Hy I bilding a 1947 Flathead 59A-B and now im searching the right Cam for a great power engine! Following Speed parts comes on the Engine: 1/ Weiand 2x2 Manifold with two Holley 94 8ba Carburators 2/ Offenhauser Finned Aluminium Heads i have adjustable lifter or orginal! the isky cam with the lift 265 to 275 is that ok or another? Greating Marco
The higher the cam lift the more low end torque and power is lost. Higher lift gives more power at the high end. Look at the specs on a Literro L-100 or the Isky Max-1 both a compromise for low and high end. I run a 400jr. in my blown Merc flatty. Jim
The flatty engine that i bild is for a Ford Pop. The Pop is verry light and i think more power at the end of rpm are better!? get the flatty more rpm with a isky or..... cam? I dont no? whats the best? i like the engines that go fast from the lower rpm to the end of rpm! i forget: the Flathead have a intake , outlat and a piston port!
for an off the shelf cam for more of a top end I would go with the isky 400 jr. Besides that it sound cool to!
The 400 Jr has more lift and longer duration than the Max 1. As the name implies, the 400 Jr has .400 lift, while the Max 1 has .364 lift. http://www.iskycams.com/onlinecatalog.html All the data is here, check it out. Flatman
i look on this site but the cams of this site is for the 21-A or 8-BA and not for the 59-AB engine. or is this the same?
OK, first and foremost, what are you planning to do with it? Blown 49 has a real mild cam (comparatively) to what you can buy. That being said, the use of a blower really does take advantage of a cam. If you are going blown, stay conservative. If you are going normally aspirated, go hotter. If you just want a good rumble and a little better performance and a look, get offy heads and the Max-1 cam and be done with it. In reality, a little time with a grinder (OK, a LOT of time) on your heads and block and you can use stock heads for the same difference in power. In real world application, flatheads aren't going to see astronomical numbers. If you have time, get Joe Abbin's books. I just got his last book this year and it is a WEALTH of information. He goes into great details about each and every build, complete with dyno numbers. My current build is mostly stock. The only thing I am changing is the intake and cam. With that said, I am going with a Potvin super 3/4. It's close to a Max-1. Whatever you do, build to the task. If you aren't trying to get over 200 hp out of it, just build it with a isky Max-1 or 400 jr and heads and intake of your choice. If you are planning on squeezing everything you can out of it, buy Joe's book(s) and do a lot of studying. Also, consider if you are driving it or racing it. In my case, I am going to be toodling on the street, rarely going over 4000 rpm. Cleaning up the ports and unshrouding the heads are my best value and I am just getting the potvin because I like dinosaurs and the logo is neat. Aside, the cam is in the range for what I am going to do with it almost every day.
i like to bild the engine only for street! no blower no 200hp! im searching the right cam that good working with the Offy Heads, 2x2 Weiand Manifold with 2 Holley 94 8ba Carburators and the Porting! the flywheel is alu. i like to have a little more Rpm and that the engine go fast to the end of Rpm!
Give us some more to go on! What size engine - bore/stroke. Are you going to have headers? What ignition? What type of car, transmission, rear-end ratio, weigh, etc.. There are many different flathead cams - more than you can imagine and each one has a personality. If your engine is small displacement and you have a heavy car, then don't but too big of a cam in it and you'll really hurt low-speed performance and it will be a big fat dog off a stop sign. With more information, you'll get better answers.
that is a little difficult! all right The Car is a 1948 ford Popular verry small and verry light! (No Gasser) the rear Axle is from a russ. Lada Niva (small and Alu Brakes)??? to time an 4 Gear truck transmission but i think an later 4 bolt transmission is verry better for driving the car in the streets! the engine is to time an original 59A-B mercury or truck. The Ignition is the original 59A-B, Steel headers, I have for the engine the: The Offy heads, the 2x2 Weiand Manifold, The 2 Holley 94 8ba Carburators, 2 New Water Pumps, Full Gasket Set!
Sounds like a pretty stock motor (on the inside). I highly recommend that you upgrade the ignition and put headers on it as well. It doesn't do much good to put a cam, heads, porting and an intake if you don't have a good ignition and headers. Given your motor is really kind of like a 3/4 motor back in the day, go with something like an Isky Max 1 -- you really don't want too big of a cam. Replace the valves with the late 11/32 stem, non-mushroom types and solid guides (buy the whole package from somebody who specializes in them - like Red's Headers, H&H, etc). Are you going to rebuild the short block before putting all these parts in it? If the cylinder walls are not worn/rusted, at least have the cylinders honed and put new rings in it. I'd also check the crank - might need to be reground or at least new bearings. Replace the oil-pump with a 49-53. If you have it all apart, I also recommend having it balanced - makes things run so much more smoothly. As you can tell, I'm not much into just throwing things together -- prefer a high-quality rebuild, good parts and the right machine shop . . . but that is just me. Dale
the engine was rebuilt for 2500 miles! the engine was running verry good but i need now the tuning update! Sorry i forged it: i drill the valve oil holes to 3/16 holes. i have an old stock oil pump from an 8 ba!
All right! i looked some internet sites with camshaft data and i think the best cam for my engine is really the isky max-1 with double valve springs! Thanks for all posts Greating Marco
Don't buy double valve springs - they are a complete waste of time for your setup and a royal pain in the ass to work with. Buy a set of Lincoln Zephyr springs or Isky 185G springs. With the Zephyr springs, set it up with about 70 lbs on the seat with the 185G, about 80 lbs on the seat. You don't need a lot of spring pressure with your setup . . . all it does is wear out your cam/lifters!
mhh!? Whats with the original valve springs? Whats the Problem with the 1947 Ignition? that is the 1945-1948 Ford Round Power Star Distributer. Ican make a magnetic pickup in place of stock points!?
I suggest you contact Jerry @ Schnieder Cams or Max Herman @ H&H Flatheads or Flathead Jack. They have good selections in Flathead cams and will help you in selecting a cam that will work great in your engine. Tell them what you are building and what you are expecting in the completed engine. I did just that building my 281 cube 59ab 48 Merc. I settled on the Potvin super 3/4 using Isky single springs.
Call Paul Vona in San Jose California, He has a lot of N.O.S parts, (flathead) Mopar ,Chevy ,that he is selling 408-289-9325 Hope this helps ...
One Question! N.O.S parts from Paul Vona is: 1/ N.O.S - never out of stock or 2/ N.O.S - new original stock? In Germany is N.O.S never out of stock! Have Paul a internet adress? What is with the Ignition? magnetic pickup in place of stock points?
You never really need super stiff springs with a flathead, because the valves will never hit the pistons if they were to float. The Isky single springs would be plenty for the max-1. (just some food for thought)
The Jalopy Journal
