[jburns]

Our search for new heads and cam was recently accelerated when a roller lifter died in our 540. I think the shaft walked out of the roller and broken bits blew all over... there was another lifter that was close to doing the same thing. Old Crane HR lifters that had been in the motor for years...sucks. Luckily no major carnage.

Anyway, we began talking to a number of motor gurus (some on this board- I really appreciate the time they spent talking to us) and we liked what Chris had to say. Plus there are just so many of you successfully running his stuff!

The goal is 10.0 from a best now of [email protected] Here was the basic combo: 540/188 heads/th400/2400/3:70/3900lbs with me in it. Crane HR (632/632/244/256/114). Yeah, the car is a barge with steel everything, a/c, p/s, 4-wheel discs, bar, full insulated interior... street car! The big changes are 305 AFRs and a Straub HR.

Hope to wrench it all together in a couple of weeks and get to the track soon after. The kool-aid is mixed and my brother and I are ready to drink!

 

[Tod74]

You got lucky...when I had a solid roller fail it trashed the block.

 

[94ttss]

I drank the kool aid too, you won't regret it, that Peckerhead is ok in my book.

 

[BBimp]

Go for it i just got my second Straub cam friday and can't wait it test it in my Chevelle ( hope i will get it up and running before the track closes)

 

[elsolo]

I wasn't so sure about the cam Straub sold me, it was quite different from what others had recommended. That doubt was replaced with satisfaction when I finally drove the car with the new motor, the cam is perfect with more midrange torque than the Chevelle can handle right now.

 

[Andy's Auto Repair]

540 x AFR 305 x Straub roller? Seems legit to get in the 10s. But a .70 decrease in ET? That would be a tall order. Talk to Chris and take no license in desribing exactly what you have and he will give you a realistic set of expectations. It is not what you want (unless you are into wholesale changes) it is what you are capable of.

He seems to be getting into better driveability in alot of his cams lately. I know Christian (Bimp) swapped in a Stauby earlier this year on a mountain motor that ran better (faster and quicker) off the nitrous than it did with it on the old combo. Def impressive.

 

[bigblockX2]

Everybody seems to like his work. I will for sure call him up when I get a new cam. I haven't seen him fail to hit a goal that a customer has set.

 

[jburns]

I wasn't so sure about the cam Straub sold me, it was quite different from what others had recommended. That doubt was replaced with satisfaction when I finally drove the car with the new motor, the cam is perfect with more midrange torque than the Chevelle can handle right now.

540 x AFR 305 x Straub roller? Seems legit to get in the 10s. But a .70 decrease in ET? That would be a tall order. Talk to Chris and take no license in desribing exactly what you have and he will give you a realistic set of expectations.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little concerned- his recommendation is quite different than all the others. And Chris is aware of all of the details of our combo- his only concern is that we'll have traction issues!

 

[427L88]

Hey, I can't buy an off the shelf suit anymore. The bespoke suits fit much, much better! Be a rebel John Burns, drink the Kool-Aid and TRUST ONE!

 

[pauls72]

Can't wait to fire mine up , go for it dude

 

[BBimp]

540 x AFR 305 x Straub roller? Seems legit to get in the 10s. But a .70 decrease in ET? That would be a tall order. Talk to Chris and take no license in desribing exactly what you have and he will give you a realistic set of expectations. It is not what you want (unless you are into wholesale changes) it is what you are capable of.

He seems to be getting into better driveability in alot of his cams lately. I know Christian (Bimp) swapped in a Stauby earlier this year on a mountain motor that ran better (faster and quicker) off the nitrous than it did with it on the old combo. Def impressive.

I spoke with Chris about a new cam for my Impala becouse the old cam was a pain to cruse with. And wanted somthing more easy on parts.
I was hoping that I could still run 6 sec in the 1/8 with nitrous (had run 6.84). the old cam did not run well at idle. and if i just stomped it at idle it just stalled no matter how much fuel i gave it. With the new Straub cam i ran like a stocker. I was kind of disappointed when i drove it out on the road the first time thinking this cam is WAAAAAY to mild. until i stomped the trottle @ 30mp/h and the 305/45R18 dragradials just went up in smoke and the engine was bouncing off the rewlimiter @ 6400rpm. The Old cam just stopped @ 5500 (Was thinking the heads old Dart 360 ran out of breath)
And it ran 0.2 sec faster with and with out the Nitrous 7.13 @ 97 NA and 6.62 @ 111.3 on Nitrous :hurray::hurray: And my Impala is a 5500lbs street car.
I am starting selling Straub cams to all my friends.

 

[427L88]

Well, especially in Denmark, Sweden, Australia, etc it pays to get it right the first time.

If I had roller lifters, I would already have done so as I'd be looking for the same result Christian had, smoother idle, more power. Even same power and much smoother idle would meet my objective.

 

[cstraub]

Ed Morel called this morning, his Thunderbolt Clone, "One Eyed Jack", ran 11"'s this weekend on a 9" tire which is off from its normal 10.00's that it runs normally but he was not unhappy.....he only had 7 plug wires attached to spark plugs....

Thank you to all my customers and the email and text message reports. It was a good weekend!!!

 

[jburns]

It lives! Fired up the 540 yesterday and only did some basic tweaking to the idle and idle mixture. The valve train was quiet! Put about 10 uneventful miles on it to get feel for everything. The power brakes still work fine and the idle is not much different than the Crane HR. The aluminum heads took enough weight off the front end to make it feel unstable- new springs and a realignment are due next week. There is less vacuum with this cam and I think the PVs are opening sometimes at idle in gear. The Holley Ultra 950 hp is a bit of a mystery to me compared to a standard 4150. I'll take any suggestions on the 950!
Anyway, haven't nailed it yet- cracked the secondaries once and it pulled butter-smooth and clean. So far so good!

 

[jburns]

Oh, and for the love of God!, can someone give me a part number for a shorty spark plug (in the correct heat range!) that will work with hooker comps and AFRs in a first gen Camaro? The Accels shortys aren't short enough.

 

[modchevelle]

Never liked Hooker Headers. Nothing fits. Hedman headers fit.

 

[StevenS]

I will be next. As soon as I get my 496 together I will be calling Chris. Solid roller this time.

 

[WHT/73]

Good luck with your cam!
I'm sure it will do what you want. I'm on my 2nd custom cam (not from Chris THIS time) for two different motors.

My car did EXACTLY what I wanted to do 1st pass right off the trailer with no tuning!

I wanted to go 10.7's with the 406 and that's what I was rewarded with.

Good luck and enjoy!

Chris

 

[vht]

Haven't bought 1 yet from Chris, but talked to him about improving my 434 in my 72. His customer service is sure something you don't see anymore. Asked him about heads to improve on my Darts, he said send them in and he would improve on them. 99% of the people you would have contacted would of said, Yea you need these $5000 dollar heads I got. He is the only guy I've seen that instead of emailing you back, he calls you. On plugs NGK makes a short plug, I don't know if you can get any shorter than a Accel though.

 

[steelcomp]

It lives! Fired up the 540 yesterday and only did some basic tweaking to the idle and idle mixture. The valve train was quiet! Put about 10 uneventful miles on it to get feel for everything. The power brakes still work fine and the idle is not much different than the Crane HR. The aluminum heads took enough weight off the front end to make it feel unstable- new springs and a realignment are due next week. There is less vacuum with this cam and I think the PVs are opening sometimes at idle in gear. The Holley Ultra 950 hp is a bit of a mystery to me compared to a standard 4150. I'll take any suggestions on the 950!
Anyway, haven't nailed it yet- cracked the secondaries once and it pulled butter-smooth and clean. So far so good!

PV's have nothing to do with the idle circuit. Just an FYI.