I am looking at putting together a cheap engine build. I have a 69 steel crank 440 with a decent bottom end. Need a cam because one lobe is going flat and gotta swap heads. Got a line on good prices factory heads unsure of casting. Gonna be in a drag toy and just want to get it going down the track and slowly put more money in it. Right now I have 3.23 gears in it. Converter was robbed for anther project so I only have a 3500 stall sitting on the shelf. Probably gonna run the stock cast intake 4 barrel and headers. Anybody have a cam recommendation for this budget build? Budget won't come up until oil prices raise.

I've never been a fan of the Mopar brand cams but if they are still cheaper to buy with the lifters than the other brands maybe the "509" hydraulic kit might work well for you

I'd get some KB pistons (or forged if desired) & achieve quench with closed chamber heads (even if hogged out 516's) or 915's (better) and you can manipulate that .035 distance somewhat with head gaskets keeping in mind the SCR and the Summitt house brand cam (the biggest of the two). that way your short block is solid/efficient & you can change intake/carb/cam/better CC heads in the future as your budget allows but you will always have a spot on short block (solid foundation). Did I mention that I am a quench proponent

Ok.....my old Duster had a 446 with TRW slugs .060 in the hole. Stock crank and rods. Eddy's OOTB. M1 intake with a Proform bodied 750 and a .509 MP. Using a 2" header and a 5600 stall Coan converter and 4.56's @ 3230 the car would run 10.60's @ 125. This was a 9.5-1 motor on a good day and had a ridiculous amount of passes on it till it gave up the ghost..

also...I used some Mahle pistons on this last mill. They seem like nice slugs and came with the ring pack. Not bad money either.

Let's see...stock heads and manifolds, 3.23 gear, 3500 rpm converter. You do not need a lot of duration. The maximum cam I'd recommend is Bullet 253284, basically the MP .474 cam with a little bit more lift, the cam by itself is $100.00 One step smaller is the 253276 which is also a $100 cam, one step smaller may actually be more what you want and may even get by without a lot of fuss about springs. Lifters from Bullet are another hundred although there may be less expensive lifters out there.

The big Summit cam will work but the Bullet would be my choice and not too many more $$$. The MP474 cam is $200 from Summit.

R.

Hmm I've never heard of bullet cams. The stall converter isn't gonna be an issue with a smaller cam

They are one of the best places to talk to about a cam in my opinion.

www.bulletcams.com
They will regrind a stock flat tappet cam for $60 and a stock hydraulic roller for $120. They have a very large selection of HR grinds, they have .904 lifter specific cams, and they have the Ultradyne catalog.

R.

So the stall converter won't be terrible without a fairly big camshaft?

Have you ever tried to port a head... if you can clean
up the bowls that helps a lot.. pretty simple and minimal
amount of tools... and thats where the biggest bang for
the buck is... have the heads had a valve job done on them
yet.. I always start with a strong bottom end... its easier
to change a set of heads or intake than it is to pull the
engine
EDIT
a higher stall conv can deal with a small cam but a
low stall hates a big cam.. big cam and a low stall
is a MUTT off the line till you get the rpm up to the
torque rpm