I'm searching out both a recommendation and source for a cam for a 324 Olds with #10 heads and otherwise pretty stock. I'm planning on running two Rochester 2GCs and a decent ignition and exhaust. I need cam and lifters along with the chain. What works for you guys? Also how do they run without the adjustable rockers, just setting the pushrod length for the hydraulics? I've been told I can run the SBC lifters here.
I would call Tony at Ross Racing. Goatroper2 on here. He is a great source of info and parts. I am running one of his cams on my 324 with #10 heads and 371 pistons. So far so good.
I have the greatest respect for Tony and Ross Racing. He sells the absolute best parts. I know that I am never sorry when I buy the best but I seldom get to keep a car and it's getting a little tired selling my stuff for a third of what I have in it. I have Hudsons working on an Isky cam and lifters, probably still big bucks. I should just bite the bullet and get the stuff from Tony but I was hoping there might be an alternative. I'm trying to get this one running without dropping $5/6 big ones in it if possible. I'm way in over my head on the motor already with all the mostly NOS speed and dress parts I've managed to accumulate. Not bitching, just being a realist. Vintage power is never cheap.
Koz, I am running GM lifters (90 bucks) and custom length push rods (100) and a set of McGurk adj rockers (free with an engine given to me) The cam was around 350 if I remember correctly. I know what you are saying about the $$$$, it adds up quick. Delta might be able to grind a cam for you if you had a core. I know Paul uses them all the time.
Aren't #10 heads for the 324? Man, I wish Don_Wow was around. I'd talk to Tony. Or wait for one of the Olds gurus to speak.
I get your point Kos and I second it. I have a 324 with #10 heads that's slowly getting built for a future project. While Tony and R.R.E. is certainly the go to guy for Olds stuff, it's always nice to at least be aware of other options. A few years back I stopped in at Engle and they said they still had some Olds blanks that they could grind to order but that was years ago and Olds engines have certainly made a comeback. A buddy ordered cams from Chris Neilson and wasn't happy with the service or the cams (that's just him - I'm sure CN has plenty of satisfied customers). Any other sources out there?
The engine I'm using is a 1956 324 that came with the #10 heads. It is a really nice core and if I change the flatted cam I think I can run it for at least this year. I can pull it out and go through it when it takes a dump, hopefully after a shore run or two. The prices you are mentioning for the stuff in yours is well within reason. I'm thinking if I can get it running for another $1,500 or so I'm in good shape.
I spoke with Comp Cams, who doesn't have anything for it, along with Clay Smith, who used to make the absolute nastyist sounding Olds cams. I was just thinking Lunati might still have something. Isky still has blanks when I spoke with them last but that was about the only one I found. The cam I have has several "rollers" in place of lobes so I don't think a regrind is in order, (LOL).
Schneider Cams in San Diego reground my 324 stock cam about 5 years ago. Seems like it was $150 to grind it to a flat tappet "street racing" solid lifter profile. I had a set of hard to find Gotha adjustable rocker arms. I think adjustable pushrods are maybe still around and a suitable substitute except for all out racing. I used them with an Engle (116?) cam in 1961 with good success. Chevy solid lifters fit and work good. DON'T USE CHINESE MADE LIFTERS!! Schneider has been around since the early days and can be relied on for quality work (and lifters).
Olds and cheap don't fit into the same sentence. Those of us who play with them quickly learn that we pay dearly to be different. I may have to sell my first born when I get my 394 out of the machine shop. Don
Not many grinders left who are interested in doing a '56 Rocket. I found that out when I started inquiring with my usual sources. There aren't a lot of blanks left and to the best of my knowledge, nobody is making them. I need to find somebody that has some old time knowledge and the blank to grind it. Hopefully, Steve at Hudsons will get me one. Isky will sell me one direct but I like to do biz with a local vendor.
I had clay smith grind a cam for our 324. However I would go with Ross reconditions they know olds Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Koz, I just dropped off the cam for 1954 324 to Jimmy Dowell who owns Racer Brown Cams. He is going to do a regrind on my cam and says he will guarantee the outcome. We are going for the standard J2 specs
56-58 cams use the same blank. Engle may still have a blank left. a 350-455 olds chain is the same and they cheap at the local parts store. Take the cam sprocket to a machine shop and have the 3 bolt holes drilled and it will bolt on. Run a hyd. cam, use sbc lifters and 67 Cad. pushrods. 389-400 Pontiac rod bearings are the same. Use Best gaskets. .
I'm no seasoned pro when it comes to rod building but I'm learning. I do know a thing or two about Olds motors since I drag race a street driven 442 that is not right and all Olds. I know the good Dr. passed away but the boys at Mondello have helped me build some wicked fast and reliable rocket thrusters. Worth a call
Personally if I was just patching it back together for one season I would find a good used cam and have freshened up. New lifters new push rods and stock timing set. Rebuild the oil pump and check rockers and shafts for wear. Save your money for when you are ready to go through the engine thoroughly. Then call Tony
In my mind,saving a few $ on a rocket build is a false economy. Tony and his father have them covered and you'll never be sorry you spent a couple more $ up front. Much the same on the Hudsons, it's a real niche market,so $250 for a GOOD chain and $300+ for the cam is just where its at. http://21stcenturyhudson.net/products2.htm
If your cam is still fairly good send it to cam shop for a regrind. I had Clay Smith do one a couple years ago. As stated earlier 56-58 are the same for Cams. I didn't know about using 67 Cad pushrods good to know. Read the Olds tech page it gives some good ideas on which cam profiles worked.
Lots of good info here. I think I confused some folks by the way I worded some things. Hudsons is a speed shop and Alliance vendor. I've been going through them with the Isky thing. I know that sometimes you can use some generic stuff which works pretty good. If it is up to me I'll just bite the bullet and buy the right stuff. I don't mind getting the right parts now as all can be reused when I go through the motor later rather than throwing stuff away. My biggest concern is just getting too much invested in a car that is worth virtually nothing on resale. I run a small hot rod shop and it is always just a matter of time when I need to sell my personal ride off either to put working capital into the biz or just to get space to put another car in. I've lost my ass on the last few and now I'm a little gun shy. I'm going to give Ross a shout today and see what it might cost me to get what I need. Hopefully, this one will stick around for a while and I'll get at least some road miles on it. I'm putting this one in front of a '39 style Ford box, (fresh rebuild to the 9's), and a very nice, virtually rust free '40 rear with 3.78 gears. When I get it running I'll swap out a set of 3.54 gears if it's a little high strung. I think the 3.78 Getz set I put in will be fine. I also have an NOS Scheiffer aluminum/bronze insert flywheel with an organic disc along with a perfect Wilcap adapter. The distributor is heading off to Bubbas for a go through and I've fabbed one of my signature carb adapters to put two Rochester 2 GC's on an equally NOS Weiand intake. I know the carbs are not correct but they flow more and will run so much better and more reliably than the Strombergs it was designed for. They are being capped with a pair of vintage Edmunds air cleaners and a pair of my Sandy Belond knockoff headers. Pretty neat motor all around. This is all going in a sectioned and shortened '35 tub on a really neat, spring ahead, chassis with some very mid '50's original parts. I've been collecting off the HAMB here for two years to get all the parts to build this. If I can pull it all together this will be, at least in my mind, the best one I've ever built. Unfortunately, it will probably be worth more in parts than together which is no way to think about a rod as the real value is in the road time. I'll see how I make out this week on the parts and post up as we go here. Thanks again for the good advice from the HAMB crew as usual!
My cam is history..... It was run for some time and has a couple of "rollers" instead of lobes. I've ordered through Hudsons an Isky that they are grinding to the car criteria I sent out to them. They still have new blanks. The rest of the parts, double roller chain, lifters etc. I'm ordering from Tony at Ross Racing this week. I've already picked up a set of cam bearings and gaskets from Speedy Bill and the only thing I'll need get is the right pushrods after I get it together and can measure for a new set. With the fresh oil pump and new rod and main bearings I already have in I should be OK for the moment. This setup didn't set me back as much as I feared and should last for the summer. If the rest of the car is good by Fall I'll lift it out and go through it next winter when I can hopefully have a little cash stashed for the rods, pistons and bores and a very good balance job. I'll port and polish the heads and have the seats and valves done at that time as well. The crank is so nice it just took a minor polish up to be perfect. The only other thing I need to do is send the distributor to Bubbas, (next months funds!), maybe a dual point conversion, I'll ask his opinion. I do need a water pump pulley if anybody has one for sale. I'm going to run an electric fuel pump, which I didn't want to do, just for clearance issues. Can't get around it. Any of the Olds guys out there think of anything I'm missing?
I do not know the actual CR. Never did the math nor did Dave50 that did all the engine work. I would be surprised if it is over 9-1
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