Flathead Isky Cams: Story and Pictures of the 505-A Radius Cam

uh, how'd i miss this!!

BS, you ole' sly dog you........I'm glad you hung onto it and had the wherewithal to complete it. That's simply awesome!

more stories would be good!

 

Flathead networking at it best.

 

simply fascinating... thanks for the story.

-W

 

Brilliant story. You can just imagine those poor little lifters trying to launch into outer spacer at the top of those ramps!

 

wow! What a cool story, Ed Isky is one of the neatest guys the industry has ever known, I saw him a while back on Barry Meguiars T.V. show, Car Crazy. He was talking about early day "Gow Jobs" as they coined early hot rods, he seems to be a totally unpretentious gentleman, I have seen the re-run several times and am blown away with his dialog. In my early days the Isky Cam was the holy grail for us midwest boys. Thanx for sharing this unique adventure!-Sololobo

 

If not for Ryan's JJ mention of this... I wouldnt have read it. (believe it or not, I never saw it)

Great story.

 

man, sure would love to hear that puppy roar as well!

 

Same here! Glad it made it to the front page, this is a great story about an amazing cam.

 

Can't wait to hear it. Thanks for the stories, that is a great chunk of car history.

 

Happy Holidays Fellow Hambers!

I've had a couple flathead racers drop me a line - so between myself and potentially a couple others, maybe we'll get this big ole' "bump stick" a chance to snort and rattle a bit. I'll keep you all posted as things progress - would be fun to have a cam like this running at Bonneville.

Dale

 

It's stories like these that cause me to spend countless hours reading these posts. This is some good $#!+ here!

 

I'm with 35PU on this. I don't know how I managed to not see it when it was first posted. Anyway glad I finally read it as it's one the neatest threads in a loooong time.
Glad to hear your going to make an effort to run the cam as it should be used if for no other reason than the story behind it. Can't wait to see and "hear" it making power either on a dyno or in a car at the track.

Frank

 

holy shit guy!! those lobes go strait up damn near! that amazing! id love to hear what it sounds like!!

awsome story too!!

 

Great story!
Got hold of an 404 myself a couple years ago. I have never used it,
but cosider using it in an blown engine, that i plan to build up next year. I wounder if you now anybody that has the jig to make the innstalation of the straps in the lifter bosses right?
I also need the straps?
The engine is to be used in a dragster with 4-71 blower, Hilborn 2-port! havent desided what crank/ stroke i will use?

Br
Kjell

 

Tooo Cool!! Great info here! I would love to see and hear this thing run. If you do get it to the salt, take lots of video!!



PS - It's also kind of a bummer that the "Are the Dickies at Wal-Mart good quality" thread is getting more replies than this one. Oh well...

 

I showed this thread (AND the picture) of this cam to a friend who builds fueler dragster engines.

He sat quietly studing the picture; and then turned to me and said, "If I could have gotten my hands on one of those; I'd STILL be racing flatheads!!"

 

Amazing story that I'm glad got told. I too will be keeping an eye out for the result of this camshaft's application.

I'm not a flathead ford man, in the least. But I am a flathead lover, and I love stories regarding the flathead.

I had the chance to meet Joe Mondello not long after he moved to Tennessee. I was just driving by his new shop and wanted some information regarding his technical school. I never imagined I'd meet Joe himself. As soon as I entered the door and inquired about the classes, Joe was in front of me with his hand stuck out and inquiring about the Hudson Motor Co. patch on my jacket. I was rather taken aback that I was in conversation with one of the legends of early flathead racing.

Within about 20 minutes I'm sitting in his office and in a discussion about camshafts for the Hudson. "Iskenderian made the most famous camshaft for the Hornet engine", I said. In about the time it takes to dial a telephone - Ed Iskenderian was on the other end of a conference call, laying out all the particulars of the Hudson grind. The "446"

I was shocked, awed, and at the same time feeling like I was on the porch of a country store talking to two easy going neighbors.

Two amazing men who between them, probably know how to make a flathead breathe better than anyone else on the planet.

Hud

 

Hi: Sorry I missed this post - should have got back to you earlier! I assume that you also have a set of radius lifters? Drop me a PM with your phone number and I'll give you a call --- might be able to help you with this.
I also have a 4-71 and a 2-port Hilborn injector . . . need to buy a new scoop for it to complete the unit. I'm going to run a special plenum manifold from Tom Roberts with this blower -- may put injector nozzles down in the runners.

Dale

 

Have you heard of john schooler?He told me he invented the 5th cycle cam.Just curious cause he said he was around Ed Isky back in the day.

 

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I believe the so-called "5 cycle" valve timing was developed by Fiat for the 3000hp AS 6 V24 used in the Macchi-Castoldi MC72 racing seaplane which achieved a speed in excess of 420 mph in the late '30s.
The AS 6 was a centrifugally blown, 8 carb, 3000hp V24 driving 2 counter-rotating props.
Just another little Fiat.
This technology was then further developed by Alfa Romeo for the Tipo 159 world championship-winning formula one car in the late '40s- early '50s.
Anton

 

so who has a video of the 505 in a flathead??

 

Nobody as of yet -- there is only one of these made today and I have yet to run it! It will take a very special project to even consider it . . . I'm currently too busy on some other engines/projects. I might build a motor next winter - just to hear it run!

 

All the '5th cycle' really means is that they dramatically increased the valve overlap at the end of the exhaust cycle --> so that the exhaust leaving the cylinder could help "pull" the intake charge in. Somebody decided to name it the '5th cycle' and Isky made hay with it. I know that cam grinders started to explore duration and overlap at least in the 30's -- though they didn't use much of it until the 50's.

The 'thumper' cams of today employ a LOT of exhaust timing/duration . . . to exploit the thing even further ---> to make "the sound" we all associate with big ass cams and motors. A lot of compression also helps the sound . . .

 

Man.........talk about slapping your lifters silly.....that would do it....

 

"Quote:
Originally Posted by moontanker
Have you heard of john schooler?He told me he invented the 5th cycle cam.Just curious cause he said he was around Ed Isky back in the day."

Close but not exactly right.
The cooling 5th stroke was discovered by a guy named Milan (forgot his first name) in the 30's for GP formula 1 engines.
It was exploited by Isky and others later.
Dale explained how it works.

 

Can u tell me where to find a 404 cam with the radius lifters and the lifter guide tool? Gary

 

I have all the goodies...Email me for details.

 

What is your email address? Gary

 

The lifters look like this