Picked up this vintage Chet Herbert roller cam kit at an estate sale today. If anyone is in the Seattle area, the address is 310 W Boston and will be going on tomorrow too. There's 2 hemi blocks w/cranks, one long bell 53 and one short bell 55.Pans, 2 early heads and tons of fasteners. Got about a 1/2 ton myself, along with a sun distributor machine. Anyway, Chet Herbert cams didn't know what the number 13 on the butt end of the cam meant, so was hoping someone here could ID this stuff. No other numbers on it. Looks pretty lumpy. The lifters need some sort of bridge to keep them in line.
About 40 years ago a friend put a Herbert roller in his 421 and it had long pieces of 1/4" square bar stock that passed through vertical, rectangular slots in the lifters to keep them positioned correctly. The bar stock had to be fastened in place by drilling and tapping holes in the valley. I wonder if the hemi lifters used the same principal, but instead of the rectangular slots those milled flats rode against the bar stock?
Fordors is correct. You need to fasten a piece of key stock on each side to locate th lifters. that is how it was done before the idea of pairing them came about. Cam appears to be for a '51-'53 type Chrysler. Different snout, as you can see. I think the lifter bore angle is also different on the early long bell Chryslers and the later, more commonly seen blocks.
Interesting, thanks for everyone's comments. I do have an extra 331..... Be interested in lift and duration, probably have to send it to a cam grinder to find out.
With that nose on the cam it is for the earlier ('51-'54) blocks which are low deck compared to the 392. If it had the '55 and up nose it could be either a 354 or 392 cam and like Rich said above the lifter angle is different on the tall deck 392. With a late style cam you should degree the cam and check the timing events on no. 1 cylinder and do the same on no. 6. If they match then the cam is for your particular block; let's say you have a 392 and if 1 and 6 don't match than the cam is for the low deck 354.
Hey John, Thank you for the H.A.M.B. heads up about the estate sale. It was great to meet you back there too! Brought home most of the rest of that hardware. A lot of other treasures as well! A few things that I had been looking for which was a bonus! Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I have an old Olds roller cam (in much the same packaging) with the same style lifters. With the Olds cam they supplied a heavy plate that runs the length and width of the valley and keeps the lifters in line. Like he said, you would have to mark, drill and tap mounting holes in the block to hold the plate in position. Sure glad they devised the "pair" method. Old speed parts are always a great find.
I couldn't help noticing the name on the box, Al Cooper was connected with some pretty elite race cars out of the Seattle area, back in the early 50's.
Not sure who you have up there but I know Kenny Heard is in Vancouver Wa and still runs Oregon Cam grinders. Between him and his good friends that used to be Columbia Racing Engines I'd bet they can give you exact motor group as well as Cam profile. He would need the cam in house to run the profile if the 13 don't tell him anything. Give Ken a call at 360-256-7985. These guys have been around since the begining of all the Gasser/Top Fuel stuff and are still active. Sadly just a short while back we lost one of the team being Jim Albrich. The Wizzard
Damn dude, Those cubbyhole cabinets fit perfectly in the corner of my shop. Wish I had some of the bins you got though Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Up through '55 had the long snout cams. Lifter bore angle is different on the 392s because of the raised block.
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