IMHO, the 44s may under-carburate your 331. You may end up spending the $1000 saved on jets, emulsion tubes, venturis as you attempt to tune the carbs to your engine. Common wisdom is to install 48s (IDA or IDF) on the small blocks. I've had 48IDAs on a crate 302 on my CAV GT40 for over a year and just finally gotten it to run well after fooling with jets (leaning it out) and swapping 40mm chokes for the stock 37mms.
Just my 2c
