Pretty soon all of this equipment will be in their new larger facility about 30 minutes away. This video may be the last public look inside the iconic comp cams factory! (The first one was now where a runway is at the Memphis airport. They moved here in the late 80s) Stapletonautoworks.com
@Stapleton42; Mitchell & Logan this factory tour within Comp Cams is excellent, informative, very good inside view within a modern production facility, along with some of the development stages within their production development improvements. Comp Cams is one of the many smaller, individual companies, manufactures, that have become within the one conglomerate - with Edelbrock, Holley, etc. This has advantages and disadvantages. A. There are other CAM manufactures with their level of expertise, lineage, notoriety, specialty, specialization among racing and other engines. -1. among them are Isky Cams in CA -2. others B. This office layout, setup, design is typical among many companies implemented during the later 1980's and 1990's with cubicles -1. such an environment has advantages and disadvantages - as open house designs from the 1960's - less interior wall, more open sense, 'feel' - less privacy -2. during my design engineering employment [1978-1993 + interviews within many companies afterwards into this Millennium] -a. cubicles offer an open format, sense - helpful with management observation, while providing some partial separation - partial privacy -b. privacy is important for necessary individual work, one-to-one, interpersonal, small group communication, interaction, discussions, problem solving, handling issues, problems, etc. - similarly within a family, small business, private offices, etc. -c. large open, bull pen type employment set up - has far more pressure, every little situation is noticed by everyone, difficulties, problems, issues become wide spread, thus often escalating more into arguments, heated discussions, lacks privacy -> not conducive for, with, within good working relationships - hinders them. ->first hand experience within such a large, open, semi divided environment within McDonnell-Douglas facility, LB, CA [Sept 1988- Jan 90] - worst ever for me - contracted by my main employer assisting testing of, with ARINC, electronics for MD-11 - hired post major layoffs March-April 1988 - searched, found work elsewhere within main company by Jan 1990 - to a 'more normal' office environment with individual and shared offices with full walls. AllThe Best Sincerely
Love to know why on earth are the lobes on the cam so wide, if they are only touching the base of the lifter, then make it only as wide as much as the lifter needs to touch it, then you have less rotating mass and therefore less to try to balance it out, the base of the lifter used is only going to touch the top part of the camshaft and not the complete top surface of it, thus better to make the cam lobes just as wide as completely required, thus using less material and saving more money as well, plus more efficient cam and better frequency dynamics with in the engine rotating masses? If you look at used camshafts, you can clearly see that the liftor only touched about the middle surface of the lobe, thus make a cam with only about 1/2 of the thickness but making sure it perfectly made to spec for the engine and also crack tested sonicaly tested to make sure its strong as its needed for a particular purpose drag, st, or everyday engine with extra performance requirements etc ?
OMG did not know they had a wavelength measuring machine for the camshafts they make that is insane accuracy, down to the millionth or tenth or 100's or 1,000 and's of a millionth of a millimetre? 👍👍👌👌🦘🦘✌✌
We really appreciate the factory tours. Getting a look at how our parts are made makes us feel a little more invested in the products. And builds brand loyalty.
Tremendously informative! 2 guys with 40+ years' experience still doing what they've been doing; the changes they have witnessed likely won't be seen again folks. Thank you all for your time doing this video.
great tour, I would love to hear more. I had an uncle who restored brass and cars, he told that if a job was worth doing it was worth doing right. He had an 8 th grade education and he learned how to repair anything, he inspired to always do my best!
Billy Godbold is a walking encyclopedia of camshaft knowledge and this is definitely the best camshaft manufacturing video I've ever seen! Comp makes some of the nicest products I have ever laid my eyes on. I've used 3 of their cams and they worked very nicely.
Comp Cams are the BEST. I am 73 and have been playing with cams since I was 16. In 1990 I installed a Comp Cam in a Ford 460 jet boat. Sounded like John Force and was the fastest boat on the lake. All the other cams never held a candle to the performance of the Comp Cam. Every cam since has been a Comp Cam. Another great video Mitch.
I have a 76 Kauai jet boat with naturally aspirated stroked 460 and hyd roller comp cam among other enhancements. Below water exhaust so she's a little quieter idling around the ramp but when those exhaust tips come up out of the water people start looking. May not be the fastest boat but she will throw you back in the seat. Putting out 640ft lbs, had to reinforce the alternator bracket, only way I could keep her from throwing belts.
This is absolutely very cool and great content in this video! Always, as a 65 y.o. gearhead myself, love to see how engine parts are designed and made. I can't appreciate you & Logan enough for taking the time to check these guys out and do another of your excellent videos, am sure there with you guys for this one too! Thanks so much!😎👍👍👍
Comp and crane in the same house these days after like 50 years competing against each other. You should really see if you could get an interview with Ed Iskendarian. He is over 100 now and has seen so much automotive history first hand!!!
Fascinating - does not even begin to describe the content & tour that we have just watched!! Billy is a Geyser of information that keeps coming - like a freight train...The fact that Lake Speed Jr. did not speak one word until the 21st. minute of this video, was mind blowing....So much was learned here - watching the process & the dedication of the Staff...Hats off to All !!! (Love u Lake!)
Heck yeah, more tech! Love learning about that stuff. Honestly you will probably inspire the younger generation by showing them there's always room for improvement. Seriously as ridiculous as precise as things are already, it can still get better. Thank you all for bringing this and all tech to light. Lake jr's along with all the professionals love, excitement, and enthusiasm in their fields is in my opinion going to help this countries youngins get excited and push them to learn more. Which in turn will ultimately help us become a manufacturing powerhouse yet again!
Back in 2002 I called comp cams and told them that I needed a cam for a street stock to run at Salem speedway. I told him all the specifics. They ground and then sent a cam within one week. We were able to put the cam in the engine and run the Halloween 200. We came in 12th out of a total of 200 cars. we got caught in a wreck and a right rear tire was damaged. We changed the tire and put in 5 gallons of gas in less than two minutes. Comp Cams took very good care of us! ~Ricvis Speed Engineering
This is the one car part I could never wrap my head around and I always hear guys spatting out cams specs and just nod my head nice knowing no idea what they mean. Thank you this was so helpful.
Make sure you back these tech videos up so that future generations can look back and see the innovations over time that the automotive industry has gone through. Keep these videos going-as a retired mechanic/fabricator I love watching just how far things have advanced. One day there may be a Stapleton42 Museum😁
You out did yourself with this one! We use to make our own cams, now we get em from Comp! However we do still make crankshafts and connecting rods! Love this video! Yeah a video on motor oil is a must! Our engineers work with American Petroleum Institute on synthetics! That’s all we use now!
@@Stapleton42 issues to consider with engine oil, and machine lubrication is which individuals to interview. A. The API, and all of the major petroleum manufactures opposed the need for using synthetic lubricants for many decades B. Synthetic lubricants began use during WWI - especially within German military, then USA and others. C. Synthetic lubricant became the standard within military equipment, machines, vehicles during 1950's D. Synthetic lubricants became standard necessary for use within aircraft especially- vital with jet, turbine engines and other aircraft. E. Standard Oil Indiana developed synthetic lubrication oils during 1950's - project an production abandoned -> why ? F. Owners of Standard Oil & all major Petroleum Oil Manufactures -1.-> One Int'l Conglomerate = Glob/Elite Rockefeller StndOil,BP,Exxn,Chvrn,Uncl,Shll,Txco,Snco,Pnzl,Cstrl,Vlvl,Mbletc. -2. first commercial synthetic oil production Amsoil->Amzoil 1970 -first commercial synthetic with certification, approval by SAE, API -3. API refused benefits of, need for synthetics -> major oil company influences, direction, dictation, control -4. Mobil1 - major petroleum oil manufacture - introduced 1974 - inferior compared with Amsoil - proven lubrication test results through all decades -5. 1990's - other major petroleum oil manufactures began production of, with synthetic oil - still produce both and mixtures -> Why ? -6. all major petroleum oil manufactured synthetics present benefits with synthetics compared to petroleum oil lubricants, never compared with other synthetic lubricant manufactures. G. SAE broader base for standards, better, less biased organization than API H. Lake Speed, Jr., an expert within lubrication - works with Joe Gibbs Racing and their private synthetic oil production. I. Mitchell Stapleton - You explanation about the advantages with synthetic oils is falsely based, marketing from the Pnzl own by MjrOlCo-StndOil-Glob/Elite-Rockefeller -> ask Lake Speed about the correct chemical, mechanical, lubrication details with synthetic oils -> still the first and best - proven by tests is Amsoil! J. Synthetic oils have various sources from which they are synthesized. - Methane is a usable source ->thus equally Methanol ->produced from produce -1. Pnzl development of synthetics from Methane - since they have gain ownership of Methane, natural gas sources -not since the result it better. All The Best Sincerely
Definitely do a video on oil. Every one of these factory tours explains details that I'd never think of and are rarely or poorly explained. The details as to why one build runs better than a similar build of the same engine comes down to the small details that some of us would never suspect.
I have used a couple Comp Cams a long time ago. I know I put one in my 76 Ford F-150 302. It sure made it sound good. We called them 3/4 race cams back then. It was as big a cam you could run and still have some vacuum to run the Distributor advance and such. Thank YOu for the tour.
If your watching and you don't love this, you are not a car guy. The very first stickers I put on my toolbox 30 some years ago were CompCams, Clevite, and a giant 6 for Mark Martin. Love the content guys!!!
What an awesome video!! You know when you're at a really great business when see employees there that have been there for 20,30 & 40 something years! It's really cool seeing that there are reasons they're still using some of the old school machines to grind specialty one off cams just a few feet away from machines grinding multiple cams at the same time! Did you talk to them about possibly doing some work with them on a project? That would be really cool to see the entire process from talking to them about building an engine for a specific vehicle & showing what all goes into designing a cam for that said engine & showing step by step what that cam looks like all the way to a finished product.Thanks again for all the hard work y'all put into these videos and for bringing us along for the ride!!
I've been following about a month and am amazed by the the a ability of getting interviews with high profile people and places. At 71 yrs. I'm not usually so impressed. Content is spot on.
The only company I always used for my cams. Currently I have one of their Thumpr cams in my Cutlass and with the long duration it sounds badass idling and it’s totally street able with the right ignition and valve timing and the correct carburetor jetting. changed from a crane that came with it and according to the dyno, I gained about 60hp. It’s a gen 2 four bolt main 350ci small block Chevy bored and stroked to a 383 and currently pushing 480hp
This was great. Ive been a Comp cams Valvetrain guy from my first Comp cam!! Currently got a 280 585 comp cam its a thumping tach breaking monster!!! Cant wait till can afford last few parts n get er going!! Putting in a 96 Mustang Gt 5 speed Posi
Kenny _IS_ Comp Cams. 46 years, wow. i took a brief tour there at the old shop when i was 18. i remember meeting some people but i dont know who they were. i wanted to work there so bad. Yes to the oil video question.
Delta cams has quite a few vids showing their processes. They are doing regrinds and not new cams but they go more in depth on the grinding process, straightening process, welding and repair, etc.
When I was a kid we built John reeds building in Stockbridge ga, it was awesome as a kid to go back later and watch them grind cams, I was amazed. Thanks for the great content as always. 🤘
@@Stapleton42 that's a cool fact, I never knew that. My dad used to run John's cams back in the late 60's/ early 70's we've still got two Reed's laying in our shop. Waiting for us to get off our butts and build something
I absolutely love hearing people, who are passionate about their craft, describe what's going on. There's an infectiousness about how they communicate that really demonstrates how much they care about what's going into their products. Great video, Mitchell.
That was awesome. CNC was unheard of when I was in machine shop school in 85. Machine tool technology today is insane. Way cool. Keep up the great work....
This was a trip down memory lane for me, as I worked for Crane Cams in the late 60’s as a cam straightener. It looks like that is one thing that hasn’t changed. Gene Crane was my boss. He used to grind cams for his riding mower just for fun. 😊
I was lucky enough in the 90s to be shown around in the shop at Reed Cams in Stockbridge Ga. I bought just a single cam from them and they were nice enough to show me how the sausage gets made, as if I had bought a hundred of them. It truly is fascinating to see how they go from core to finished cam. I could watch that grinder run all day with the different lobe masters.
Awesome video. I started ordering cams from Comp in 1984. I have used every cam manufacture over the years and Comp has always been my personal favorite. I could call them and they would have what I needed ready to ship before I hung up the phone. We used to order a bunch of flat tappet circle track cams ground on Winston Cup cores because the would resist wear better than a common cam core. Thanks again for the awesome content.
Thanks for the video. And thank Billy please. I always enjoy him talking about everything. I'm glad they have alot of good longtime employees. We used their camshafts in our old nascar team and my friends in drag racing.
Cool video! Reminded me of the days I worked in a production engine remanufacturing plant…GSM, back in the early 80’s. I worked in the head department. Replacing guides, studs, resurfacing the mating surfaces, cutting the seats (3 angles), and removing broken exhaust bolts…but the coolest machines were the crank and camshaft grinders. Really cool to see how that was all done. Thanks for this video!
Yeah those old cam grinding machines are pretty cool. Had Donnie Johansson (son of Howard Johansson) grind me many cams over the years at the old Howards Cams barn. Cool to watch a cam be made.
That's pretty cool seeing where my Comp Cams 292H (for my '78 Pontiac T/A) cam was made, and probably the machines and people who made it specifically. That motor was built in 2001 just a few weeks before 9/11. It was a monster. I miss that thing, but I am glad I don't have to buy fuel for it nowadays!!! ✌😎
Outstanding Tech Information! We know the " Bump Stick " is the heartbeat of a engine and has to matched up with the other components, Intake, carb, heads etc. to get the most performance. Now days the tech you have shown us is a Wow factor! I do remember the Cam Dynamics brand and also Crane was a big one. Yes I would like to see more of the factory tours and the Tech of modern Oil. Lake Jr. has to be one of the best contacts you have ever met, what a super cool guy with understanding and enthusiasm. Keep up the Great work I promise we will be watching.
Between COMP and Lunati the drag racing, nascar, and all the other racing sports have really been blessed to have the Memphis racing suppliers. It s very sad Memphis no longer has a track to showcase these homegrown products.
Comp is AWESOME! they have a single catalog with lobe designs you can use to make a custom designed camshaft for your design. For instance, I like to build lower RPM high torque engines for my pickups. I use fairly tight duration at 0.050" lift with as much lift as I can find. I usually increase rocker ratio when I can to get even more lift when possible (without significantly increasing duration). An example is the cam I had made in the mid 90s when I built a 400 Ford for my79 F-350 4X4. I used a flat hydraulic tappet Extreme Energy 4X4 core & had lobe profiles designed for a SB Chevy ground onto it. That allowed me to have a cam with an intake profile with 214 dur @0.050 and somewhere around 0.550" valve lift intake & 224 dur @ 0.050 & around 0.570 valve lift using the Ford 1.73 rocker ratio. This was pretty high lift for street use at the time. Using this cam in an engine with 11:1 compression, ported 2V heads, & a Performer intake makes enough torque to enable my pu to pull 11,000 pound loads while working on a farm with ease. I never had the engine on a dyno, but it makes significantly more power than a 410FE engine I had on a dyno that produced 440HP/535lb-ft torque. The point is that you can use the catalog to design an use specific cam that will PERFORM. Glad you made this great vid.
I’d love to see a video of flat tappet cam break in. A definite answer why there are so many failures now would be great. It’s almost just a joke now to buy a flat tappet they fail so much.
One clue- IT'S NOT THE OIL!!! In very rare cases it's the oil during break in or way too stiff springs. Metallurgical problems, lack of hardening, and bad machining of the camshaft & lifters are the main culprit of failure these days.
Seeing that master lobe was cool. A cam lobe is not just a simple egg like people think. You could see how different the opening ramp was from the closing ramp. Really neat!
Back in 80's we had a power surge crash our Okuma.We had to get a tech from Japan to fix it. We had a phone in break room that he was talking to factory on that phone for over 48 hours.We figured phone call cost more than tech..
Lake Speed Jr. I presume really gave you an opportunity and an opening to see a bunch of stuff nobody would be able to see without being a part of the company. These videos are awesome!
Wow! So cool and so informative. My first hot rod cam was a Comp Cam! 30 years later I am rebuilding my 56 Chevy with the same 69 model 427 engine, and I will be in the market for another Comp Cam! :)
Very neat and informative video! Good Ole USA and Tennessean made! Cool that they still have all the equipment of the old days and employees that have been there for 30+ years.
Swing back there and pick up the catalog of the lobe profiles you can get a good feel for what you have run and tinker from there as well as discuss with them where you have been and where they might suggest a direction to improve. The spintron is the next exciting thing to study after you learn why a big wheel lifter has more control riding the lobes than a smaller one. The endless back and forth from a idea to testing to racing is as humbling as it is exciting.
I used to run cylindrical grinders doing pump shafts, turbine shafts, king pins etc etc and i could hold .0001" all day long. These cnc machines would make me look like a blacksmith these days ! Great video !
I ran ethernet cable in that building years ago. You had to be careful when pulling down a ceiling tile because of the mouse terds lol. Comp cams is a legendary place for sure!
did that guy say they QC the camshafts using a machine that measures to nearest wave length of light? im just gonna ponder on that for a bit cause that is mind blowing. edit: i get goose bumps everytime he says "measures to the nearest wave of light"
Ah, the mystery of the camshaft... Love it! Can't wait until the engineering video about measurements, dimensions and degrees of separation! Keep it up! You two are awesome!
Pretty soon all of this equipment will be in their new larger facility about 30 minutes away. This video may be the last public look inside the iconic comp cams factory! (The first one was now where a runway is at the Memphis airport. They moved here in the late 80s)
Stapletonautoworks.com
@Stapleton42; Mitchell & Logan this factory tour within Comp Cams is excellent, informative, very good inside view within a modern production facility, along with some of the development stages within their production development improvements.
Comp Cams is one of the many smaller, individual companies, manufactures, that have become within the one conglomerate - with Edelbrock, Holley, etc.
This has advantages and disadvantages.
A. There are other CAM manufactures with their level of expertise, lineage, notoriety, specialty, specialization among racing and other engines.
-1. among them are Isky Cams in CA
-2. others
B. This office layout, setup, design is typical among many companies implemented during the later 1980's and 1990's with cubicles
-1. such an environment has advantages and disadvantages - as open house designs from the 1960's - less interior wall, more open sense, 'feel' - less privacy
-2. during my design engineering employment [1978-1993 + interviews within many companies afterwards into this Millennium]
-a. cubicles offer an open format, sense - helpful with management observation, while providing some partial separation - partial privacy
-b. privacy is important for necessary individual work, one-to-one, interpersonal, small group communication, interaction, discussions, problem solving, handling issues, problems, etc. - similarly within a family, small business, private offices, etc.
-c. large open, bull pen type employment set up - has far more pressure, every little situation is noticed by everyone, difficulties, problems, issues become wide spread, thus often escalating more into arguments, heated discussions, lacks privacy -> not conducive for, with, within good working relationships - hinders them.
->first hand experience within such a large, open, semi divided environment within McDonnell-Douglas facility, LB, CA [Sept 1988- Jan 90] - worst ever for me - contracted by my main employer assisting testing of, with ARINC, electronics for MD-11 - hired post major layoffs March-April 1988 - searched, found work elsewhere within main company by Jan 1990 - to a 'more normal' office environment with individual and shared offices with full walls.
AllThe Best
Sincerely
why are comp cam on such back order did they tell you
Love to know why on earth are the lobes on the cam so wide, if they are only touching the base of the lifter, then make it only as wide as much as the lifter needs to touch it, then you have less rotating mass and therefore less to try to balance it out, the base of the lifter used is only going to touch the top part of the camshaft and not the complete top surface of it, thus better to make the cam lobes just as wide as completely required, thus using less material and saving more money as well, plus more efficient cam and better frequency dynamics with in the engine rotating masses? If you look at used camshafts, you can clearly see that the liftor only touched about the middle surface of the lobe, thus make a cam with only about 1/2 of the thickness but making sure it perfectly made to spec for the engine and also crack tested sonicaly tested to make sure its strong as its needed for a particular purpose drag, st, or everyday engine with extra performance requirements etc ?
They are about 45 minutes away from where I live. Southaven is a pretty busy town.
OMG did not know they had a wavelength measuring machine for the camshafts they make that is insane accuracy, down to the millionth or tenth or 100's or 1,000 and's of a millionth of a millimetre? 👍👍👌👌🦘🦘✌✌
Billy Godbold is a genius. He has designed every camshaft I have run for over twenty years. #smartdude
What more proof does anyone need than this comment here lol. Maybe next time we are in town we can do the Clay Millican hometown history tour
If it's good enough for Clay Millican, then they're damn sure good enough for me!!!!
BG is an awesome Dude😁
We really appreciate the factory tours. Getting a look at how our parts are made makes us feel a little more invested in the products. And builds brand loyalty.
Absolutely does!! Thanks Brian
Tremendously informative! 2 guys with 40+ years' experience still doing what they've been doing; the changes they have witnessed likely won't be seen again folks. Thank you all for your time doing this video.
Thanks Craig we are glad you’re here
What caused some factory cam shafts to go soft and flat what did Racer Brown do use different stock
Normally I don't care for tours like this but as usual you guys knocked it out of the park. Keep it up. As always thanks
Thanks Ben!
great tour, I would love to hear more. I had an uncle who restored brass and cars, he told that if a job was worth doing it was worth doing right. He had an 8 th grade education and he learned how to repair anything, he inspired to always do my best!
Billy Godbold is a walking encyclopedia of camshaft knowledge and this is definitely the best camshaft manufacturing video I've ever seen!
Comp makes some of the nicest products I have ever laid my eyes on. I've used 3 of their cams and they worked very nicely.
I’m a 73 year old VN veteran and all my engines have COMP CAM in them I have watched the video a few times please carry on sir
thank you mike that is awesome to hear!
Comp Cams are the BEST. I am 73 and have been playing with cams since I was 16. In 1990 I installed a Comp Cam in a Ford 460 jet boat. Sounded like John Force and was the fastest boat on the lake. All the other cams never held a candle to the performance of the Comp Cam. Every cam since has been a Comp Cam. Another great video Mitch.
Thanks man! That’s awesome
I have a 76 Kauai jet boat with naturally aspirated stroked 460 and hyd roller comp cam among other enhancements.
Below water exhaust so she's a little quieter idling around the ramp but when those exhaust tips come up out of the water people start looking.
May not be the fastest boat but she will throw you back in the seat. Putting out 640ft lbs, had to reinforce the alternator bracket, only way I could keep her from throwing belts.
Anything with speed jr is wanted. His excitement and energy is contagious
I have been waiting for my cam for my 1995 corvette past 4 months! It's not comps fault it's do to this great president that running our country
Been through that place a million times! My dad worked at Comp for over 30 years! Cool to see those familiar faces I haven’t seen in quite a while.
This is absolutely very cool and great content in this video! Always, as a 65 y.o. gearhead myself, love to see how engine parts are designed and made. I can't appreciate you & Logan enough for taking the time to check these guys out and do another of your excellent videos, am sure there with you guys for this one too!
Thanks so much!😎👍👍👍
Thanks mark!
Comp cams was my first go to cam for my big block Camaros in the early 1980's.
This stuff is fantastic! Thank you! Amazing the gentleman that has been there 46 years. His knowledge and machining experience is priceless.
Comp and crane in the same house these days after like 50 years competing against each other. You should really see if you could get an interview with Ed Iskendarian. He is over 100 now and has seen so much automotive history first hand!!!
Fascinating - does not even begin to describe the content & tour that we have just watched!! Billy is a Geyser of information that keeps coming - like a freight train...The fact that Lake Speed Jr. did not speak one word until the 21st. minute of this video, was mind blowing....So much was learned here - watching the process & the dedication of the Staff...Hats off to All !!! (Love u Lake!)
Heck yeah, more tech! Love learning about that stuff. Honestly you will probably inspire the younger generation by showing them there's always room for improvement. Seriously as ridiculous as precise as things are already, it can still get better. Thank you all for bringing this and all tech to light. Lake jr's along with all the professionals love, excitement, and enthusiasm in their fields is in my opinion going to help this countries youngins get excited and push them to learn more. Which in turn will ultimately help us become a manufacturing powerhouse yet again!
Thanks man!! That’s our goal. To inspire improvement one person at a time
Billy Godbold-a genius that communicates with normal people. Great video!
this is the perfect channel for people that are addicted to learning
Thank you sir 💪🏻
Back in 2002 I called comp cams and told them that I needed a cam for a street stock to run at Salem speedway. I told him all the specifics. They ground and then sent a cam within one week. We were able to put the cam in the engine and run the Halloween 200. We came in 12th out of a total of 200 cars. we got caught in a wreck and a right rear tire was damaged. We changed the tire and put in 5 gallons of gas in less than two minutes. Comp Cams took very good care of us! ~Ricvis Speed Engineering
Awesome!
This is the one car part I could never wrap my head around and I always hear guys spatting out cams specs and just nod my head nice knowing no idea what they mean. Thank you this was so helpful.
We are so glad we could help!
Make sure you back these tech videos up so that future generations can look back and see the innovations over time that the automotive industry has gone through. Keep these videos going-as a retired mechanic/fabricator I love watching just how far things have advanced. One day there may be a Stapleton42 Museum😁
Thanks man!!
You out did yourself with this one! We use to make our own cams, now we get em from Comp! However we do still make crankshafts and connecting rods! Love this video! Yeah a video on motor oil is a must! Our engineers work with American Petroleum Institute on synthetics! That’s all we use now!
Thanks man!! We will!
@@Stapleton42 issues to consider with engine oil, and machine lubrication is which individuals to interview.
A. The API, and all of the major petroleum manufactures opposed the need for using synthetic lubricants for many decades
B. Synthetic lubricants began use during WWI - especially within German military, then USA and others.
C. Synthetic lubricant became the standard within military equipment, machines, vehicles during 1950's
D. Synthetic lubricants became standard necessary for use within aircraft especially- vital with jet, turbine engines and other aircraft.
E. Standard Oil Indiana developed synthetic lubrication oils during 1950's - project an production abandoned -> why ?
F. Owners of Standard Oil & all major Petroleum Oil Manufactures
-1.-> One Int'l Conglomerate = Glob/Elite Rockefeller StndOil,BP,Exxn,Chvrn,Uncl,Shll,Txco,Snco,Pnzl,Cstrl,Vlvl,Mbletc.
-2. first commercial synthetic oil production Amsoil->Amzoil 1970 -first commercial synthetic with certification, approval by SAE, API
-3. API refused benefits of, need for synthetics -> major oil company influences, direction, dictation, control
-4. Mobil1 - major petroleum oil manufacture - introduced 1974 - inferior compared with Amsoil - proven lubrication test results through all decades
-5. 1990's - other major petroleum oil manufactures began production of, with synthetic oil - still produce both and mixtures -> Why ?
-6. all major petroleum oil manufactured synthetics present benefits with synthetics compared to petroleum oil lubricants, never compared with other synthetic lubricant manufactures.
G. SAE broader base for standards, better, less biased organization than API
H. Lake Speed, Jr., an expert within lubrication - works with Joe Gibbs Racing and their private synthetic oil production.
I. Mitchell Stapleton - You explanation about the advantages with synthetic oils is falsely based, marketing from the Pnzl own by MjrOlCo-StndOil-Glob/Elite-Rockefeller -> ask Lake Speed about the correct chemical, mechanical, lubrication details with synthetic oils -> still the first and best - proven by tests is Amsoil!
J. Synthetic oils have various sources from which they are synthesized. - Methane is a usable source ->thus equally Methanol ->produced from produce
-1. Pnzl development of synthetics from Methane - since they have gain ownership of Methane, natural gas sources -not since the result it better.
All The Best
Sincerely
@@newtonfirefly3584 All of Amsoil's base stock comes from MOBIL.
Definitely do a video on oil. Every one of these factory tours explains details that I'd never think of and are rarely or poorly explained. The details as to why one build runs better than a similar build of the same engine comes down to the small details that some of us would never suspect.
I have used a couple Comp Cams a long time ago. I know I put one in my 76 Ford F-150 302. It sure made it sound good. We called them 3/4 race cams back then. It was as big a cam you could run and still have some vacuum to run the Distributor advance and such. Thank YOu for the tour.
How cool to be the last ones to see the Comp Cams facility. What a passion that exists there.
Extremely
Also you guys have been nerding out lately and I love it! give me all the engineering!
I Like Camshaft For NASCAR And NHRA From The 70s 80s And Early 90s Thanks For Uploading
Awesome. I’m from Memphis and my neighbor in the 80s was one of the founders of Comp Cams /RHS 👍🏼
Friend of mine lived just a few houses down from Joe Lunati. I remember their first little shop over off Raines Road.
billy sounds like a great guy. All praise to the other workers . And he seems very knowledgeable to his job.
Absolutely is!
Performance camshafts don't "get made"... They are BORN!
If your watching and you don't love this, you are not a car guy. The very first stickers I put on my toolbox 30 some years ago were CompCams, Clevite, and a giant 6 for Mark Martin. Love the content guys!!!
Thanks man!!
What an awesome video!! You know when you're at a really great business when see employees there that have been there for 20,30 & 40 something years! It's really cool seeing that there are reasons they're still using some of the old school machines to grind specialty one off cams just a few feet away from machines grinding multiple cams at the same time! Did you talk to them about possibly doing some work with them on a project? That would be really cool to see the entire process from talking to them about building an engine for a specific vehicle & showing what all goes into designing a cam for that said engine & showing step by step what that cam looks like all the way to a finished product.Thanks again for all the hard work y'all put into these videos and for bringing us along for the ride!!
Absolutely will work with them in the future!! We have some awesome stuff planned
I've been following about a month and am amazed by the the a ability of getting interviews with high profile people and places. At 71 yrs. I'm not usually so impressed. Content is spot on.
Thank you Chris that means a lot!
BRILLIANT the way he explained it
Thanks!
The only company I always used for my cams. Currently I have one of their Thumpr cams in my Cutlass and with the long duration it sounds badass idling and it’s totally street able with the right ignition and valve timing and the correct carburetor jetting.
changed from a crane that came with it and according to the dyno, I gained about 60hp. It’s a gen 2 four bolt main 350ci small block Chevy bored and stroked to a 383 and currently pushing 480hp
This was great. Ive been a Comp cams Valvetrain guy from my first Comp cam!! Currently got a 280 585 comp cam its a thumping tach breaking monster!!! Cant wait till can afford last few parts n get er going!! Putting in a 96 Mustang Gt 5 speed Posi
The machine light on that original cam grinder was made in Fostoria Ohio at Fostoria Industries, where I used to work.
Kenny _IS_ Comp Cams. 46 years, wow. i took a brief tour there at the old shop when i was 18. i remember meeting some people but i dont know who they were. i wanted to work there so bad.
Yes to the oil video question.
Crazy right!
Awesome video!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh man, this is something I have wondered about for many, many years of how is a camshaft made.
Delta cams has quite a few vids showing their processes. They are doing regrinds and not new cams but they go more in depth on the grinding process, straightening process, welding and repair, etc.
@@TheInsaneShecklador Thanks.
When I was a kid we built John reeds building in Stockbridge ga, it was awesome as a kid to go back later and watch them grind cams, I was amazed. Thanks for the great content as always. 🤘
He also had a 57 Bel air fuelie that was to die for.
Dated women in Stockbridge, worked in McDonough, lived in Griffin, forgot about Reed cams !
@@REVNUMANEWBERN nice! Now you can't go anywhere up here because of the traffic 🤣
That’s awesome! Comp was actually about to buy Reed until John passed away.
@@Stapleton42 that's a cool fact, I never knew that. My dad used to run John's cams back in the late 60's/ early 70's we've still got two Reed's laying in our shop. Waiting for us to get off our butts and build something
That guy is the ultimate nerd , he's my hero
I'm still here! Back when I worked for Order Zone I went through the Penzoil class and haven't looke back, all I use!! Thanks for this video
It's hard to believe the precision an amazing machinist can make. Those old machines are more amazing than the new to me.
I should have been sleeping 😴, but I've been watching this video for about an hour 😅. But you guys rock, thank you very much for what you do!
I also love how Lake Speed Jr keeps showing up on everyone's video! Love that guy!
Lake Jr is the man
I absolutely love hearing people, who are passionate about their craft, describe what's going on. There's an infectiousness about how they communicate that really demonstrates how much they care about what's going into their products. Great video, Mitchell.
Wow dude, you went next level on the engineering side. These guys are insane. Thank you!
This type of content is amazing! You’re showing us stuff that hard core engine enthusiasts nerd out over!
Thanks man that’s our goal!!
That was awesome. CNC was unheard of when I was in machine shop school in 85. Machine tool technology today is insane. Way cool. Keep up the great work....
This was a trip down memory lane for me, as I worked for Crane Cams in the late 60’s as a cam straightener. It looks like that is one thing that hasn’t changed. Gene Crane was my boss. He used to grind cams for his riding mower just for fun. 😊
I was lucky enough in the 90s to be shown around in the shop at Reed Cams in Stockbridge Ga. I bought just a single cam from them and they were nice enough to show me how the sausage gets made, as if I had bought a hundred of them. It truly is fascinating to see how they go from core to finished cam. I could watch that grinder run all day with the different lobe masters.
Awesome video. I started ordering cams from Comp in 1984. I have used every cam manufacture over the years and Comp has always been my personal favorite. I could call them and they would have what I needed ready to ship before I hung up the phone. We used to order a bunch of flat tappet circle track cams ground on Winston Cup cores because the would resist wear better than a common cam core. Thanks again for the awesome content.
Thanks for the video. And thank Billy please. I always enjoy him talking about everything. I'm glad they have alot of good longtime employees. We used their camshafts in our old nascar team and my friends in drag racing.
Excellent video and much respect for 46 years of service by Kenny.
You're making the most interesting videos on RUclips!
Thanks Barry!
Cool video! Reminded me of the days I worked in a production engine remanufacturing plant…GSM, back in the early 80’s. I worked in the head department. Replacing guides, studs, resurfacing the mating surfaces, cutting the seats (3 angles), and removing broken exhaust bolts…but the coolest machines were the crank and camshaft grinders. Really cool to see how that was all done. Thanks for this video!
Thanks man!
Enjoyed the tour and makes me glad I choose a comp cam 20 years ago for my Camaro. I definitely be going back to them for my big block build.
Man I love these videos, who knew a few years ago that you would be buds with Lake Speed Jr.!!
Yeah those old cam grinding machines are pretty cool. Had Donnie Johansson (son of Howard Johansson) grind me many cams over the years at the old Howards Cams barn. Cool to watch a cam be made.
Love this tour!
Also fun interviewing some of these employees, seems likes a great bunch of people there!
Thanks drew!
I’m 74 years old and I got to See The machine that made my 268H cam for my 350 Chevy in 1993. It’s still running today👍
That's pretty cool seeing where my Comp Cams 292H (for my '78 Pontiac T/A) cam was made, and probably the machines and people who made it specifically. That motor was built in 2001 just a few weeks before 9/11. It was a monster. I miss that thing, but I am glad I don't have to buy fuel for it nowadays!!! ✌😎
Outstanding Tech Information! We know the " Bump Stick " is the heartbeat of a engine and has to matched up with the other components, Intake, carb, heads etc. to get the most performance. Now days the tech you have shown us is a Wow factor! I do remember the Cam Dynamics brand and also Crane was a big one. Yes I would like to see more of the factory tours and the Tech of modern Oil. Lake Jr. has to be one of the best contacts you have ever met, what a super cool guy with understanding and enthusiasm. Keep up the Great work I promise we will be watching.
Cool to see! We used their spec cams on a couple of Ford drag cars many years ago.
Damn!!! 46 Years!! Thats friggen awesome! Dude could probably grind manually by ear!
Between COMP and Lunati the drag racing, nascar, and all the other racing sports have really been blessed to have the Memphis racing suppliers. It s very sad Memphis no longer has a track to showcase these homegrown products.
That guy explained things very well! Which makes a great tour for gear heads!
Comp is AWESOME! they have a single catalog with lobe designs you can use to make a custom designed camshaft for your design. For instance, I like to build lower RPM high torque engines for my pickups. I use fairly tight duration at 0.050" lift with as much lift as I can find. I usually increase rocker ratio when I can to get even more lift when possible (without significantly increasing duration). An example is the cam I had made in the mid 90s when I built a 400 Ford for my79 F-350 4X4. I used a flat hydraulic tappet Extreme Energy 4X4 core & had lobe profiles designed for a SB Chevy ground onto it. That allowed me to have a cam with an intake profile with 214 dur @0.050 and somewhere around 0.550" valve lift intake & 224 dur @ 0.050 & around 0.570 valve lift using the Ford 1.73 rocker ratio. This was pretty high lift for street use at the time. Using this cam in an engine with 11:1 compression, ported 2V heads, & a Performer intake makes enough torque to enable my pu to pull 11,000 pound loads while working on a farm with ease. I never had the engine on a dyno, but it makes significantly more power than a 410FE engine I had on a dyno that produced 440HP/535lb-ft torque. The point is that you can use the catalog to design an use specific cam that will PERFORM. Glad you made this great vid.
That’s awesome lol. Thank you for being here with us for it!!
Technology these days is mind blowing.
Billy is a great guy. Known him for years. I have been using Comp's cams for 27 years pretty much exclusively. Fascinating stuff.
Cool video !!! Lake Jr is a pretty awesome guy!
17:45 YEP, I worked in Quality in a MFG plant with machining etc 43+ years, that's a top notch QC area
Billy is the man!! Had a few conversations with him, such a super guy....
I’d love to see a video of flat tappet cam break in. A definite answer why there are so many failures now would be great. It’s almost just a joke now to buy a flat tappet they fail so much.
One clue- IT'S NOT THE OIL!!!
In very rare cases it's the oil during break in or way too stiff springs. Metallurgical problems, lack of hardening, and bad machining of the camshaft & lifters are the main culprit of failure these days.
Seeing that master lobe was cool. A cam lobe is not just a simple egg like people think. You could see how different the opening ramp was from the closing ramp. Really neat!
Use to run an Okuma, love machining videos.Would like to see oil tech video.
Kenny is the man!
I work on their Okuma’s occasionally, and I can imagine you were as excited as I was to get the plant tour 😂.
Back in 80's we had a power surge crash our Okuma.We had to get a tech from Japan to fix it. We had a phone in break room that he was talking to factory on that phone for over 48 hours.We figured phone call cost more than tech..
@@papadew1964 you’re probably right lol
We still have to get with Japan sometimes but it’s pretty rare, and mostly by e-mail.
Yes,Yes,Yes! A dedicated engine oil tech video, please!
This was a cool one ,knowing how much work goes into comp cams
Lake Speed Jr. I presume really gave you an opportunity and an opening to see a bunch of stuff nobody would be able to see without being a part of the company. These videos are awesome!
He absolutely did!
Wow! So cool and so informative. My first hot rod cam was a Comp Cam! 30 years later I am rebuilding my 56 Chevy with the same 69 model 427 engine, and I will be in the market for another Comp Cam! :)
Thanks man! We are glad you’re here 💪🏻
Very cool video. Lots of info and behind the scenes from a respected and proven performance camshaft company .
Very neat and informative video! Good Ole USA and Tennessean made! Cool that they still have all the equipment of the old days and employees that have been there for 30+ years.
Always fascinating to see how these companies produce their performance products.
Agreed!
Great video on camshaft manufacturing ! Your channel is awesome !
Thanks Tim!!
One can never get enough tech, more yes please. Killing it as usual. Y'all take care.
More tech! Heck yeah, very educational
Swing back there and pick up the catalog of the lobe profiles you can get a good feel for what you have run and tinker from there as well as discuss with them where you have been and where they might suggest a direction to improve. The spintron is the next exciting thing to study after you learn why a big wheel lifter has more control riding the lobes than a smaller one. The endless back and forth from a idea to testing to racing is as humbling as it is exciting.
I used to run cylindrical grinders doing pump shafts, turbine shafts, king pins etc etc and i could hold .0001" all day long. These cnc machines would make me look like a blacksmith these days ! Great video !
Thanks man!
Awesome video thanks for sharing looking forward to seeing more thanks
This is too neat
Yes i would like to see an engine oil tech video it sounds like a video people would enjoy.
I always enjoy these shop tour videos of yours. It would be cool if your sponsor pennzoil would let you tour their factory.
It would be awesome. We have talked about it!
@@Stapleton42 That's awesome! I hope you can make it happen.
I ran ethernet cable in that building years ago. You had to be careful when pulling down a ceiling tile because of the mouse terds lol. Comp cams is a legendary place for sure!
did that guy say they QC the camshafts using a machine that measures to nearest wave length of light? im just gonna ponder on that for a bit cause that is mind blowing.
edit: i get goose bumps everytime he says "measures to the nearest wave of light"
Ah, the mystery of the camshaft... Love it! Can't wait until the engineering video about measurements, dimensions and degrees of separation! Keep it up! You two are awesome!
Thanks man!!