The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Howard M4F cam

I am looking into buying a howard M4F cam from patricks for my chevy 235. Does anyone have experience with the cam. Is it worth the money and does it help with performance? I was debating on whether to go with the M4F cam or a cam from clifford performance but i am unsure of which one is the better deal. any help would be great thanks. i have dual headers and am going to be getting a 4 barrel intake with a holley 390. thanks

This is the cam I'm using with dual Carter/Webers and it is a good choice. It will give the old girl some extra RPM abd still have a decent bottom end. Patrick knows his apples, pay attention to him - he's done this more times than I can count.

Another cam that i have seen is the bulldog cam from langdons. has anyone ever used this cam and how does it compare to the howard m4f and a clifford cam?

I have a patricks in my 235,, he knows his stuff and so does Tom Langdon,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Fred

Im deciding on whether to go with hydraulic or mechanical cam. what are the pros and cons of each type? thanks

Old,
The howard m4f solid lifter cam is a winner in a 235 or 261 engine. Set cam 4 degrees advanced. Rocker arms .012 & .014. Cam card sais: .014 & .016.; .012 and .014 will move power band up a little. Get matching lifters and chrome molley pushrods at same time from Patrick. Good luck.

I have the M4F in my 235, it's what whe used to call a 3/4 race cam. Fairly mild, still allowing a smooth idle, but suffers a little on vacuum. I would go with electric wipers with any performance cam. It makes a good driver cam.

I have no experience with the others mentioned. If you want another opinion, call up Tom Langdon and ask him. Or call Patrick and talk to him directly, if you can. They will both tell you the advantages/disadvantages.

I agree, talk to both but just don't mention to Tom that you've been talking to Patrick. If you do he will light into a 10 minute tirade about Patrick. Tom is OK but thinks he is the ONLY ONE who know anything about 235's and seems to have a woody against Patrick. I didn't go for it.

Delta Cam in Tacome, Washington does Tom Langdons' Bulldog Cams. You can send yours - yes yours out of your own truck and get the same grind at Delta - for less.

Any cam grinder can do your core if you have specs.Delta has many grinds for the 235 besides the so called Bulldog grinds.
I agree with Money pit,Tom has his agenda and that's all he knows,and from my experience,he actually knows not all that much about old Chevys.
The cam grinders say the rocker arm ratio on 235's and GMC's is 1.5.But it's 1.4 ,I've checked them out.So right out of the box,you're shy some lift and duration.

I have heard that you can send in your old cam and get it reground to your specs, but I have always wondered how they can do that on old worn out cam. Do they somehow add metal to your core and then regrind it?

No they actualy regrind the lopes to a smaller size (diameter)and you will compensate this by setting the valve lash.

Frank

so which one should i go with? the M4F or the Bulldog cam

I have the m4f in my hoped up 235 and I´m quite happy with it.

Now I´m (re)building an 261. The m4f specs are close to the 261 stock cam specs so there wil be no big gain here.

The Bulldog features the asymetric lobe pattern of the famous Frank McGurg 3/4 cam. Delta was not able (or willing) to grind the original McGurk specs for me so I orderd the Bulldo wich is a tad more rumpy.

I would vote for the Bulldog

Frank