Hi all, Wondering what a good cam would be for my 21 stud in my A-V8. It is a ‘36 LB. .030 over, Thickstun intake, Eddie Meyer heads. Clive strombergs, reds headers. Bubba built distributor. Not looking for anything crazy just something that will mesh nice with the rest of what I have. Any suggestions are appreciated.
I had a stock cam reground by Schnieder cams. Mine is a bored and stroked 8BA and the cam works great. Not a nasty idle or anything like that but works well. I suspect they could do one for you.
Back when I was young, stupid, and knew everything, I would call Schneider Cams in San Diego because they were about 3 miles from me. I would talk to Jerry Cantrell and tell what I wanted. He would then go through a lengthy period of questions and then tell the cam I wanted wouldn't work, plus he would politely explain why. That was in 1965 and I have used Schneider and Jerry ever since. For hot rods mustle cars. Race cars, and recommended him to lots of other people building their own engine. Have never gotten the wrong cam. Amazing that when I got less smart, I got better cams! Currently I have one in my avatar roadster, one in my El Camino, one in a recent flathead build for a friend, and his hydraulic roller cam in a destroked 400 down to 377 going together for a heart and lung transplant for the El Camino one last time.
Just watched a YT vid yesterday of a freshly built flathead. Think they said it had a Schneider 245. Sounded really mean.
I'm with Pete (and he knows his stuff) - go with a reground cam and a 1007B profile. He can regrind a stock cam for you - and his work is a good as I've ever seen. I've ran his cams in quite a few flatheads - you won't be disappointed.
Don't 'flat head guys' describe their cams with SPECS?!! Like lift...duration (advertised and 050)...LSA ? OR are they(flat heads) a totally different breed and the cam is not described in typical jargon. 6sally6
My 47 avatar car has an isky 77b, pretty tame cam, smooth stock idle speed. My 40 Ford pu, 276, dual carb offy heads has a Schneider regind Potvin 3/8 super, quite lumpy, like to idle 900-1000 rpm, tons of power.
I’m a newbie re: all the cam specs, etc. I was convinced over on the Ford Barn to go with a Max 1. Then after I got it my stock cam re-ground more advice got me thinking about other choices. I want a mild rumble and very street friendly engine... I still have an original Merc cam for my 8BA ‘49 Merc engine. Basically I’m confused and unsure but what the hell...
Pete did a cam for my 49 Merc 8CM,,,,,,it was a work of art . I’ve used Schneiders several times for other engines . They always came through great ! ,,,,very good quality work . Tommy
It all depends on what kind of car it is and how you use it. A cam that would be perfect for a large displacement engine in a light roadster would probably be a dog in a smaller engine in a large sedan. I had ordered a MAX-1 for use in the slightly modified (Edmunds heads, a 2 GC, and upgraded ignition on a stock bore and stroke) '51 Mercury in my '51 Ford club coupe. After much consideration, research, ad discussion on "The Ford Barn", I decided to keep the stock Merc cam in the engine. I drive the car all the time in the summer, and drivability is a premium. I saved the MAX-1 and put it in my "Hot Rod" ("T" tub") engine, where it seems a good choice.
Since we're on this topic, and I know there's a few variables in some components, what's the max lift under a stock iron head that someone can run?
I am not a flathead guy, but more information is needed is give a good recommendation on cam choice. What is R.P.M. range, how many R.P.M.s are you going to turn? Street engine, Street/Strip engine? What transmission? What rear gear ratio? How much does the car weigh?
Not a direct answer, but it may help. The stock cam in the Merc in my car has a .333" lift. When I initially installed the used Edmunds heads to check for over piston crown clearance (to optimize squish), I had about .070 clearance. I had that head milled .025 to bring the nominal clearance to .045 and cleaned up the close areas with a die grinder. Of course, when I did the initial clearance check, I also checked the valve to head clearance, and it was .060". After milling that head, I ended up with .035 over the valve, which should be plenty. Based on this, I would say that it shouldn't be a problem with all up the highest lift cams, especially if it involves stock heads. Obviously, you should check the individual heads to be sure. An interesting sidelight here is that the head on the other bank required only a .015" cut. Whether this is due to a previous mill job or manufacturing variance is unknown.
It depends on the year of the block and the specific head. Some heads (like the early 81A heads on 39 - 41 Fords have a much tighter combustion chamber than say a later EAB type head on a 49-53. I haven't measured in a while, but I bet you can get away with .350 on most of them. Also, if you check for interference, you really only need to clearance the very top of the "eyebrows" in the heads - as the valves are canted and that is where the top-edge will hit the head.
I went through this same agonizing process, and my machinist talked me into a Max1 cam for my avatar engine because it was going in a somewhat heavy F1 truck and that cam still makes good low end torque. He had built quite a few flatheads over the years and his advice was pretty spot on IMHO. So, 4" merc crank, bored .30 over, Max1 cam, slight port/relief on block, 3 strombergs on progressive linkage and I'm very happy with the results. An engine with this sorta setup will dyno around 160hp or so, I'm told, and it works out great for my setup. Pickup roars down the road at 70mph no prob and definitely sounds badass compared to the stock cam it had before the rebuild. Throttle response is as fast as your foot will move the gas pedal, see vid. below. I love it. If you had a light roadster you could go with a bigger cam, sacrifice some low end torque/hp but gain it on the top end and it would probably be more fun, overall? I also love the full-race cam setups in flatheads, my next one might be built that way but it needs to be in a light car. Let us know how it all works out for ya!
Hey @8flat, your engine sounds very much like mine except for the port/relief work! Mines going in a ‘32 5W so definitely not as heavy as a truck. I guess I’ll see when it’s done how it performs but you give me hope!
I think this setup would be a blast in a lighter car! Heck it's still fun in my pickup, won't exactly burn the tires off but it's no slouch.
Yeah, Eddie Meyer heads, ‘39 trans with perhaps LZ gears (still debating those), and a 3.78 ‘40 Ford rear end.... I’m hoping!
I really thought I had this all figured out until I met a guy on here from Pennsylvania, can't remember the car club they had out there but it was all flathead focused. This was 10-15yrs ago, right after I built my 8BA. He told me nearly all of them in their club ran full race cams, didn't matter that it made them finicky and hurt their off-idle power/torque etc, they sounded so badass that it was completely worth it to them. He sent me some videos, and then I got it. Made me rethink how I'd build my next flathead haha especially if it was in a car. Full race, I think.
I get it ..... nothing sweeter then a flathead V8 with a cam. I picture a sweet maiden in a flowery dress & we are going to go out for a pick nick. You listen to a Y-block with a wild cam .... I think about the Jezebel on the corner. you going for a ride. Nothing sweeter then a flathead with a cam. Speed kills, drive a flathead & live forever.
I have the 1007B grind from Pete as well. Still haven’t fired it up yet, but came across this screen shot I found in my Flathead album.
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