Anyone have any experience with Crower Cams?

[FURYGT]

I am upgrading the cam and installing new lifters in my '68 Fury II with a 383 2bbl that will be converted over to a 4bbl. The engine will otherwise by stock except for a little port work on the heads.

I tried to order a cam from Hughes Engines and waited for months and the bottom line is that they do not have ANY hydraulic flat tappet cams in stock and have no idea when they will as they do not manufacture them, manufacturing is outsourced for these cams.

Crower has a cam with specs close to the Hughes Engines cam, which is close to a stock big block 4bbl cam. This car will be a cruiser and I believe that it has a 2.76 rear gear so I want an RV type of cam. If I want to go fast, I have my '68 Sport Fury with the 520" stroker.

I have read many reviews on Comp Cams, which have mixed opinions but Comp Cams does not offer a cam with similar specs as the Hughes cam so they aren't an option anyway.

Thanks in advance for your experience with Crower Cams.

 

[Big_John]

I used to run Crower cams back in the 70's with no issues. They had a good reputation back then and had a lot of parts for the serious pro racers.

The question is if they are good now and I can't answer that... Stuff that was considered junk or entry level back then (like a couple header companies) are often now the stuff to buy, so I would expect that Crower would still be good. My big question would be if they are using a generic "Chevy profile" for every cam rather than a specific Chrysler profile like Hughes say they do.

One thing that I've found out is that most, if not all, of the cam companies don't make their own camshaft blanks. So, you are buying the same basic cam (and lifters) made by someone else and ground to spec by the cam company. Just look at the size of some of these places and you'll realize that there isn't a forging shop out behind the cam grinding machines. Forging is hot, nasty, specialized work that is better left to someone else. I've been in forging shops.... Good places to get hurt, but I digress.

I'm wondering if that is going to be the same problem across the board. No one is going to be able to make a cam because they can't get blanks??

The long story short though is if they had what I wanted, and it was available, I'd run it.

 

[CBODY67]

I've heard the "Chevy lobes" issue before, as in the Hughes literature, but a Chevy lobe is designed for a smaller diameter lifter than Chrysler uses, so the actual valve action should be longer in duration, I suspect? One reason that some dirt trackers would have their blocks lifter bores enlarged to Chrysler size, so my late machine shop operative told me. But hidden tricks as that usually get discovered in "Claimer Land".

IF all of the blanks are more generic than many might desire to admit to, outsourced, then ground by the named cam company, the real issue would be getting the cam past initial break-in time successfully. Then go from there.

IF the specs match what you want, it's available, then go for it, if that's what you want to do. Use lots of black moly paste assy lube and the liquid assy lube, too. With THEIR lifters so you get the warranty coverage. IF they offer an upgrade with extra Parkerizing, that can be good to do, too.

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67

 

[413]

I drag raced with a guy that loved Crower cams. He was going low 10’s high 9’s with a 440. Never had any cam problems. 1990’s & early 2000’s

not sure this helps your street car but it what I saw.

 

[furious70]

We had an odd one in a truck, had longer duration than you'd think you want for pulling but man it had tq in a 440.

 

[volksworld]

great...now you have me wondering if the one he spec'd out for me in the spring was the best choice or just what he had left in stock....

 

[furious70]

And anymore I think all brands are susceptible to qa issues. More about the quality of the metals used. I've got 2 sets of 20-25 year old hydraulic lifters on the shelf to use in next engines. Should buy a set solid old solids too...

 

[70bigblockdodge]

. Should buy a set solid old solids too...

Always looking for old solid lifters. You gotta be quick on evilbay they go fast. If they are remotely good price wise you have to buy now, they will not make it to the end of a auction.
I had a pretty mellow Crower cam in a low compression 440, it ran well till the crank ate the main bearings and something got stuck in lifter lobe interface, made a nice flower looking pattern on the lifter face so the lifter was still spinning. The lobe looked ok except for the very top had scores on it. It was also a old cam before all of the failures started.
Last I checked they were still based out of Chula Vista CA.

 

[FURYGT]

I order a cam from Crower today. They had blanks in stock, will grind it to the specs for the cam I wanted and I should have it in 2 - 3 weeks. The car won't be on the road until next year but the engine should be back together within 2 months.