I'm at a fork in the road my fellow gear heads. Also impatient. Do i wait 2months+ for my 1st choice of Howards Cams 180245-10 or buy the Melling 22280?
•H Cam 180245-10 specs @.050: 225/231, 500/510, 110°/106(centerline +4°adv built in)
•M cam 22280 specs @.050: 220/224, .495/.502, 110°(unsure of an factory centerline advance)

1985 Jeep CJ-7 4spd/3.54's/Centerforce Dual Friction, 31x10.5's
•#880 Vortec long block 4blt main
•MILD oil passage/lifter valley drain back/main cap/filter housing massaging and blending
•Align honed
•Balanced ($340 out the door with weight added) & ACTUALLY Blueprinted, 1 step at a time as much as i could, documenting measurements, (Blueprinting gets thrown around alot, i know, but im a lil bit OCD)
4.00 bore/3.48 stroke
•Scat steel crank ​​​​​
•5cc 2VR SpeedPro H631CP flat tops (1.560 increased compression height)
•5.7 forged rods
•.018" Deck height (true/square decked with 1.560 pistons)
•.015" Fel-Pro shim head gasket
•65cc Vortec heads, Beehive Springs, Comp 787-16 retainers,(just a guess @ the cc's but MILD unshrouding and bowl blending so 65cc instead of 64cc to be generous, not crazy i promise, runners untouched. I have .573" retainer to untouched guide boss clearance minus .050-.060 buffer with incognito screw in studs for missed shifts...lol)
• RPM or possibly an Air Gap RPM
• PROPERLY tuned 650cfm, vacuum secondary carb
•7qt Oil pan, M155HV pump, aftermarket cooler/fan, remote filter
Hope that's all the proper info for everyone to make an informed opinion 👍 😊 Wait on Howard or go with Mel?

 

If you're impatient, buy whatever is available now.

 

While the engine itself isn't out of the ordinary (I had a very similar engine in the Camaro with a Vortec headed 350, hydraulic roller and 10.25:1) when comparing the two cams research how the duration values are measured.
Perhaps this is something you've already investigated?
​​​​​​Not all cams are measured at the same point in the valve train. This is more in tune with the advertised numbers as at .006" lift, where is the lift measured? Melling I believe measures at the lifter. Howard's, I can't say but it could at the valve so the rocker ratio becomes part of the equation.
As you are aware, cams with similar .050" numbers could be quite different in lobe profile. As such one might be considerably easier on the valve train than the other.

As for a spec, with the Jeep thing and the taller tires, my knowledge isn't going to be of much help. The crew over at Speed Talk have just been having this same discussion (Jeep and /or truck and tall tires) and the spec is something else from what I'd consider for myself (or have had spec'd by the pros).

One thing I did notice is that your piston below deck of .018" and the .015" gasket doesn't make for a lot of piston to head clearance. .033" is cutting things pretty thin.

I haven't worked out your possible compression ratio although at first glance it looks to be north of 10:1.
Keep in mind that with a short cam (the Melling in particular), and those iron heads might be building too much compression pressure and inviting detonation into the picture.

My two cents. I hope it gives you some useful information.

PS. Contact Mike Jones at Jones Cams. He has in stock, made in the USA cam cores and hydraulic rollers and is very easy to talk to and work with.

 

Close enough it wont make much noticeable difference. Get the melling if you cant wait imo

 

Appreciate your reply and taking the time to write such a detailed response. 👌
Got a heck of a deal and went with Melling 22280 220/224 .495/.502 110° w/107° built-in advance left alone. Also, you're right on the .033" quench. Went with .020" Mr. Gasket 1130G's elastomer coated steel shims.
Now im conflicted on my carb choice. Narrowed it down to a 650cfm but do i want a vacuum or mechanical secondary 🤔 🤪. The lazy part of me wants to get a decent vacuum secondary and be done with it. But the other half of me knows i love to fine tune.

 

I'm going to have a look at that cam choice considering I'm shopping for oneyself.
With respect to the carburetor, I'm partial to vacuum secondaries. Don't fool yourself, there's no reason why a finely tuned VS carb can't perform as well as a mechanical carb (despite what the latest episode of Engine Masters had to say....and wrongly so I should add).
There may be a measure of fuel economy with a VS vs. mechanical carb too as there's only one accelerator pump to use fuel. But your right foot has control of that too.
Size it appropriately both for the engine size and RPM but also the intake choice. Dual planes can use additional CFM when compared to single planes.

 

I second this!

 

Yeah. Seems a decent guy and provides excellent customer support.
That said, in a recent internet conversation, he said the supply of late model Gen 1 cam cores (as in the OEM step nose) is non-existent. And no idea when inventory will be replenished.
Lucky for me, I'm a retrofit old schooler.

 

I used to think that until I swapped over a highly tricked out 3310, 780 vac to an 850 annular discharge, double pumper Holley. I had tricked out a number of 3310s and the 3310 I was running had every trick in the book thrown at it. I was convinced it was better than the standard DP Holley and by all accounts it did perform as good or better than the typical DP.

THEN a buddy wanted me to tune his 850 AD DP -which I had never tuned one with the AD boosters before (this was around 1987?). Oh my, his combo performed well past what I had imagined it capable of, especially down low.

He let me try it on my 550HP-ish 406 (with the fully tricked 3310) and it went from doing OK down low at a quick throttle jab, to being down right violent. It felt as good or better than any fuel injected car I had driven at that point. Picked up almost 2 tenths at the 60 and 4 tenths in the quarter mile. So I bought one. LOL.

Years later, during a refresh of my engine, a buddy was having carb trouble and needed a kit, so I threw the 850 AD on it. His 406, 10:1, pocket ported 461s, 225/225-108 flat tappet street master, 2400 stall, was only making about 440HP. I only had to adjust the idle speed and mixture screws and it totally transformed his car as well. So much so I had a hard time getting the carb back. You can run a bigger CFM card with the AD boosters and get away with it.

Pretty convinced the increase was mostly due to the annular discharge boosters and there are some new vacuum carbs available with annual discharge boosters. I haven’t run or even tuned one, but I’d say if you don’t go with a AD double pumper, go with one of the vacuum secondary carbs with the AD boosters.

 

My original Barry Grant VC 750 has annular boosters as well (since discontinued).
On a 350 with a cam that had 71 degrees of overlap, it was difficult to tune. Personally I blame that on the tuner who was typically very good but for whatever reason there was some sort of disconnect between him and that carb.
​carb. He made a switch to a QFT 750 VS which went quicker in the quarter than did the BG. His highway fuel economy suffered somewhat although still very good. The QFT had downleg boosters IIRC.
I bought that BG carb from him and it ultimately found its way onto my own 350 which by that time also had that same cam (288/294/110). I worked with it but mostly addressed the timing (from ported to full manifold vacuum advance with a resulting 30 degrees of spark lead at idle). It too behaved like an EFI car. Smooth as glass. Unfortunately, I never got to sort it out on the track. With any luck, that'll change this coming racing season.
Then, if I'm disappointed, I'll try a mechanical carb and see where that gets me.
As the saying goes, your mileage may vary.