Indy 440-1 users come on in!

All I can add is the pump-gas 499 440-1 engine that Herb McCandless & Co. built for the '95 Hot Rod Pump-Gas Big-Block Challenge ran a Cam Motion roller that spec'd 276/281 @ .050" w/ 110 LSA installed on 106 ICL. Lift was well over .700" w/ 1.7 Jesel rockers. McCandless didn't even care about quench then and ran flat-top pistons "way down" in the hole (something like .075" or .100", IIRC) w/ only 9.5 CR.

One of the tricks about that engine was that it had a lot of epoxy in the heads and manifold which were used to reduce the intake runner sizes and keep up the velocity. Too bad they didn't give either flow #s or runner cc sizes for those heads.

Our combo 578
bore 4.5430
callies crank 4.500 mopar mains, chevy rods
Oliver rods 7.25 .990 pin
Diamond pistons gas ported 14-1 comp
Crane cam 286 in, 306 ex at .050, .800 lift
Heads fully ported -1, jesel 1.6 rockers, psi dual springs, 2.300 intake, 1.78 exhaust with pushrod oiling
Milodon dual swing pickup w/ dragster pan
star vacuum pump 12in vacuum
2 1/8 headers
Motor made 914 hp at 6900, 800+tq at 5400rpm on vp c-12 with 1050 dom , now running alcohol on rupert 1250
9 in convertor ,1.80 glide w/brake
4.30 dana 60
car weighs 2947 w/ 50/50 distrubtion
has run 8.72 at 154.6 with no real chassis tuning. John

^^ why 2.30/1.78? 1.81 no good for ya? ^^^

I wasn’t going to post but I had a little bit of luck making power with -1’s. My -1 engine went 169+ mph at 2470 lbs NA (never dyno’d so do the math), BUT my cam specs wouldn’t help 98% of the -1 users as it was way under headed. I spec’d it to maximize MY combination, it did have more duration than has been posted and the lift wasn’t as extreme as some have posted.

The cam is the single most important part of your engine and should be designed to give the maximum amount of air/fuel that YOUR engine/car needs and at the proper time. What everyone else is using is useless. Port volume, flow, cu in, intake, exhaust, compression ratio to make max dyno HP or torque. Then throw in car variables for best ET, weight, trans, converter, rearend, etc. Is the engine over or under headed? Don't be afraid to change lobe profiles with the same duration either.

Last one I had done the grinder didn’t like my spec’s and had something better. Lost .15 and 3mph, had one ground to what I thought and got back the .15 + .1 and the 3mph + 4 more. Was I lucky? Probably but you know the old saying “an engine is just an air pump” think about your combo and how to get the air through it (don’t forget it has to come out also) and go from there. LSA and ICL are VERY important to the complete combination. Just be careful of the broad internet statements, they like xxx duration, xxx lift, split, etc as they may or may not be true with your combination.

Valves too close together to run the bigger exhaust valve. John

Thx to everyone who took the time to list there cam specs and combos ... My cam should be here this week

What was your final decision re: cam choice?