Hey guys

I’m working on my first turbo project. It’s a 1969 Dodge Super Bee.

• 383 Mopar + 0.030 = 389
• Edelbrock Performer RPM aluminum heads. Stock 280 @ .550 lift/ .200 @ .550 lift
• Full sequential ignition and fuel.
• 9.3:1 compression ratio
• cast iron exhaust manifolds into 2” crossover into 2.5” merge. This is for ease of packaging.
• 2.94 gears (have 3.91 and 3.23s too, but hear that around 3.00 works well with a turbo)
• auto trans, 3500 converter.
• Single Turbonetics BB 7875 .96 AR
• Methanol/water injection, or maybe an air/water intercooler if I can fit one.
• Car is 3800 lbs.with me in it.
• 10-12psi?
• 6000RPM redline?

I was running a 232/242 small solid flat tappet camshaft on 112LSA. I had planned to just use this camshaft with the turbo, but while the engine was torn down to open the ring gaps and put on new rockers, I found that the camshaft is going flat. It ran awesome naturally aspirated, with a mild idle, and 6500 RPM shifts.

My goal is a hot street car that I can drive everywhere and take to the track once or twice a summer. NA it ran mid-12s (with headers and more compression). A rough goal of 650 - 700 HP (engine) and maybe a high 10 or low 11 in the quarter one day after everything is sorted out.

I am planning on changing from my current solid flat tappet to a hydraulic flat tappet for simplicity.

Comp recommended a 224/224 .509/.501 on 114 LSA hydraulic.

Lunati recommended a 226/226 .527/.527 on a 112 LSA hydraulic

Crower recommended a 226/212 .527/.504 on a 114 LSA hydraulic


Honestly, I think I’d be fine with any of these cams, but wouldn’t mind hearing other recommendations, ideas, or comments!

Thanks!

 

If you are sure you're going to keep the boost as low as you've indicated, then a hydro FT would work. But I would recommend going with a roller, just for the increase in seat spring pressure without worrying about eating the cam and/or lifter(s).

Regarding the cam which I have no experience with a Mopar of any kind, I always choose on the side of mild and let the turbo do the work. Increasing the boost 2-4 psi to make up for a cam is easy. But trying to tune around a big cam is more of PITA - TO ME. I'd try to keep the overlap at .050" less than 5 degrees and use an ICL that is a 2-4 more degrees than what you would use if NA. Again, let the turbo do the work.

 

I appreciate the response!

Right now, $800+ for roller cam and lifters just isn't there. Before finding the wiped lobe, my plan was to get the car running on the existing solid flat tappet, and use the information from that (exhaust pressure and whatnot) to help pick the proper turbo cam in a year or two. I will still probably do that with whatever cam I end up with here, and then go roller when the expense isn't unexpectedly piled onto the rest of the turbo build.

I really am worried about over camming the engine... the 232/242 solid I was running is very mild with a hint of an idle (with 11:1 and headers anyway), so these recommends are at least somewhat close in size after converting from solid to hydraulic... although I am a bit afraid of something like that that reverse split since its so different and everything I have read recently says that turbo cam designers are moving away from the reverse split.

I'll probably just order up that Comp one.

Thanks for the thoughts!

 

Your original post indicated 9.3:1 and the most recent indicates 11:1. If it's 11:1, then be advised your tuning window is going to be very small. I'd be running a bunch of meth or E85 with that much compression. 9.3:1 isn't low for a turbo car that sees street time IMHO.

 

I was just trying to give an idea of how the engine idled and ran with the old camshaft when it was naturally aspirated. It was 11:1 with long tube headers, and is now 9.3:1 with cast log manifolds,

Thanks!

 

I like the Lunati cam over all but the wider the LSA there not so noticeable anyway at idle and it will spool fast using the 7875 is that a turbo you already have.

 

Yes, I already have the turbo. I wanted something physically small that I could fit without much difficulty, and it seemed a decent size for my relatively modest power goals.

Would you like that Lunati on a 114 even better? Being a custom, I guess I can really order whatever I choose to. Its got 4 degrees of overlap on a 112 and -2 on a 114. The Comp 224 is -4 on a 114.

Thanks for the input!

 

All of those cams are milder than I run in my 4.8 lol. I would err on the small side with the camshaft and probably don't expect a lot of rpm (6000 seems generous) with the small single turbo and mild cam.

 

My kinda question on this would be why crower thinks the exhaust side doesn't need the help the other guys think it does. 12* and .023 of lift different is significant.
But i do not know much about the mopar head, so maybe thats a thing?

 

I do want to err on the small side with the cam. I guess I just need to choose something and see what happens. At some point in the future I can make a more educated cam decision and probably step up to a roller at the same time. I still hope to get 6000 RPM or better out of it, but the cam and turbo are small so we will see.

Thanks for the response!

 

I am not sure... I gave the same info to all the companies I called. The Crower guy was a Mopar guy and I was transferred to him specifically for his Mopar knowledge and he definitely knew his stuff in general regarding the parts I was using. I am running Edelbrock Performer RPM heads and they flow 280 @ 0.55 intake and 200 @ 0.55 exhaust which I think is pretty typical ratio for an aftermarket cylinder head.

I had submitted an online cam request form to Crower last week before I called in, and they ended up recommending a very similar reverse split cam too.

Thanks for the discussion!

 

Imo the reverse split will probably be a good idea with the small turbo and restrictive manifolds. If you start getting some free flowing parts on the hot side you can start going the other way. Reverse split is an old way of getting around the poor turbo technology of the 80s and 90s.

The cam I run almost looks like a NA piece. 227/230 @ 0.050" .60X/.60X 110+4. But I have a small engine with a fairly large turbo and 1:1 backpressure.

 

I've ran into the same situation. Keep in mind that none of these cam company guys are going to tell you that they don't know what to recommend. They are going to recommend something in hopes that you'll buy from them.

If you want to hit a cam choice on the 1st whack, or be very close to getting the best possible choice, then contacting a custom grinder is the best bet. I.e Chris Strab, Bullet, etc.

But if I were in your shoes, then I'd be following the advice of people with some experience with this, such as those here or someone local to you that is trustworthy. Keep in mind that your goal is very reasonable, and it's not going to take a monster, 100% best possible cam to hit your goal.

 

I agree. OP really needs to find a Dodge guru that is known for good running turbo mopars to spec a cam. They are most likely not as "easy" as a SBC or LS simply because they are not nearly as common. The cost of a custom cam vs a shelf cam is negligible, and even on a tight budget, I would still rather spend the extra in hopes of having something at least a tiny bit better.

 

Thanks for the responses guys! Just an FYI, none of these are shelf cams, and all are custom. I think there are like 2 BB Mopar shelf cams out there that have turbo features (less overlap and duration)

I called Bullet for a recommendation yesterday... I got two recommendations... a 252/262 on a 114LSA which I had to ask if those were advertised or @0.050 numbers (they are @0.050). He then said that we could do a 242/246 if I wanted something a bit milder. I’m a newbie at turbos, but have been around engines and cams long enough to know that I couldn’t consider either and I assume that he must have misheard some part of my combo although I did try to clarify it all with him. Maybe I’ll call again today.

I am kind of in the middle of nowhere so I have nothing local to me (shops, cam grinders, anything performance related). I’m not aware of anybody that is the big block Mopar turbo cam guru, but maybe I'll ask around. Since every cam I have mentioned is custom, I'm certainly willing to pay more for a custom cam... While $200-$250 for a custom FT is more than $79.99 for a shelf Summit cam, its a long way from the $800+ required for a roller setup!

Thanks for the feed back on this! Part of me just wants to go with that 224/224 - 114 since its specs are at least familiar to me from a naturally aspirated point of view, and there are a lot of Chevy Turbo LS guys running the same specs (admittedly with less cubes and a roller). I'm also a bit tempted by that Crower since it is very much a "turbo specific" camshaft. I think I'll call Crower again and see if the guy can give me an answer as to why the exhaust has so much less duration than everybody else's recommendations.

Thanks again

 

Just a quick update here... I called Crower and I originally misheard the recommendation... it is actually a 226/222 on 114LSA. I think that I am going to place an order for it later today.

 

Yes sir you can call 9 different companies and get 9 different answers LOL I'm running a Bullet Cam in mine solid roller I talk to Mark great guy too.

 

Yeah... at least the recommends have been in the ballpark of each other (other than those huge Bullet recommends which also must have been a miscommunication).

I ordered the 226/222 Crower on Monday. Should be fired up in a month or two.

 

All my custom ground crower cams for Mopar have been spot on

 

Just thought Id post an update to my thread. I finally got the engine fired up with the new cam a few weeks ago. It idles very smooth. I haven't taken it out for a spin yet, but its pretty much all together. I'm really happy with how it turned out, and I sure learned a lot about turbos and fabrication!

Thanks!

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