I've read a ton of posts here about Comp Cams and quality issues. Guys having problems with distributor gears and other guys saying don'y buy them unless the are ground on a billet core as the off the shelf Comps are made of "pot metal". What's am I missing about Comp Cams? Who makes a better cam?

 

I heard good feedback about the lunati voodoo cam, check them out.

 

8 yrs with one in my C5 and never a problem.

 

I've got one in my motor that was built about 10 years ago, no issues at all. As I'm contemplating an upgrade to the engine, whole top end, want to know if there's somehting else I need to be aware of.

 

I've never had a problem or a failure of any CompCams product. I've used a LOT of their stuff, including flat tappet cams, and I've never had one go bad using proper startup procedures. There are a lot of people who don't know how to fire a new engine - I've even seen people start flat tappet cams for the first time with both springs installed on the valves and then wonder why they failed a cam.
I'll bet I can make a Voodo cam fail...
Lars

 

Who says "we" are down on them? Long term satisfied CompCams customer here.

While no company is perfect, when someone has the lion's share of the marketplace they also have more exposure to real problems occuring, but some of the things I've seen people squawk about aren't exactly Comp's fault IMHO.

 

Absolutely agree. While we is not everyone, it's a relative tern, a generec we if you will. I'm happy with my cam, as I'm sure lots of others are too. Just doing some checking.

I agree with Lars, if you try hard enough, you can bust just about anything...

 

I would not blame the cam grinders no matter who they are, but the cam installers....Any one that cant adjust the lifters or find number one cylinder should not be installing camshafts...Its a disaster waiting to happen.....then blame the grinder..

 

Comp Cams was caught completely off guard with changes in oil recipes. While oils were being made with fewer wear additives, Comp was designing cams that exceeded the usual boundaries of lift vs. duration for flat tappit cams.

Subsequently, there were failures; numerous failures. Go to any of these pages (there are dozens) and conduct a search; "wiped lobe XE cam" and you will get hundreds of hits.

Did everyone suddenly forget how to break in a cam?

No. Pros, experienced engine builders, racers, experienced hobbyists, etc, were having cam failures, primarily with the newer cam designs. It wasn't until 3/08 that Comp Cams released a bulletin finally addressing the issue. Here's the bulletin:

http://competitioncams.com/Base/pdf/...chBulletin.pdf

It's my opininion, Comp didn't do it's R&D with newer aggessive lobes, and Comp's reputation has taken a beating.

The fixes are;

1) Use a cam with lobes that are less aggressive. It's rare you hear of problems with the use of the old "151" cam.

2) Find a way to get wear additives into your crankcase, whether it's an older recipe for diesels, or a racing oil, or an additive. From what I read and hear, there's not too many great options. For instance, racing oils don't have the detergents a street engine requires. Newer diesel oils are lower on ZDDP. EOS, the GM break-in additive, has a healthy dose of wear additives, but it's expensive and many will tell us that it's not to be in the crankcase longterm.

3) Or, forget flat-tappit cams and go roller.

FWIW

 

This is very true, most wiped FT cams were XE lobes. As far as roller cams the street series they produce is made to use spring pressures between hyd roller and standard solid roller spring rates, ie 150 seat pressure vise 200+. A lot of the chewed up roller cam was from people using too much spring pressure.

 

My mechanic ( has built over 10K engines) went through two Lunati VooDoo cams before going the old standby Crane cam he uses primarily on almost all of his builds on my 383 stroker for my old 76. Probably not now with them gone. It was a fairly aggressive cam, but wasn't very street friendly. I have a ***** Thumpr from Comp Cams in my 75. I like it, but it is a flat tappet and I just buy VR1 racing oil and a bottle of ZDDP to boot. Probably overkill. I am really happy with it and it's a year old now. It's probably the cam in drag racing and circle track. I'd stick by them.

I should have kept that 76 in hindsight. A 4 spd L-82 model.

 

We only hear about the failures, not the thousands and thousands of people that have had no problems.

 

 

Awesome!
I actually started reading this thread expecting to see lots of bashing and actually saw "real informed" posts!
At the same time the XE lobes came out, the world decided to change it's oil formula. This just caused issues with every cam manufacturer of flat tappet cams that I know of, except the ones that didn't really have as "aggressive" as lobes as they were claiming. Compcams actually searched out and found an oil company that designs oils and had them figure out the oil issue and design Comp their own oil mixture to help at the critical break in time. You can get this oil now from Comp and is seriously suggested with flat tappet cams. As for waiting too long on getting a bulletin out, I don't know anything about that time frame, but I do know things move slowly when you have to address the world. You have to have your ducks in a row first.

If any of you are ever anywhere near Memphis, TN and would like a tour, PM or email me and I would be glad to show you what Compcams is about. Alot of people think of the big companies as just companies trying to make the big money and that's it, but I can show you 200 plus people that are at work every day making it happen. Many of them for over 25 years!!

Ron T.

 

This mirrors my experience. I had 3 XE cams go flat during that time. One of them was one day before leaving for a weekend trip. Luckily we had another car to take instead.

 

I will be there in the spring and take you up on it! Good post. I guess I better take the XE cam I have for sale off the boards. LOL!

 

I have had nothing but good experiences with Comp Cams. Used them in every engine I have done over the years (I'm not a pro, but do my own engine work plus that of several friends). I used to race a BB 67 Camaro and used three different cams (as we worked the car from the 13's into the 9's) over the years in that car with only one problem. I actually had the alignment pin come out from the front of the cam. I found this during a quick tear down between weekends. Phoned Comp Cams and was told "we never heard this happen before" (I experience all of the weird failures). They said ship it back and they would repair or replace the cam. I told them I needed it back by Friday so I could get the engine back together to race on Saturday. They had it back to me Thursday, no cost to me.

Great products and great customer service. The first place I look when selecting a cam.

Tom

 

So what is this I've read about paying an extra $20 to have the cam made out of "the good stuff?" I cannot believe that any cam manufacturer would actually offer that to their customers. Give me a break.

 

My rebuilt motor with a mild Comp Cams flat tappet hydraulic was fired by the builder on the engine dyno with both springs installed. Used the Comp Cams additive and no problems thus far. He has been building circle track engines for a living for the past 40 years. I have read articles saying it is not always necessary, and may sometimes actually cause more problems. Do you know something he doesn't?

PS - I like your name...that's my grandfathers name and my middle name!