509 Camshaft issues

[Shannon6258]

I had a local shop build my engine. 383 bored .40. Edelbrock Torker intake. Edelbrock 750 carb. Summit ceramic Headers and 2.5 inch dual exhaust. They stuck in a 509 purple cam. 3 speed Automatic Transmission. It falls on its face. They're now installing a 3000 RPM stall converter. The rear end gears are 323s. What will I expect to be an issue with these gears. I don't care how fast the car does in the quarter mile. I don't care if it does a burnout. I care about driving a fun car around. Will the car be fun to drive with this set up?

 

[Mike67]

That cam sound's kind of agressive if your just wanting a nice cruiser....484 would be a lot tamer and more manageable on the street.
Do you have power brakes? Vacuum is going to be very low w/ 509.

 

[Shannon6258]

That cam sound's kind of agressive if your just wanting a nice cruiser....484 would be a lot tamer and more manageable on the street.
Do you have power brakes? Vacuum is going to be very low w/ 509.

At this point it’s too late because it’s back in the car and they already took the transmission back out to install the stall. I’m way over budget and the car will most likely sit for awhile if the cam needs to changed back out Brakes are terrible due to loss of vacuum. Do you think the higher Stall will be any help to it in regards to vacuum and it falling on its face?

 

[Mike67]

There are a lot of threads here on the 509 and majority agree that you need gears and a pretty loose tc.and some even suggest a vacuum pump. In a street car that is no fun.. Higher the stall the more heat you'll build in the trans because of the lower rpm slippage.
The stall will help get the cam into it's power band but the problem is a street car doesn't spend a lot of time at 3500-7000 rpm...
That cam doesn't start working until 3500rpm, I would tell him to stop immediately send the TC back and get a cam that will suit your desires as it sounds youre not racing or trying to impress anyone by sounding like a prostocker, make it streetable & reliable...you wanted a low rpm torque motor and got a high rpm HP type motor...
Others that are more expirenced in different combos will chime in....good luck!
https://www.forbbodiesonly.com/moparforum/threads/mp-509-cam-likes-dislikes.26766/

 

[Kern Dog]

383...Low rpm torque? The 383 has a shorter stroke than a 360!
The 509 cam isn't a bad choice for a 440 with 3.91 gears and a 3000 stall converter. For a stockish 383 with 3.23 gears, the car will feel like a slug until 60 mph in 2nd gear.
A 280/474 Mopar cam would have been a much better choice for a good street cruiser. I had that cam in a 9.2 CR 440. That engine ran great! Plenty of power, slight lope at idle, plenty of vacuum for the brake booster.

 

[Mike67]

I would also get rid of that single plane intake, try to find a Performer Rpm or other dual plane....

 

[Kern Dog]

Heck, even a 383/440 Magnum cam would be a far better street cam than the '509, especially if you keep the 3.23 gear.

 

[Lionized]

Performer RPM and 2400 "Hemi" converter did wonders for my car.

 

[Bill Monk]

I agree with others comments, you have a mix that just won't work with what you are trying to accomplish. If you are going to stay with that cam, you are going to need at least 3.90s in the back. I would change out the cam to something more streetable. I run a 484 purple cam in a 440 and it doesn't give me much vacuum but I don't have power brakes. I also have a 4 speed and 3.55s out back with a 6 bbl. My opinion: change the cam

 

[Don Frelier]

Make sure that you keep the original converter. If you are low on cash get a smaller summit cam install it with a cast iron intake and it will burn the tires.
I recommend the .455 cam in a 383 for street use.

 

[BSB67]

Make sure that you keep the original converter. If you are low on cash get a smaller summit cam install it with a cast iron intake and it will burn the tires.
I recommend the .455 cam in a 383 for street use.

This. They simply made the wrong cam choice relative to your goals. No converter or gear will fix it, they are bandaids. Put the right cam in it.

 

[moper]

This. They simply made the wrong cam choice relative to your goals. No converter or gear will fix it, they are bandaids. Put the right cam in it.

X2. They built a turd. Some like to advance the .509 to get the lower end better but in a 383 - it's going to be a turd. Add in the gears and it was a serious miss. Replcae it with something milder - I steer clear of the MP stuff myself as there's a lot better from several companies. If it was me, I'd run the XE268 Comp. Cheap, runs with single springs with dampners, and will make plenty of low end grunt in a 383. Even if they didn't blueprint the block either (meaning it's low static compression too).

 

[Ranger16]

I had the same problem. When I bought the car it had a 509 in it (unbeknownst to me). It was hard to start with only 2 - 3" of vacuum. Had to get the RPM up to about 2000 before I let the clutch out or it would fall flat on it's face. It was no fun to drive. I swapped the cam the first year of ownership.

 

[IQ52]

I had a local shop build my engine. 383 bored .40. Edelbrock Torker intake. Edelbrock 750 carb. Summit ceramic Headers and 2.5 inch dual exhaust. They stuck in a 509 purple cam. 3 speed Automatic Transmission. It falls on its face. They're now installing a 3000 RPM stall converter. The rear end gears are 323s. What will I expect to be an issue with these gears. I don't care how fast the car does in the quarter mile. I don't care if it does a burnout. I care about driving a fun car around. Will the car be fun to drive with this set up?

No!

 

[1967coronet440]

Here’s my old set up, ran pretty well and sounded good. 440 bored .030, mopar 284/484 cam, 906 heads 2800 stall 3.91 gears.

 

[IQ52]

Did the clowns that built this 383 engine give you an accurate compression ratio? Do you know the present cranking compression?

 

[WP29440SE]

I would seriously suggest you learn how to do some of this stuff yourself or you are going to go broke before you ever get the chance to have fun with your car. it sounds like you are paying monkeys out the *** and they are taking full advantage. it takes less than 8 hours to swap a cam , and half a day to swap a converter

 

[Shannon6258]

Did the clowns that built this 383 engine give you an accurate compression ratio? Do you know the present cranking compression?

No idea of any of it

 

[Shannon6258]

Here’s my old set up, ran pretty well and sounded good. 440 bored .030, mopar 284/484 cam, 906 heads 2800 stall 3.91 gears.

Can you drive it on the interstate with those gears?

 

[WileE]

Whatever shop did this combo, I'd avoid them like the plague.