I know this probably has been asked buy 500 other mopar guys but I could not be more complexed after speaking with 3 different cam grinders.... I am trying to get my drivetrain built before spring is on its way but you cant control mother nature.

Recently I pulled the trigger on a Scat 400/498 kit to go along with my Bruce Toth ported Pro Maxx heads. Flow numbers I/E @ .500 lift: 280/199 @ .600 lift 295/210 and @ .700 299.5/218.5 cfm which is fairly decent flowing head for what will be a car that is not a dedicated race car but will be a weekend bracket car/cruiser. I have two intakes and have not yet decided which to run, a nicely ported Eddy RPM and a new in box Eddy Victor. Speaking with Howards, Comp and Hughes I got 3 very different cam grinds that have me baffled on how there could be such a wide gap in opinion on what cam specs would get me to reach my goal. I want my car to run high 10's, I am not really shooting for a HP number but if I was I would like to see something in the 600-650 range. I am trying to stick with a solid flat tappet cam. All three cam grinders said its not possible to hit 600hp with my combination but 10.90's are "possible".

Starting with Howards, I was suggested to install a cam grind of 246/252 at .515/.530 lift with a 108 LSA. According to the tech, this would be a stump puller with a lot of torque from 2k and up but never getting past 560hp . I asked why such low lift and he indicated that would kill my low rpm power. The tech suggested a 2500 stall with my 3.91 gear.

Comp Cams was slightly more aggressive in the cam choice, I felt like I was having the same conversation as I did with the team at Howards. The cam they wanted to sell me was their XS290s Solid 252/260 with .540/.558 lift at a 111 LSA. They too suggested a 2500 to 2800 stall.

Finally the tech at Hughes Engines was the guy to suggest the largest cam and a lot larger in comparison to the Howards cam. They suggested SLD FLAT TAPPET CAM 260/264 with .615/.620 lift lobes @108ºLSA again indicated the 600 hp mark was out of reach and to use a 2500-2800 stall converter.


I dont yet have the carb I want but I will likely get something like a Holley XP950 or contact someone to build me one. Depending on the head gasket, I will fall in at about 10.7 or 11.1:1 compression with the 84 cc heads.
I am using a set of Hughes 1.5 roller rockers. My Duster will be running a 727 full manual trans with 3.91 gears and 28 inch tires. Current stall with the 440 is 2800 rpm. I want to be clear, I want my combo to be one that works well together. I understand building a car driven on the street does not make a great race car and vice versa.... I making a lot of changes to the car to help reach my goal including all new front and rear suspension with Caltracs, relocated springs and such.... I just need a little direction on part selection You guys have always been insightful, I hope I can start a good conversation here.

I would think that you would need more convertor stall speed to acheive your goal

You should post up the rest of the details about the motor.

I would say you have to figure out what the priority is(good on the street, or low ET’s)....... especially If the motor is going to be a pump gas stock stroke 440.

What you determine is the higher priority will determine the cam(& converter, carb, etc)choice.

498 inch motor with solid, but smallish heads.
I would use the cam Hughes recommended 260/264. On that big of motor, it will be mild.
I ran a 260/264 Howard on my 10 to 1 stock stroke 360 street strip deal. Ran 11.20’s with heads that went 255 max
Would probably also consider a 9.5 inch 4200 flash convertor, or a very tight 4200 flash 8 inch convertor. Either should work very well on a street strip deal. Oesnally like an 8 inch better. Get an adequate tranny cooler and have fun. Big mistake people thinking an 8 inch isn't streetworthy
Your car will run well into the 10’s falling off a log. I would like the single plane on that motor were it me, nothing you do is gonna not make it a stump puller.
Like the 3.91 gears, but i suspect the car would run probably much the same with 3.55 gears out back.
With that cam and intake, would think 600 horsepower wouldn't be a huge stretch for it to make, certainly 575 easy.
Good luck, sounds like fun. Assuming a typical weight A body street type car, sounds like 10.60’s to me at 126 ish

Motor details are as such:

B Motor 498 Stroker Scat 4.15 crank, 6.760 Rods, Icon -4 cc pistons.
Heads are Bruce Toth ported Pro Maxx heads. Flow numbers I/E @ .500 lift: 280/199 @ .600 lift 295/210 and @ .700 299.5/218.5 cfm
TTI 1 7/8 A body headers
727 Full manual with Trans Brake
Current Converter is an older ATI (I think) 2800 stall 10 inch, I would expect to purchase a new converter to suit the larger motor.
3.91 gear with 28 inch tires
Current weight of car is 3420 (fiberglass hood and decklid on the way)
I am prioritizing track times over street manners but I do not want it unbearable the street as I intend on driving to the track on the weekends and Cars and Coffee type shows.
I had all three Cam grinders tell me than I want a low RPM stall as they indicated I would be throwing torque out the window if I was using a 3000 rpm or higher converter.

Hard to tell from your thread what exactly you're looking for. Sounds like you have a low deck stroker with 498 cubes? Compression seems a little high for pump gas but maybe you'll be lucky. I don't know anything about Pro Maxx heads, I assume that is a cheap Chinese knock off head. The flow numbers you posted aren't very good compared to a Trick Flow 240 head so they must be something like a Stealth or RPM head. If that is the case then 600 hp can be a stretch, even with 498 cubes. A Performer RPM will choke it down even more so you might end up with something in the 550 hp range with the right cam. Nothing really wrong with that, I ran a low deck 470 in my Coronet that made 470 hp at the rear tires and it was a beast on the street. The trick was to keep the cam on the small side rather than let it get too big and kill the low end torque. I wrote an article on cam testing in that engine about 20 years ago, still worth reading for someone in your position: http://www.moparts.org/Tech/Archive/bb/Lobe.html

Well.......”if it were me” I def wouldn’t be following the low stall path.

With a decent single plane manifold the tq peak will happen at a fairly high rpm(way higher than 3k).
You’ll want the converter to flash very close to where peak TQ occurs.

Of those 3 cams, the only one I would even consider as having true 10 second potential in a real street car would be the Hughes.
Couple it with a quality 9.5” converter that flashes in the 4000-4200 range, and if the rest of the car is up to it(suspension, fuel system, etc), I’d expect to see 10’s.

I don’t think 600hp is out of reach either.

Edit- I can think of a few combos I’ve been involved with that used fairly mild cams in combos that ran surprisingly well....... but those really seem to be the exception rather than the rule.

For ET chasing, I find it’s best to have the cam, converter, and carb all on the same page.

The converter can be the star or the dunce in a combo like that. Stall speed is just one variable. If you are set up to try different converters then I'd keep your existing one in the car at first and try it. If it doesn't work as well as you want then you have a data point to use when talking to vendors. I highly recommend a simple data logger that can record driveshaft speed and engine rpm when sorting out torque converters on a street/strip type of car. A race car is a simple environment compared to a street car. With a street car you want to keep converter slip under control when driving on the freeway but race cars don't worry about that kind of stuff.

My Duster is somewhat similar so you might consider copying my setup. My engine is a low deck 512 with ported Edelbrock heads. It makes right at 600 hp and 600 torque with a hyd roller cam that is 246@050. I use a tight 10 inch converter from Turbo Action. Part number is 17805ST-10. I don't know what the stall speed is but it doesn't slip much at freeway speeds although the slip goes way up when you jump on it. I like how the converter works on the street. It is loose enough that the car doesn't push at stop lights, but it is tight enough that the car moves with only a small amount of throttle opening. If you talk to Paul at TA he will recommend his tight converter for big stroker engines that are street driven.

Yes Andy the heads are a Chinese knock off head that have a pretty good reputation over the 440 Source or other knock off heads. They are the same casting as the Sidewinders sold by Marsh performance and Bruce Toth. I dont and would not expect them to be the in the same ballpark as the Trick Flow heads but for a budget minded enthusiast, they seem to be a good value considering I only have $1200 in them with Comp 7* retainers, springs of my choice and a decent port job. I inquired here regarding the cam choice knowing people like you in here have a lot more experience than I do with cam testing therefore being able to better predict the outcome a specific came choice over another. I do not expect my 498 build to be the most Bad A$$ or whatever but I have a goal that I would like to meet and I enjoy reading the opinions and insight of others who have been down this road before I. In short I was aksing, what would you do in this situation... I think my motor build is fairly clear... as is the use of the car and its description. Needs to be street worthy on pump gas but it will be driven to the track frequently and my track being part of the Rocky Mountain Race Week.... I intend on participating next season.

Im still learning here, so if you have a question that you need me to clarify, be specific and I will answer to the best of my ability. You do amazing work, I love your articles and the products you bring to the table.

Thank you for your input

The heads are the unknown for me. If you care more about racing than street driving then sell the Performer RPM and use the Victor (or buy a Trick Flow intake). If you don't have much experience with a street/strip car then I'd start with a smaller rather than bigger cam. Lots of people say they want a 10 second car but they can get old really fast if you have to drive it much on street. I highly recommend EFI rather than a carb if you are willing to learn how to tune it. EFI makes it much easier to dial in the tune.

Not my first street or race car by any means but it will be the most aggressive that I have built yet. I am glad you brought up the fuel injection topic. I know you have been using FI for the last few projects and I was not excluding the option. I have a friend locally with a max wedge ported 440 with a home brew FI system that works pretty well in his 71 Dart. My question would be is it worth stepping up to the Holley XFI type system over the Sniper? I dont foresee the use of power adders aside from N20 and I would like ignition control....

I find what people will tolerate with a "street" car varies a lot.

A 5500 convertor and doing 4K rpm on the highway is fine for me, but hell for others.

Im ok with 3200rpm down the hwy..... 60/65 mph

How much info did you give the cam companies? I know you said you had some new heads out of the box, and I know you can get flow numbers from the manufacturer, BUT I seldom see those advertised numbers on my flow bench. When picking a camshaft information is KING, and things like exact compression ratio, runner lengths intake and exhaust, carb size, and on and on, all make a difference. I use an engine program, run it through with good numbers inputed, and then call the cam companies. Their recommendations are usually very close to my numbers, mainly because they are using a similar program to give you their recommendations. If you don't have all the numbers, they simply give a good guess to the program.

I'd go with a Terminator Stealth rather than a Sniper. The Terminator is a few hundred dollars more but the reviews are much better for it than the Sniper. Add a Holley distributor for timing control and you should be good to go. Being able to control the timing and the fuel curve from the hand held (or laptop) really makes it easy to tune a street/strip car. You can dial in a bunch of advance at idle to clean up a big cam and you can lean the car out at freeway cruise while still having it rich at WOT.
https://www.holley.com/products/fue...terminator_x_stealth_4150/parts/550-1002