I am rebuilding my 8ba for my 53 ford Tudor sedan customline. I picked up a old merc motor from the junkyard. I am on a tight budget since I am 13 and only have 2000 from working at a machine shop and doing work on my neighbors cars. I don't want to buy a performance cam because of money. I have heard the merc cam is better. Is this true? Or does anyone have some advice for me? Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Hi Boden. Good that you are interested in the old flatheads. If you go to tildentechnologies.com they list various cam specs. among them the stock 8BA Ford and 8CM Merc. specs Basically, the Merc cam has longer duration, more overlap and higher lift than the Ford. It is a nice torquey cam. Read up on the specs and the technology and you'll be an expert. Enjoy
I'll agree with "Duncan". When I put the '51 Mercury engine, in my 1951 Ford, I originally intended to put in an aftermarket camshaft (I had a new Isky "MAX 1" cam in the shop). After perusing the "Tilden Cam" page mentioned above, and talking to some of the guys on "The Ford Barn", I came to the conclusion that the stock Merc cam would be a better fit for a relatively heavy car such as my '51. I left it in, and am happy I did. (Don't worry guys, the "MAX-1" is now in the 258" engine that is going into the "Hot Rod" I'm building; that car will be well under 2000 lbs. so torque won't be so important.)
hi, i assume you plan to use the merc crank? more stroke, 255 ci. and yes, the merc cam has a little better low end torque because the car was heavy, and automatics were coming in vogue at the time. good luck on your project, lets hear some more about it
Boden, let me be the first one to say that I am very impressed with what you are doing and what you have already done at the age of thirteen. Already doing work at a machine shop and working on customer's cars is just great to see. You are correct that the stock Merc cam is better than the Ford cam, just a better performer, more torque, more lift. With the Merc engine you also will have the stock 4 inch Merc crank and you will gain 1/4 inck stroke over the stock Ford 3 3/4 inch crank. The stock ignition on the 8BA flathead engines don't perform all that well if you plan on putting dual carbs on the engine, and an upgrade on the stock ignition would be the best plan.
Wow. Thank you very much. My whole family is hot rodders. My uncle has a 30 ford roadster with a nailhead. 31 Tudor sedan with a hemi. And a 39 ford with an 8ba. And a 35 ford with an 8ba. And a 49 ford with a nailhead. All of them are tudors. So I am going to use the merc cam. And I heard that u can use a cut down chevy distributor. I might give that a try. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Yes. I am using the merc crank. And cam. And maybe some valvetrain parts besides lifters. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Is the merc 8cm cam the same as the ford eab cam. Or is one Better than the other. Sorry. Hope I'm not being a pain Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
from what i remember, the early mercs of 49-50, had the better cam than the 51's 2' and 3's there is a chart, i believe its tildon technologies or close, that shows all the specs. do some googling
in my rdst. pu w/53 merc eng when i built it i put in a 400 jr cam, they way i drive and the trafic the cam was awful, pulled it out and put the orig. 53 merc. cam in and was a completly better car. and ran just as good w/normal driving. just finished a 27-T w/8ba eng w/stock cam, and building a 34 rst. w/stock camed 1955 331 cad. eng. unless you are going to go raceing i would only run a stock cam. JMO OH!, i love the sound of a hot cam, i have a 34 w/boss 429 eng and a comp cams thumper cam, sounds awsom, also a flt. head dragster w/wild cam, sounds like a funny car, but i don't drive them in traffic much.
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