Hey Guys,

Doea anyone have any experiance with either of these maufacturers? I was looking at a couple of their solid flat tappet grinds for a 440 or 493. More of a street/strip thing.

Examples...
Howards- .585/.615 260/272 @ 50
Crower-- .591/.609 271/277 @ 50

Michael

both have been around since the dawn of racing.
your choice should be based more on matching the grind to the flow capability of your heads rather than the name on the box. you don't give us that

Oops!

well I'm going to do a rebuild.

3850 pound B-Body
3.23
9 1/2 Dynamic, low first gear

Can't decide on 440 or 493. I have stock port, milled to 72cc Eddy RPM's. To port or not? if so, how much? 10.75-11.00 Compression? Pump gas motor.
Looking for low 12's or high 11's

Michael

I am not a wedge guy at all but with what you are looking for there should ne someone here running a similar set up that can give you a cam idea. if not the old tried and true method of checking with Comp or another cam company may be you best route

Both cams you mentioned are completely wrong (waaaay too big) for the combination you outlined, regardless of whether you build a 440 or stroker.

Figure out what you're going to build, then have somebody like Dwayne Porter (Porter Racing Heads) spec out the cam for the combination. In fact, contact him BEFORE you finalize the build, in case you head down the wrong path w/ too much compression or something else like that.

Naturally, just my ...

While I'm not gonna dispute to get a hold of Dwayne...I will say I think you are a bit off on the "WAY too big" statement on the Howards cam for a 11:1 Eddy headed 493. A 260 deg solid seems close to me for a combo like that.

Stroke it!Heavy cars need torque.You can always port/upgrade the heads later.It will be plenty strong with stock E-heads.
Bear in mind your converter will likely need tightening up with all the extra torque.
Finalize your specs and rpm range/usage and then get a cam matched to that.
With a low gear in the tranny you can over cam a bit as long as you are into the torque curve on shift recovery.1-2 drop will be pretty big with a low gear 1st and 3.23 gears.This is where the torque of the stroker is your friend.