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AMC 401 cam recommendation

SCRAMBLER 401

SCRAMBLER 401

Member
City
Marshfield
State
Ma
Anyone running a cammed 401 looking for real world input I’m running 9.7 .1 compression bored 30 over forged pistons 35” rubber 3:54 gears??
 
https://www.pirate4x4.com/threads/amc-401-build-up-qs.245386/

I have read through that thread on pirate 4x4 at least 5 times in the past trying to make the same decision as you to build a 401. For Jeep or FSJ it is best info I have found. Because of it, I listed some of the Cams out of that thread and others to look at. I think it depends on how you drive and where you want the power to run. The Crane 272 is the one I had been considering, but that was based on that Pirate thread. Finding other info besides that, that isn't in a car, is hard to come across.

From reading lots of different posts in other forums, it seems like due to lifter diameter size, higher compression and displacement, people say you can run a more performance cam in a 401 and not lose much on the bottom. Stock 401 info came from Jeep Jedi page I think. I can't verify it is correct numbers. Dur @ 0.050" seems to be the important info vs advertised duration. I really need to learn more what the numbers mean and how it impacts things.

1589975205923.png
 
Its been awhile since I've built my 360. I smoked through a couple summit cams and wiped lobes because of quality... Im currently running
the crane cam I believe the H-260-2. Its great in my 360. I have a 401 sitting in my shop waiting for me to build. I have no plans of replacing the factory cam unless it is damage or in need of repair. It is a beast. I pulled it out of a cj5 running a 4 barrel holley double pumper with no problems. My plans (when I get to it): pull everything apart and make sure everything is with in spec, EB torque intake, maybe EB aluminum heads, and bolt on injection, with O2 sensors and go. I've seen a lot of AMC V8 builders throw one hell of a cam in the motor to pull power... And as mentioned for a street car or show jeep no problem. For a "jeep" I want my RPM range low with power and don't really care about top end power. especially running t-18, 488 axle ratio, and 40" tires. that's me though. the only thing that would trump all this is if i sell my 360, and 401 and drop a ls3 like everyone else... not that there is anything wrong with that...
 
7jeeps7kings said:
Im currently running the crane cam I believe the H-260-2.
Click to expand...

I have this cam sitting in the garage waiting to go in the '77 401 I'm putting in my '77 Cherokee. (The part number is 863901, H-260-2 is the grind). That Jeep is just a daily driver with fairly light towing duties and won't be offroad.
Crane 863901 cam specs.jpg
I asked around on recommendations based on the general usage this Jeep will see and I leaned on two things that my friend who drag races a built 401 in a Dart said. He rebuilds AMC motors himself but he also asked the guy who does his machine work who is big into all kinds of AMC builds, the Crane H-260-2 was that guy's recommendation for the best all-around cam.

This friend also warned me off of COMP stuff, which seemed like one of the other most popular options. He's personally wiped out two of them recently, has seen questionable quality control himself and has heard similar things from his AMC racing friends. Sam Sullivan on here is building a 4.7L stroker and just got a COMP cam that had questionable bearing surfaces that he thought QA should have caught.

Here's another table similar to @Jeeper_4_Life's that I thought was helpful:

AMC V8 cam specs.JPG

Good luck with your decision! I can't wait to get my 401 up and running.
 
7jeeps7kings said:
Its been awhile since I've built my 360. I smoked through a couple summit cams and wiped lobes because of quality... Im currently running
the crane cam I believe the H-260-2. Its great in my 360. I have a 401 sitting in my shop waiting for me to build. I have no plans of replacing the factory cam unless it is damage or in need of repair. It is a beast. I pulled it out of a cj5 running a 4 barrel holley double pumper with no problems. My plans (when I get to it): pull everything apart and make sure everything is with in spec, EB torque intake, maybe EB aluminum heads, and bolt on injection, with O2 sensors and go. I've seen a lot of AMC V8 builders throw one hell of a cam in the motor to pull power... And as mentioned for a street car or show jeep no problem. For a "jeep" I want my RPM range low with power and don't really care about top end power. especially running t-18, 488 axle ratio, and 40" tires. that's me though. the only thing that would trump all this is if i sell my 360, and 401 and drop a ls3 like everyone else... not that there is anything wrong with that...
Click to expand...


I put a lot of effort trying to find a good choice like OP is, still trying to figure it out so I can build a motor. I need instant off idle power for climbing rocks/ledges, but I also play in the sand and need it to wind out, still <5k, and hold power on the upper RPM as well. Since I too run a manual you don't have the luxury of slamming down another gear on a dune. You get one shot and have to wind it out from bottom to top. The 304 I have runs out of go depending.
 
I can't remember part numbers, so I'm probably not much help. I ran a Crower for my first build that was definitely a low-end cam. It ran the engine like a sewing machine, but absolutely fell on its face above 4000 RPM. It had low-end torque for days, but with the 35"s and 4.10 gears, I really needed to run above 4000 RPM for passing and just general acceleration. (Also, my driving style.) I'm thinking maybe it really fell of before even hitting 4000. It was ultimately a disappointing cam for what I needed. But off-idle, it was impressive.

I went with the bigger Summit cam (I think it was the 8601?) and liked its power band, but I also think it lacked quality control, as I went through lifters and ended up doing two of those cams before ditching it.

Then, after some research, I settled on the Comp Cams XE262H, and went with it again for my most recent rebuilt in 2011. It pulls all the way past 5000 RPM, and I have my rev limiter set at 5500 I think, but we didn't do much dyno tuning above 5000. It also has plenty of low-end, I think in large part simply because it's a 401. I can idle through most things, but when I need power, it's on tap, and passing people or accelerating onto the highway is fun.

I should note the rest of my build is 9.5:1 compression to be happy on the crappy gasoline we get here, Indy 401-SR heads, Crane 1.6 roller-rockers, Edelbrock Performer intake, 700 cfm Holley Pro-Section 4Di, Performance Distributors DUI with 7-pin ignition module for digital timing control, Doug Thorley Tri-Ys into dual FlowMaster 50s.

(I went through a lot of lifters when dealing with the cam/distributor gear issue, that led to two full rebuilds when bearings so dictated, but gave me the "opportunity" to try a variety of cams.)
 
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bigwalton said:
This friend also warned me off of COMP stuff, which seemed like one of the other most popular options. He's personally wiped out two of them recently, has seen questionable quality control himself and has heard similar things from his AMC racing friends. Sam Sullivan on here is building a 4.7L stroker and just got a COMP cam that had questionable bearing surfaces that he thought QA should have caught.
Click to expand...

I heard the same thing about comp when I went through two junk summit cams. So I sent with crane.
 
Man I hate hearing this when I already have one sitting in my built 258 that hasn't been fired up yet :banghead:
 
It's not the cams that have manufacturing issues. The lack of zinc additive in the oil, improper break in procedures, or poor initial start up kill the lobes. We start up a new engine about 1 a week without issues.
 
mysunnshine said:
It's not the cams that have manufacturing issues. The lack of zinc additive in the oil, improper break in procedures, or poor initial start up kill the lobes. We start up a new engine about 1 a week without issues.
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The friend I referenced builds all of his own AMC engines as well as for others as a side gig, for what it’s worth. Doesn’t mean the other reports he heard weren’t from other issues but he knows what he’s doing with AMCs.

Sam Sullivan’s cam issue on the bearing surface that I referenced was right out of the box :shrug:

Obviously they’re not all going to be bad just like there will be problems with other brands too.
 
I had a 268 Comp Cam in a 401 it was a beast. at 1800 it was hang on baby here we go. It would not idle below 1200 good for a manual not so good for a automatic with 800 stall. I put in a comp 260 it's a slug.
 
I would recommend looking at something custom that will take advantage of the .904 AMC lifters. Most of the off the shelf grinds from Comp and others are based on .842 Chevy lifter size. Howard's has AMC blanks. I know there are others (Bullett, Jones) too but Howard's is who I used in my 401. Lots of threads and knowledge over on the AMC forum if you want to research there. The other thing to consider is if you are still using the stock braking system then your braking is likely already marginal with 35" tires. Play careful attention to duration and what effect it will have on your vacuum for standard CJ power brakes. I had a Comp 292H (244 at .050) and my braking was dangerous even with the braking system dialed. Sounded cool at idle but I want to drive the Jeep and do it safely.
 
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cw05 said:
I would recommend looking at something custom that will take advantage of the .904 AMC lifters. Most of the off the shelf grinds from Comp and others are based on .842 Chevy lifter size. Howard's has AMC blanks. I know there are others (Bullett, Jones) too but Howard's is who I used in my 401. Lots of threads and knowledge over on the AMC forum if you want to research there. The other thing to consider is if you are still using the stock braking system then your braking is likely already marginal with 35" tires. Play careful attention to duration and what effect it will have on your vacuum for standard CJ power brakes. I had a Comp 292H (244 at .050) and my braking was dangerous even with the braking system dialed. Sounded cool at idle but I want to drive the Jeep and do it safely.
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Bumping this from the dead. Do you know the specs for the Howard cam you used in your 401?
 
Jeeper_4_Life said:
Bumping this from the dead. Do you know the specs for the Howard cam you used in your 401?
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The spec's for my Howard's cam are:
263/263 at .006
216/216 at .050
.531 valve lift on a 107 LSA +5

In retrospect, I could have gone more aggressive, but I was gun shy after my experience with the high overlap stock Comp 292H.
 
I’ve got a Howard’s cam in my 360. The cams and lifters are still American made. Quality seems to be significantly better than a lot of the other stuff coming in from overseas. Plenty of power.
 
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