looking for a roller cam for my blown 425 nailhead what cam do I need to run and were can I get it thanks Tom
About all you will find today will be a steel flat tappet roller. Some of the old time cam gribders might still be willing to whittle one out. Try Schneider Cams, Iskenderian, Howards , Engle, Comp Cams, Crower for starters. I seriously doubt that anyone will have cast iron cores left for nailheads. I sold cams and cores in the 80's and they were long gone then unless someone has tooled up again. Good Hunting. Charlie
Ask these guys here: http://www.v8buick.com/ Also if Tom Telesco is still around this forum he would know if there are or were ever any roller cams for the nailhead. He was producing roller rockers for them a few years ago. I just looked up another source and you should contact Lee Schelin of the Yahoo Buick Nailhead group. Back in 2003 he had a deal going with Comp cams to get roller blanks for $150.00 each but needed to order a minimum of 40. I do not know what became of that. That should get you some answers anyway.
The cams can be had, like Shag said Lee had a run of blanks made a few years back. I hear that there are roller lifters that can be made to work, right diameter, just some pushrod magic to be done...
I have a set of NOS Isky roller lifters I talked to someone at Isky today and he's going to talk to one of the old timers there and hook me up with what I need on monday I just hope everything will be cool and I will have no problems I will post some pix when I start the build soon thanks Tom
Tom.... sorry for being ignorant...is there a blower plate under that huffer yet?...or are you still needing one? I ask,because I was interested knowing if there was a source..... I would love to do a huffed 401/425 thanks.. and very cool set up
I have a vintage Weiand manifold that took me 5 years to find if you do a search under nailhead blower manifold there are better pix of it Tom
if you dont have any luck with Isky PM me and ill hook you up with Comp Cams i know one of the head guys there and i think he can do one offs if needed.
The cams are not too hard to find. I have picked up two Isky cams for 364-401-425 and one Harmon & Collins for 264-322. I only have one set of roller lifters so far though. Chevy lifters are the same diameter but taller and you need to make the cross bars the correct length as the lifter bore spacing is different from Chevy to Buick also. I am getting ready to start the 322" overhaul for a rail my pop and I are building. I will be looking to use the H&C cam in it. so I will need to sort out the details for the lifters. I have heard that Shubeck (sp?) has a lifter (solid) that can be used on roller cams. I might look into that also. Right now i am still on the drawing board so all option are open for the build.
You might try talking to Kenny Heard he is the owner of Oregon Cam Grinding. He has all of the old master cams from many grinders and can duplicate most any grind. He also has many old cam cores and has been grinding for 30+ years. His number is 360-256-7985 m-f 8-5pacific coast time. Good luck, Gary....
I PMed the guy about the roller cam in the classifieds and he told me its for a caddy I dont know why he listed it for a nailhead
Lee on the Yahoo Nailhead group said he is working with a cam grinder/supplier right now that may be able to do them for as little as 3 at a time....
I called Isky today and talked to Ron and he has a couple roller cam blanks so we talked about what Im going to do and he is going to grind a cam to the spec's that he thinks will work the best for me and I also got the valve springs, retainers and locks and the springs I was missing from the rev kit I have so now all I need to do is get my block to the machine shop and get off my ass and start to do what needs to be done so to Noland HAHA whos funny now!
I also got my SFI approved damper today so Im one more step the the badest nailhead around just so you guys know a BBB 455 will work on a nailhead just the timing marks are off 180 witch dont matter to me becouse I have to make my own timing pointer also when I orderd it the guy a TA told me that most of the time they are close to the stock balancer so you dont need to balance the whole thing but somtime it dose need to be balanced just what I was told dont quot me on that Tom
my roller cam-valve springs-retainers and rev kit springs came in today everything looks good cam spec lobe center 110 deg over lap 110 valve lift with 1.5 rocker ratio intake timing exhust timing duration 330 deg duration 330 deg open 55 btdc open 95 btdc close 95 atdc close 55 atdc cam lift .360 cam lift .360 valve lift .540 valve lift .540 valve lash .030 valve lash .030 I hope this will work should have motor done in a month or two
" a BBB 455 will work on a nailhead just the timing marks are off 180 witch dont matter to me becouse I have to make my own timing pointer " But how are you gonna check the timing mark if it is underneath the balancer? The Nailhead timing 'pointer' is near the 11'o-clock position. This will make the timing mark on the 455 balancer near the 5'o-clock position. You will need to make a mark on the balancer in a better position. Even in an open frame car or railjob it would be tough to get a good reading at the 5'oclock position. "also when I orderd it the guy a TA told me that most of the time they are close to the stock balancer so you dont need to balance the whole thing but somtime it dose need to be balanced just what I was told dont quot me on that" As far as the balance, it is probably close enough for stock applications, but I would expect to have the entire rotating assembly balanced if you are looking for a real hiperf forced induction setup. And don't you need to take off something like 1/4" from the snout for use on a Nailhead? I don't have a 455 style on my Nailhead, but a friend does-he seems pretty satisfied with it. I have a similar spec'ed camn (RR-550), however they used the 1.6 ratio for calculations and came out with a little more lift, and also slightly differentvalve open/close timing. And the lash I have recommended on the cam card/sheet is .018" int/exh. When I spoke with Ron at Isky about the 505 I have, he recommended around .022-.024"Mine is going in a normally aspirated 401 hopefully soon. I might use the other (RR-505) cam in the engine I have now though.
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