Curtis or anderson?

SYLENTBUTVYLENT · Feb 7, 2004

Who would you go with for a custom grind cam Ed Curtis Or Anderson Ford?

Michael Yount · Feb 7, 2004

And another alternative is Buddy Rawls. Just to further complicate the issue.

http://www.wighat.com/fcr3/

Iowa91LX · Feb 7, 2004

Brain Tooley at Total Engine Airflow is who I went with. I trusted him with my cam and heads. He did a very good job and I would go with him again.

67stang390 · Feb 7, 2004

Ed Curtis didn't seem to want my business, so I went with Anderson. Anderson cams are NOT custom cams. I bought an N-412 and it has very similar specs to other off-the-shelf cams. Until I get the car dyno'd I can't complain, but you're basically paying $300 for a cam that could actually cost half that. I wish I had heard of Buddy Rawls or some of the others at the time.

Highbredcloud · Feb 7, 2004

Brian Tooley: I have seen the "porting" done by Brian Tooley...on two different occasions and both customers had the TW heads and were not satisfied due to the fact of poor quality and basically hype about how well the heads will flow...let's leave it at that...Not sure about his cams but if they are anything close to some of his heads...I'd really think about it...really really hard.

Rick Anderson: Rick is a nice guy on the phone he has some nice cams and he does have satisfied customers...but he is a trial and error guy that basically slaps one cam in see how it works...and yanks it out if it don't...Not really sure where he got his engineering degree...

Buddy Rawls: have not dealt with him at all...seems VERY knowledgable though...

Ed Curtis: Something about Ed that I like is he tells it how it is...besides that I know he actually has an engineering degree and still uses it to this day...His cams are custom to a particular combination...I like what he did with my cam and there is many satisfied FTI customers...One thing though Ed's cams as to compared to Anderson cams seem to be more conservative overall but make A LOT of power...as Anderson uses much bigger numbers to achieve the similar potential...

5spd GT · Feb 7, 2004

I've always heard good things about Ed and his custom cams...

David

86Cobra · Feb 7, 2004

I use TWs ported by Tooley and a cam from Ed. They work really well together and both are great products.

Iowa91LX · Feb 7, 2004

Highbredcloud said:
Brian Tooley: I have seen the "porting" done by Brian Tooley...on two different occasions and both customers had the TW heads and were not satisfied due to the fact of poor quality and basically hype about how well the heads will flow...let's leave it at that...Not sure about his cams but if they are anything close to some of his heads...I'd really think about it...really really hard.

Rick Anderson: Rick is a nice guy on the phone he has some nice cams and he does have satisfied customers...but he is a trial and error guy that basically slaps one cam in see how it works...and yanks it out if it don't...Not really sure where he got his engineering degree...

Buddy Rawls: have not dealt with him at all...seems VERY knowledgable though...

Ed Curtis: Something about Ed that I like is he tells it how it is...besides that I know he actually has an engineering degree and still uses it to this day...His cams are custom to a particular combination...I like what he did with my cam and there is many satisfied FTI customers...One thing though Ed's cams as to compared to Anderson cams seem to be more conservative overall but make A LOT of power...as Anderson uses much bigger numbers to achieve the similar potential...

TEA is one of the best if not the best in buisness with Trick Flow heads. What proting did they have done? My flow numbers are extremly impresive and I dont know of another shop who can hit those flow numbers off a CNC program.
I dont believe that Brian would do poor work. Go to his website and see how many championships his cars have one. Brian told me outright, that I would be wasting my money on a 185CNC program for my motor and I needed a 205, he said I wouldnt be happy without the 205CNC program.
I hate to argue, but I am a very happy customer and there are thousnads more who have went to TEA.....

NoSloCoupes · Feb 7, 2004

Funny Highbred, i've lived in this town all my life and all the years i've been over at AFM...i don't think i've ever met you. Have i ??? Seems you know how Rick works things over there, care to elaborate more about your statement? Wheres the first hand experience?

Jason

Michael Yount · Feb 7, 2004

Nice to hear about Brian Tooley - I hadn't heard of him before in the custom cam arena. There's a fellow named Denny Wycoff out in AZ that models for customs as well. The folks at Crower took a special request from me and came up with a specific grind that wasn't one of their off the shelf cams - so they do custom modeling as well. Seems like most of the cam tech lines just try to match up what you want with something they already have in stock, but I know that's not strictly true. And I know that CompCams and Reed Cams manufacture customs for a lot of the custom grinders - so they've got the ability to do customs.

I've wondered about Anderson - it seems like anyone that has their cams refers to a model number - I don't know them - like R41, B17, (makin' stuff up), etc. I've assumed based on that that they're not strictly custom cams as I think of customs - a one-off design based on a specific modeling of the customer's set up/components. Rather, I've assumed that AFM brings their considerable experience to bear on what the customer wants to achieve and they then pick the best match of the cams they offer. But I don't know if that's the way it works or not - just how it seems to work. Can anyone clarify so when people ask for custom cam references we can knowledgeably send them in the right direction?

GroverDill · Feb 7, 2004

My next cam will be from Ed.

NoSloCoupes · Feb 7, 2004

Michael, no they are not one off customs built for one persons combo...rather as for tried combos. Only downfall is the driveability,rpm usage is dependant on they're recommendations instead of your own. You are right in saying "AFM brings their considerable experience to bear on what the customer wants to achieve and they then pick the best match of the cams they offer". I've ran a few of their grinds with much success. You really mainly here about the more popular #'s thrown around N-xx, although they have many, many more available. As well as doing true custom also i believe...just don't hear much about them.

IndyBlk5.0 · Feb 7, 2004

so ed takes the list of your modifications, and then grindes a cam to your specific combo? wow... that sounds great...

NoSloCoupes · Feb 7, 2004

IndyBlk5.0 said:
so ed takes the list of your modifications, and then grindes a cam to your specific combo? wow... that sounds great...

Yes, and from what i've seen....they work pretty damn good also.

Michael Yount · Feb 7, 2004

IndyBlk5.0 - go here and read for more info on what folks like Ed and Buddy do in between taking the info and having the cam ground. It's the modeling that makes all the difference in the outcome...http://www.wighat.com/fcr3/

tmoss · Feb 8, 2004

Try hard to get a look at a dyno of any suppliers cam for a combo. You want the cam that gives the most "area under the curve(s)". One critcism Ed has had of Anderson cams is that are "dyno queens" and don't produce as much area as other cam suppliers. Haven't tried to verify that for myself - and dynos of Anderson cams don't seem to be that easy to find out here on the boards.

Denny Wycoff is a relatively unkown cam specifier/grinder on the baords also. Anyone use him here?

Michael Yount · Feb 8, 2004

Great points Tom - and to take it a step further -- it's a match between the area under the curve and the rpm band that the engine's gonna be used in. A big flat curve from 1500-5500 is wonderful on the street, but for an engine that's gonna live on the track between 4500 and 6000, it's not the best match. Conversely - a real peaky curve, with lots of power at the top, but nothing on the bottom is a real nightmare on the street. And there are some applications that are just night and day - rock crawlers need off idle to around 3500; a marine application would probably love a a big peak that matches up nicely with the rpm that the gears/prop needs to run - you get the picture. The beauty of the really good custom designers is that they want to know exactly how the motor's gonna be used so they can match that area under the curve up with the intended engine usage.

yellow1995Cobra · Feb 8, 2004

I went with ED with my new combo. As was stated, he tells it like it is. You will get NO BS from him. Hes a great guy to deal with as well.

PURESTREET5006 · Feb 8, 2004

Ed got us going in the right direction for P/S with his upper half on my car..165'sP/S2 HEADS and custom grind cam for my Carb'd combination.

Highbredcloud · Feb 8, 2004

NoSlo90 said:
Funny Highbred, i've lived in this town all my life and all the years i've been over at AFM...i don't think i've ever met you. Have i ??? Seems you know how Rick works things over there, care to elaborate more about your statement? Wheres the first hand experience?

Jason

LOL! I guess being from IL I must have commited the ultimate sin by going FTI product over AFM...but there was a reason for it and I think you did an excellent job explaining it Michael Yount. I don't think I ever met you...I have been over there with a buddy of mine that actually has the B-41 cam and it picked up quite a bit over the e-cam...but that's not the point...When I was looking into custom cams I called and spoke with Rick on the phone...What he couldn't do for me is make a cam for my particular combo which was VERY important to me simply because of the way my heads were ported...(intake runners were opened up for a blower application etc..etc) I need a cam that would take advantage of the bigger intake runners on a N/A motor after I decided it would be too expensive to get a blower...Rick had some cams in mind...forgot wich ones but anywho it just seemed to me that I would be better off selling my heads while taking a kick in the balls simply cuz of the money I would have lost from porting ect...and going with one of the cams and heads AFM had proven numbers with...besides I couldn't get a cam to work with my 1.6rr...but that was a minor detail that pi$$ed me off...Anyways the cam AFM had in mind for me was much more radical than the cam I got from FTI...It just amazes me how Ed made a significantly milder cam that works really good with my set up...Which leads me to a conclusion that Ed is just a better egineer when it comes down to it...Besides do you honestly think Rick's got what he's got from selling his cams?

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