first method. I can't imagine that it is a good idea to allow bearing shavings to fall onto the rods and crank. I read that one guy put bearing grease in the groove to collect the shavings.

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I have a old cam that I cut the grooves in.. if its
in the car I grease the grooves to hold the shavings...
if it gets down to the bottom the pump will push
it through and the filter gets it... this is pretty
normal on mopars... I have never had a cam spin freely
with out some work

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I thought about that. It binds during a full rotation, not just during part of it. My common sense tells me that a cam with a bend in it might be tighter at one point than another.

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, the cam is probably bent , would be real easy to check in a lathe .

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You have an extra cam laying around you can do the groove thing with, like what Mr P Body was saying? That sounds like the best solution, looking at your measurements I don't think you need to remove much material from the bearings

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I degreed the cam today. It was my first time doing it, so let me know what you think. I was having a hell of a time at first. The engine was very hard to spin over and I bent the piston stop twice. After I removed the plugs, it spun over easy enough to feel the piston stop when I reached it.
I came up with a 110 number. The cam card shows a 108 LSA with an installed centerline of 106 degrees. I guess this means that I am 4 degrees retarded, right? Tomorrow I'll move the crank gear to the 4 degree ADV setting and recheck the numbers.

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You are two degrees retarded now in relationship to having the cam installed straight up, (intake loe center is 110 ATDC, exhaust lobe should be 106 BTDC ),4 degrees retarded (away from ATDC,after top dead center) from what the cam makers suggests that you install it at Let us know what you get with the sprocket change

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I degreed the cam today. It was my first time doing it, so let me know what you think. I was having a hell of a time at first. The engine was very hard to spin over and I bent the piston stop twice. After I removed the plugs, it spun over easy enough to feel the piston stop when I reached it.
I came up with a 110 number. The cam card shows a 108 LSA with an installed centerline of 106 degrees. I guess this means that I am 4 degrees retarded, right? Tomorrow I'll move the crank gear to the 4 degree ADV setting and recheck the numbers.

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I degreed the cam today. It was my first time doing it, so let me know what you think. I was having a hell of a time at first. The engine was very hard to spin over and I bent the piston stop twice. After I removed the plugs, it spun over easy enough to feel the piston stop when I reached it.
I came up with a 110 number. The cam card shows a 108 LSA with an installed centerline of 106 degrees. I guess this means that I am 4 degrees retarded, right? Tomorrow I'll move the crank gear to the 4 degree ADV setting and recheck the numbers.

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You should have definitely pulled all the plugs out first ....

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NOW! he knows..? is, will he remember it next time he degrees in a cam?

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usally easier to degree a cam with just the #1 rod/piston installed..

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That works when engine is being first assembled , but doing a swap to an engine that was running , not so much