Camshafts & Cam Kits
Pontiac V8 Camshafts & Cam Kits
The Part That Decides How It Sounds — Camshafts & Cam Kits for Pontiac V8s
The camshaft sets the personality of a Pontiac V8. Duration at .050", lift and lobe separation angle decide where the torque lands, how the engine idles, how much vacuum it makes and what converter and compression it will tolerate. Everything else in the engine works around that choice.
Butler grinds and stocks hydraulic flat tappet, hydraulic roller, solid flat tappet and solid roller cams for Pontiac 265-455 engines, including the Butler/Comp Hi-Torq series, Butler exclusive Ram Air Series reproduction grinds, Comp Cams book grinds, Lunati, Crane and full custom billet cores, sold bare, with lifters, or as complete master kits.
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1. Flat Tappet or Hydraulic Roller
This is the first decision and it changes the parts list, the oil and the install.
| Hydraulic flat tappet | What the factory used, the least expensive route, and correct for a stock or period rebuild. Butler is blunt about the cost: all flat tappet cams require break-in oil and oil additives, and a more extensive break-in process than a roller. |
| Hydraulic roller | No break-in ritual, no lobe wipe risk, no worrying about zinc, and modern ramp rates that are easier on the valvetrain. It makes more area under the curve for the same seat timing, which is why a roller can idle better than a flat tappet with the same power. |
| Solid flat tappet and solid roller | For race combinations, available as Comp book grinds and as full custom grinds on standard and 50mm billet cores. |
| The retrofit gotcha | A retrofit hydraulic roller uses tie bar lifters, and the stock Pontiac valley pan will not clear the tie bars. Budget for a fabricated valley pan when you plan a roller conversion. This one surprises people after the cam is already in the block. |
2. Cam, Cam and Lifter Kit, or Master Kit
Butler lists most grinds three ways, and the difference is what shows up in the box.
| Cam only | For a builder who already has matched lifters, springs and a timing set. |
| Cam and lifter kit | The cam with a matched lifter set. On flat tappet kits Butler supplies its own spec version of the Comp 852 lifter, a Hy-Lift Johnson part made in the USA. On hydraulic roller kits you choose Morel 5884R or Johnson 2112-OPR lifters. |
| Master kit | Butler's designed and tested package with the cam, lifters, a Pontiac Pro Billet timing set with billet gears and a 9-keyway crank sprocket, valve springs chosen for your heads, chromoly retainers, locks and valve stem seals, plus a pushrod length checking tool. The point is to remove the guessing about whether the combination works together. |
3. Butler/Comp Hi-Torq: The House Grinds
Hi-Torq is Butler's own lobe family, ground by Comp Cams to Butler's specs, and it is the backbone of the catalog.
| Hi-Torq hydraulic flat tappet | A street ladder on a 112 lobe separation, running from 250/260 advertised, 206/212 at .050" and .432/.444 lift up through 284/296 advertised, 240/246 at .050" and .507/.510 lift. |
| Hi-Torq Street Series billet hydraulic roller | Three street steps, 264/270 advertised with 212/218 at .050" and .487/.495 lift, 270/276 with 218/224 and .495/.503, and 276/282 with 224/230 and .503/.510, each offered on 108, 110, 112 and 114 lobe separation so you can tune idle quality and vacuum to the car. |
| Aggressive and Performance Series | The bigger rollers pick up at 288/294 with 236/242 at .050" and .521/.540 lift, then 294/300 with 242/248 and .540/.563, and 300/306 with 248/254 and .563/.581. The Performance Series is aimed at 500 to 600 HP combinations. |
| Max HP cams | A separate group of hydraulic rollers spec'd for boosted, nitrous and N/A combinations. |
4. Ram Air Series and Super Duty Reproductions
Butler exclusive grinds, designed with Comp Cams and cut in Tennessee, for people who want the factory character back.
| Flat tappet reproductions | The "067" at 244/254 advertised and 200/210 at .050" on a 111, the "068" at 256/268 and 212/225 with .405/.405 lift on a 115, the Ram Air III "744" at 268/280 and 224/236 on a 115, and the Ram Air IV "041" at 276/290 and 231/240 on a 113. Melling reproduction grinds are stocked alongside them. |
| Hydraulic roller retrofits | The same character on a roller lobe. The "067" retrofit runs 257/265 advertised, 202/210 at .050", .450/.450 lift on 1.5 rockers and .495/.495 on 1.65, on a 111. The "068" retrofit runs 267/281 and 212/226 on a 115. |
| Super Duty SD Series | A hydraulic roller reproduction of the McKellar #10, GM part 541596, the grind that ran in the 1963 421 Super Duty Catalinas. It measures 236/245 at .050" on a 113 with .428 lift on 1.5 rockers and .470 on 1.65. Butler is straight about it: this is a serious street and strip grind, not a mild upgrade, and the long seat timing wants compression and a stall converter behind it. |
5. Comp, Lunati and Crane Book Grinds
When a known catalog grind is the right answer, Butler stocks it, and in most cases in a Butler-spec lifter kit as well.
| Xtreme Energy flat tappet | XE250H through XE294H. As a reference point, the XE256H runs .447/.455 lift, 256/268 duration and a 1000-5200 RPM range, while the XE284H runs .507/.510, 284/296 and 2300-6500. Comp's own note is that they work best with roller rockers and matched springs and want a performance intake and headers to show what they can do. |
| Xtreme Energy hydraulic roller | XR264HR, XR276HR and XR288HR, in cam only, cam and lifter, and complete kit form for Pontiac 265-455. |
| Lunati | Voodoo hydraulic rollers and hydraulic flat tappet grinds. |
| Crane and Comp solid flat tappet | Including the 290B-6, 300B-6 and 310B-8 grinds. |
6. Springs, Rockers and the Parts That Come With the Cam
A cam is a system, not a shaft. These are the pieces that have to change with it.
| Springs follow the head | Butler specs one spring for stock cast iron D-port heads and a different one for cast iron Super Duty, Ram Air IV and Edelbrock heads, because the install height and retainer diameter are not the same. |
| Rocker ratio | Lift figures are quoted at 1.5 ratio. A 1.65 rocker raises lift, which is why the Ram Air roller grinds list both numbers. Check coil bind and retainer-to-seal clearance before you change ratio. |
| Pushrod length | Lifter and rocker brands change required length, so master kits include a checking tool rather than assuming a stock pushrod fits. |
| Timing set | The Pro Billet set gives nine crank keyways for degreeing. Butler notes it may need to be honed to fit. |
7. Degreeing It In
Dropping a cam in straight up and hoping is how good grinds get a bad reputation. Butler publishes its recommended install figures with the cams.
| Butler and Comp recommended intake centerline | For a 110 lobe separation install the intake lobe centerline at 106; for 112 install at 108; for 113 install at 109; for 114 install at 110. |
| Why it matters | Advancing the cam moves torque down in the RPM range, which is usually what a heavy street car wants. The multi-keyway timing set exists so you can hit the number instead of living with whatever the chain gives you. |
| Custom grinds | If nothing on the shelf fits the combination, Butler has Comp cut a custom hydraulic flat tappet, solid flat tappet, hydraulic roller or solid roller, including 50mm billet cores. |
Before you order, have the displacement, compression ratio, cylinder heads, intake, converter stall, rear gear and vehicle weight in front of you. Those seven numbers are what a cam should be chosen from, and they are what Butler will ask for when they spec one.
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Not sure what your Pontiac needs?
Call our tech team at 866-762-7527. Tell us your engine, heads, car, and power goal, and we will put the parts together as one combination that works.