halfgassed

I recently purchased a retro fit hydralic roller cam from howards cams (out of a summit catalog) for one of my street car projects. While I was searching for the right cam, I found they had marine cams also.

The price was very reasonable,$578 for retro fit hydraulic lifters and cam for a big block chevy!+ $130 for the one piece retrofit pushrods.

I was wondering if any one on here had any success/failure stories of using this manufacturer for performance marine engines. I was a little leary about quality, due to the lower price but when the pieces arrived they seemed like pretty decent product.

Thanks
Matt

Raylar

Howards has a decent reputation for making and selling some good aftermarket engine equipment and parts. That is not really the problem you may have doing this selection thru Summit.
The real technical expertise needed to select the best correct camshaft profile and equipment needs to come from someone who has actual marine camshaft application and credible results for their selections. Camshafts are the heart and soul of great performing engines and its not as easy as open a catalogue or internet page and select a camshaft.
You are not going to get that type of real technical marine camshaft knowledge from catalogue companies like Summit, ETC.. You need to put the best possible camshaft engineering, selection and valve train application in a performance marine (ENDURANCE!) engine and to get that expertise you should eal with someone like Bob Madera at RM Builders here on OSO or other good marine engine builders who can help you get the best parts for the CORRECT job!
My simple marine performance addage here: Buy It Once Right! Then Go Boating!

Best Regards,
Ray @ Raylar

MER Performance

I agree with Ray. Howards, makes quality parts. Lifters by Morrel, cams ground on site, good cores. I always made good numbers with Howards in the past. Since Bob Madara, has done my cams we have hit the numbers on target! Torque curve and hp averages exceeded the past. Seems other cam profiles were a little over the top. Stick with someone that has the expert knowledge as Madara. You have to just match more than just the cam; springs, lifters, pushrods all play a roll in a stable valve train.

f_inscreenname

Howard's makes good cams. Used them for a couple years now with no issues.

cstraub

The cam kits at that price would have the street series Morels in them. They are not designed for anything over OEM lobes that were designed to be used with a .700" wheel.

halfgassed

dont worry I wont have the tech folks at summit pick the cam for my marine engines, I'll prolly work with my engine builder on grind/profile when that time comes.

I've picked/matched many components/cams for numerous performance street engines, that have worked very well.........and a few that didnt. I've yet to build a marine engine and I'll definatley seek advice from the REPUTABLE MARINE ENGINE builder I choose to have do the work

Thanks for the info.

mustangmark

Go with a reputable cam grinder or reputable cam company and YES, it can only benefit you to go with someone who is knowledgeable with what works in a marine application. Marine and automobile cam specs are different and there are important reasons behind it.

I learned quite a few years back that one of the places in a build that it is always important to spend your money in is the valvetrain. An excellent example of this would be with your hyd. roller lifters and valve springs. Remember the saying, "you get what you pay for". The last thing you want is to have a lifter fail and eat the bearings, etc... in you motor. All of a sudden your 200-300 dollar savings in lifters is now costing you a couple thousand.

When it comes to valvetrain, If it's a marine application then there is only one person I'll go to or recommend and that's Bob Madera at Marine Kinetics. He is IMO about the best there is! Bob is super friendly and always takes the time to find out exactly what you need and what's going to work best for what your doing and then he'll take the time to make sure you understand it. His values on customer service is amazing! You are going to pay more verse buying a summit, crane or comp cams cam kit but I guarantee you that it's money well spent and you will be much happier with the performance of your boat in the long run. I just bought a hyd. roller cam from Bob a couple days ago and it really wasn't that much more for the cam than having one custom ground by Crower, etc... Also, I shopped around for prices on my timing chain and morel lifters and he actually had the best prices.

Hope this info might be useful for you and good luck. Mark

Marine Kinetics
585-654-8583
marinekineticsonline.com