CAMSHAFTS -- WHAT? HOW? WHY?

By George Riehl

Reprinted from the 1979 Issue of the Chrysler 300 Club News Volume V Number III

It is the writer’s goal to show various differences of hemi engine versus hemi engine and wedge to wedge as far as performance is affected.

The 1955, 1956 and 1957 engines share the same camshafts, but then the 1957 uses a larger 2.00 intake valve versus the previous 1.94 valve. Without further discussion, the 1957 300C engine performs better. Raw cubic inch factor is also involved.

One exception exists with the 1956 300B engine. That is the 355 horsepower version. That was accomplished with an optional head that increased compression to 10.0 to 1 and torque was raised from 385 lbs. to 405 lbs.

The 1957 390 HP engine used a different camshaft than all others. There seems to be more than one variation of this engine camshaft ranging from the solid lifter type to an Iskendarian roller cam assembly. Then there is another unknown cam that is currently being degreed and checked on specifications. The variety of cams for 1957 was a result of Chrysler’s racing program.

Then in 1958, the hemi was offered with an electronic fuel injection unit that was of Bendix design. The standard 392 300 engine and the F. I. engine shared the same camshaft. The use of fuel injection would result in higher horsepower, 10 to be exact, with all other factors the same as the 380 HP engine except for exhaust manifold size.

In 1959 the 413 wedge appeared, and whether anyone wants to dispute it or not, with less performance than the previous 2 years of 300s. The camshaft design was changed greatly which resulted in engine deficiency. The table quite clearly shows the reason. Plus it (the engine) was not a well tested performance engine. This was due to less expensive block and head casting versus the higher cost hemi engine. Chrysler HAD to economize!

The 1960 and 1961 engines showed much more promise with the ram tuned engine. Much experimenting went into these engines and they seem to be the most unique in the world of automotive history. Rams actually do ram in fuel/air mixture to the cylinders and result in progressive compression ratio changes only in the fact of putting in more cubic inches of fuel/air mix into the cylinders than they were normally designed for. Not only that, but the runners on the tubes leading from the carbs to the heads of the intake valves created a pulsing action that would sonically and physically push the air into the combustion chambers. This also helped to “blow” out some of the burnt gases from the combustion chamber into the exhaust system.

The optional cam for the 1960 and 1961 413-400 HP engine was of different technical design because they used not hydraulic lifters, but used solid lifters with adjustable rockers. Hydraulic and solid lifter camshafts cannot be exchanged between their components. The grinding of the cam profile is quite different. The 400 HP cam is more radical than the standard cam by the then standards.

The 1962 413-380 HP engine went to solid lifter camshaft and was of better design than the 1959 version. But then again, the 1959 engine used a hydraulic camshaft. Also the 1962 engine used a smaller exhaust valve that reduced its efficiency slightly.

The 1963 and 1964 ram engine used the ram tubes of slightly different design. The inside partitions were made shorter than the 1960 and 1961 engines and the camshaft was again modified to “match” the ram tubes. These camshafts used solid lifters. Larger exhaust valves and “short” tubes teamed with camshaft design, resulted in one of, if not the best, the best performing 300 engines by far.

For the non-ram 1964 and 1965 413-360 HP engines, again the camshaft design was changed to match the single 4 bbl carb. This cam was also hydraulic and was a result of proven performance on the street with the 361, 383, and 426 wedge high-performance engines. This camshaft (design or grind) has powered many a Chrysler product engine from about 1959.

I have researched some “hot rod” of higher performance after market camshafts that may be used as a replacement for a worn out or broken camshaft for your 413 wedge engines. Remember that these cams were designed for higher compression and larger valved engines that were not of the ram manifold design. Technical involvements arise when going to a “bigger stick” in your engine and may cause other problems like valve to piston interference and too great a progressive compression ratio increase. Example – one might use the Crower 32914 cam in the 1959, 1960, 1961 standard 300 engine and also in the 1964, 1965 360 HP engines.

One side effect of this replacement cam would be a complete change of valve springs, spring height specification changes and, of course, a reduction in miles per gallon used. Also, all lifters would have to be new.

This chart is to be used for your reference only and the club does not authorize any non-stock camshaft for your use. But, in some cases, what else would one do if a camshaft was needed badly to get a 300 on the road? Our Technical Director, Gil Cunningham, is continually trying to locate the original manufacturers of the original camshafts and will keep us all posted. He has to date, located the original grinder of the 1963 and 1964 ram 390 HP engines. He is also following a lead on the 1957 (1955?, 1956?) cam manufacturer and will advise us as soon as it is verified.

Until original manufacturers are located and established that they still have the master cams, the option exists for the restorer to purchase a camshaft of recent manufacture that comes closest to the original 300 cam. But with the possibility of premium gasoline not being available in the very near future, the situation would exist that with the “performance” cams an engine on regular gas would start blowing holes in pistons, breaking rings, pounding out valves and valve seats and even to the point of damaging engine bearings.

The 300 engine may be a “brute” but it does have its limits, and if you want it to live a long and satisfying life, treat it as you would anything else of value. Treat it like a lady. Nothing is as pleasing as a good sound and pleasurable feelings. It is truly a love affair between man and his machines.

CAMSHAFT SPECIFICATIONS FOR 300 ENGINES

	1955	1956	1957		1958		1959	1960		1961		1962	1963-64	1964-65
			Std	Opt	Std	F I		Hyd	Solid	Hyd	Solid		Ram	Non-Ram
BTC0	35	35	35	20	32	32	20	20	25	20	25	22	18	24
ABC0	65	65	65	55	64	64	60	68	79	68	79	66	70	64
DURATION0	280	280	280	255	276	276	260	268	284	268	284	268	268	268
BBC0	65	65	65	60	73	73	58	60	74	60	74	62	66	64
ATC0	25	25	25	20	23	23	22	28	30	28	30	26	22	24
DURATION0	270	270	270	260	276	276	260	268	284	268	284	268	268	268
OVERLAP0	60	60	60	40	55	55	42	48	55	48	55	48	40	48
LIFT (intake)	.444	.444	.444	.455	.435	.435	.390	.430	.449	.430	.449	.444	.445	.430
LIFT (exh)	.435	.435	.435	.455	.442	.442	.390	.430	.454	.430	.454	.456	.452	.430
Intake Size	1.94	1.94	2.00	2.00	2.00	2.00	2.08	2.08	2.08	2.08	2.08	2.08	2.08	2.08
Exhaust Size	1.75	1.75	1.75	1.75	1.75	1.75	1.74	1.60	1.74	1.60	1.74	1.60	1.74	1.60

_{AFTERMARKET CAMS}

	HYDRAULIC LIFTER (413-426-440)							SOLID LIFTER (331-354-392)
	Crower	Crower	Ramchargers	TRW	MoPar	Crane		Zimmer	Crane
RB CAMS	32100	32914	2910	TP140	P3690214	HT-284-2-NC			M-282-8-C
BTC0	34	18	32	TDC*	36	31		32	38
ABC0	66	66	68	38*	68	73		64	64
DURATION0	280	264	280	288	284	284		276	282
BBC0	74	66	68	44*	72	80		73	74
ATC0	26	18	32	6*	32	34		23	28
DURATION0	280	264	280	288	284	294		276	282
OVERLAP0	60	36	64	64	68	65		55	66
LIFT (intake)	.460	.450	.439	.444	.471	.430		.405	.443
LIFT (exh)	.460	.450	.439	.445	.474	.448		.4125	.443

_{* NOTE: @.050 cam lift}

Jean-Yves Chouinard writes in 2016: A conversation with George (around 2004 I think) revealed that he thought the best replacement cam for 60-61 long ram cars was cam "CS327 from Sealed Power". I have it in my F and in my G and just bought one for John's F convert we are restoring now. My engine shop says it is readily available, there was 90 in stock in Philadephia when they ordered mine!! My F engine was put on the dyno and came out with 495 ft/lb of torque at 2800 rpm, exact factory published numbers! John can attest to the good drivability of the car with that cam as he drove my F this Summer to go to the Macungie meet. You need a three key way crank gear and need to set it up at the 2 degree retard key, that will get you the correct valve timing required with ram manifolds. Looking at the engine shop invoice, it says: "Clevite 3pc. Timing set no. 9-3104" for the timing components. Hope this helps.

Jamie Hyde writes in 2021: We now have a supplier of F, G, non-ram K, and L camshafts. Contact Hunter Webb at Camcraft Performance Cams. Phone (828) 681-5183 or (800) 426-2261. The part number for the F and G cam is 21-1010-10R4 HCR. The part number for the non-ram K and L is 21-1010-10R0. If you buy lifters at the same time as the cam, you get a guarantee against "flat cam". Hunter has both pin style and ball style lifters available. The box comes complete with the cam spec card and cam lifter ZDDP break-in lube. The ram cam was designed off the original camshaft drawings and is an exact copy of the original but has the special 4 degree retard built into it so you do not reuse your original F and G cam drive. It is recommended that you degree your cam to the specs that come in the box as each engine is different. These are new cams (not regrinds) that are produced on state of the art equipment by hand and each one is fully inspected for quality. Camcraft is a cam shaft supplier to Nascar engine builders.