Howards Cams

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frnkeore
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Howards Cams

Post by frnkeore »

Does anyone know what is going on with Howards Cams?

I'm been trying to contact Ben Herheim, to order a cam, for almost a month. I've ordered several from him and he has ALWAYS answered the phone, on my first call. I have called about 5 times, in the last 3 weeks, or so and left, at least 3 messages. I have not got a call back.

Is there any info out there, about what's going on?
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Re: Howards Cams

Post by F-BIRD'88 »

Why not call there and ask someone.
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Re: Howards Cams

Post by RevTheory »

I've never tried to get ahold of Ben but I've talked with someone (whoever answered the phone) about cores, again a week ago about spring requirements and have two custom cams coming from them so at least someone is there, although they're 10 weeks out on custom grinds :(
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Re: Howards Cams

Post by Racer97 »

Get a cam from Jones cams .
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Re: Howards Cams

Post by Super_Stock »

Didn't Donnie pass away recently? Quite a while ago I tried to get them to do a custom shaft, not a custom grind, but a whole new shaft for an engine they didn't usually make cams for. It dragged on for ages and the end result was unusable. They sort of fell off my radar after that.
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Re: Howards Cams

Post by ProPower engines »

frnkeore wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 1:08 pm Does anyone know what is going on with Howards Cams?

I'm been trying to contact Ben Herheim, to order a cam, for almost a month. I've ordered several from him and he has ALWAYS answered the phone, on my first call. I have called about 5 times, in the last 3 weeks, or so and left, at least 3 messages. I have not got a call back.

Is there any info out there, about what's going on?
It may be a sign of the times but if you can't get it done from them try another.
I have always got great service from Isky. Last custom I had done a couple months ago was 5 days till it was shipped.
unless you have a weird request that needs a special core it should not be an issue.

But cores are the major deal these days since they have been in short supply for a year now and all the cam grinders are in the same boat.
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Re: Howards Cams

Post by cpmotors »

frnkeore wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 1:08 pm Does anyone know what is going on with Howards Cams?

I'm been trying to contact Ben Herheim, to order a cam, for almost a month. I've ordered several from him and he has ALWAYS answered the phone, on my first call. I have called about 5 times, in the last 3 weeks, or so and left, at least 3 messages. I have not got a call back.

Is there any info out there, about what's going on?
Ben moved on to Andrews Cams about a month ago in a roll that reduces his work load and contact with general public. Not sure who is in charge of running things now at Howards, Ben took care of a lot of things there.
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Re: Howards Cams

Post by frnkeore »

Pete, I just called again, he still has a voice mail at the Howards number that I always called to talk to him.

Is the Andrews cams, the motorcycle cam company?
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Re: Howards Cams

Post by cpmotors »

frnkeore wrote: Tue May 18, 2021 12:17 pm Pete, I just called again, he still has a voice mail at the Howards number that I always called to talk to him.

Is the Andrews cams, the motorcycle cam company?
Not Suprised, things seem to be out of whack there now.
Yes, Andrews is known for MC cams, but they sub for other markets. Ben is taking over the design engineer position from Dave when he retires. Ben was also in charge of taking care of Glenn Stier's cams before he died. I don't believe he deals with the general public at all now.
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Re: Howards Cams

Post by frnkeore »

I finally called on the advertised phone line.

Ben did quit, with notice and a guy named Kirk, has taken his place. He is not a cam engineer but, is 64 and has built engines for many years. They do not, as of now, have anyone that can run the Cam Pro software so, new lobes can not be created, nor can he modify existing lobes.

The good news is that they don't have a shortage of Ford cam cores :)

I like the Howards .875 HFT lobes. As many lobes as CC has, they don't have any HFT in that diameter and their solids aren't quite as aggressive. Also, I have only called CC three times and two of those times, I knew more than the guy I was asking questions of :( Is there anyone at CC that has the knowledge that Ben has, that you can actually connect with and talk to?
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Re: Howards Cams

Post by Super_Stock »

The only time I bother with CC is if I'm looking to get an off the shelf cam.
I guess it's easy to complain about the guy's on the end of the phone, I know I have in the past. But lets face it, where are those guys going to get the knowledge to be able to cover all the bases? and if you had that knowledge, then why would you stick with a low paid job answering the phone.
Sometimes a business just gets too big, and you end up just talking to a call center..
Better off sticking to a small shop that has two or three hands on guys who also can handle talking to customers..
When I rang Jones cams, guess what????? That's right, I talked to Jonesy!
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Re: Howards Cams

Post by novafornow »

Being out west, I have run a lot of Crower over the years. Last circle deal I did, called and got someone new. He gave me his 2 cents. Waited a day and called again, got someone else, and got a different 2 cents. Maybe they are now "too big". I went to Jones, very happy with the results.
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Re: Howards Cams

Post by hoffman900 »

I think this is a sign of the future of the industry. Looking at camshafts, Comp and Crane are the same now. Ben was the brains behind Howards, Jimmy at Megacycle is getting old, Isky.. Ed is how old now?, Elgin.. Dema is in his 80s?, Harold Brookshire's stuff is split between Howards and Bullet.. Bullet's owner isn't a young pup either, etc.

I think in ten years or so, your choices for aftermarket cams is going to be verrry limited.
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Re: Howards Cams

Post by n2omike »

hoffman900 wrote: Wed May 19, 2021 2:10 pmHarold Brookshire's stuff is split between Howards and Bullet..
I think in ten years or so, your choices for aftermarket cams is going to be verrry limited.
I believe Lunati has a lot of Harold's stuff as well, don't they?

As time goes by, we will follow the same path as antique cars. Their stuff has been drying up for a while as well, as most of those guys are around 80+ years old now. Prices for cars has dropped a bunch, and parts are a lot harder to get. Today's kids won't be interested in muscle cars, so the same will happen with those. They will probably collect vintage video games...
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Re: Howards Cams

Post by hoffman900 »

n2omike wrote: Wed May 19, 2021 2:57 pm
hoffman900 wrote: Wed May 19, 2021 2:10 pmHarold Brookshire's stuff is split between Howards and Bullet..
I think in ten years or so, your choices for aftermarket cams is going to be verrry limited.
I believe Lunati has a lot of Harold's stuff as well, don't they?

As time goes by, we will follow the same path as antique cars. Their stuff has been drying up for a while as well, as most of those guys are around 80+ years old now. Prices for cars has dropped a bunch, and parts are a lot harder to get. Today's kids won't be interested in muscle cars, so the same will happen with those. They will probably collect vintage video games...
Bullet has the old Ultradyne stuff, Howards has the Arrington stuff and I believe designs he did as an independent consultant, and Lunati has his last designs. Comp probably has some of his Comp era (mid-late 70s) designs still.
-Bob
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