The Dodge Challenger Message Board

i have a stock 440 i want to give it a bit more go . i was looking for someone thats played with cams or is a guru on their selection. can you help

For a start you have to define "a bit more go". You either need a goal or a budget.

The way I did it was decide how fast on the strip I wanted the car to run. I decided on 12 seconds flat as a target as anything faster than that would have taken the car too far from original and make it a pain to drive on the street.

Read my thread in this section on "Horsepower theory". It will give you a better understanding of what power is, how it is made, and how every bit of an engine effects every other bit of the engine and gearing.

If you don't want to fit any other parts except the cam you cannot use anything much bigger than stock. If you don't want to have to re-tune the carb you cannot fit ANYTHING bigger than stock at all.

So.
Decide if you want to live with the stock carb, intake, heads, exhaust, gears etc. Because if you do you are very limited. If you want a bigger cam you have to think about which of these other parts will match. Everything HAS to match you see. Otherwise it just does not work right.

lynden hunt wrote:i have a stock 440 i want to give it a bit more go . i was looking for someone thats played with cams or is a guru on their selection. can you help

I sure wish I had Dave's answer when I was 16!! How far are you willing to go with your engines modifications? Intake, Exhaust, carby, ect all work together as a team as Dave pointed out. I made the mistake of putting in a Purple Stripe Cam that was way huge. The car ran awful, way slower than stock up to 90 MPH then it would run out of steam altogether! (73 Ply. RR with Low. Comp. 340 and 4000lbs.) I had to change everything from front to back, timing chain, intake, carb, exhaust, transmission, torque convertor, 4.10 rear Sure-Grip diff and ring gear,(new pig 8 3/4), bigger wheels and rubber(N-50-15's),,snowballed into a money pit. It was much faster after all that but barely drievable on the street for long periods. It would foul plugs all the time. Dave's right The stock OEM 440Magnum and possibly the 440SixPack cams might be right for you and are still available from various suppliers. If I were to get a new street cam today for my 440 SixPack it would be a hyd. roller.