I've been looking for a performance cam for my buick motor, and so far every parts house I've talked to says that they aren't available. Does anyone know of a spot I can get one. It seems like they make them for every other god damm motor. Can soemone help a brotha out.
HERE YAH GO IF THIS CAN"T HELP I DON"T KNOW WHAT ELSE http://www.rodandcustommagazine.com/howto/4907/
Chris Nielson Cams 801-451-7745 tell him I reffered you...he will take really good care of you..All you had to do was ask man!!?? I owned hot rod vintage parts for 4 years and another 11 years as a parts counterman!! Wouldnt you think I had some hook ups??!!
TA Performance makes headers.Offy still makes 3x2 and 2x4 intkes new for it. as well as Finned valve covers,Mr O'Brien O Brien Truckers makes finned valley covers and spark plug covers.They make all kind of **** for that 401 dude...
TA Performance or Poston makes cams for nailheads.... I can't remember which one I got mine from, but I also heard one company buys from the other.... I think TA is the main source... the have good info on their site... www.taperformance.com
I just installed a Poston's NH300 cam, they have about 4 models from mild to wild. I have not fired up yet, but stuff is out there.
We stock Schneider cams and lifters as well as all the Offy parts and make our own 6x2. New Eelco valley pans will be ready this week! www.nwspeedequipment.com
Remeber, the stock Nailhead has a pretty hea;lthy sounding cam. My boss has a stocker in his 401, no mufflers and rumbles sooooo nice!
Thanks everyone. I figured there had to be someone out there who made performance **** for these motors. I knew the almighty HAMB would have an answer for me. Thanks. I was thinking of a mild cam for it but you say that the 401 came with a healthy cam already? How healthy?
There were actual complaints about the poor idle of the late fifties/early sixties Nailheads. The stock ones go Thump, thump, thump. How many STOCK small blocks had 445/465 lb/ft of torque at 2400 rpm?
It depends on the year and application of your 401. There is and i.d. # in the front edge og the block just ahead of the valley pan. Its starts with two letters. If you forward this number I can tell you your cam specs.
hes got a 1963 401 high compression engine,it has a stock cam that has a lope to it right now.The engine needs headers,ignition,maybe a better induction system like a 2x4...and I 'd say gears,but they dont have any available other than Rivi posi traction units that around 3.50:1...You could go a little more cam but keep it in the 280 adv dur 112 center .500" lift area otherwise you will end up with an engine that will fall flat on its face..
One of the fellas in the Yahoo Nailhead discussion group is in the final stages of casting on a B262 copy and a single 4 aluminum intake. There are almost as many parts available now for the Nailhead as there are anything else, you just can't go to Auto Zone and buy them. Poston, Carmen Faso, me, Tom Telesco, Doc Frohmader, Phoenix Transmission, Kenne-Bell...the list goes on and on of vendors with a plethora of parts. Word of advice...the Offenhauser intakes are no more than carburetor adaptors. They aren't much on performance. Dont get me wrong, but the factory 66 Q-jet intake flows better than the Offy 2x4. Check us out on the Nailhead board. Ray
A little something to remember on the nailheads. Due to the configuration of the valvetrain, the rockers start to loose ratio big time on any higher lift cams and the advertised cam specs aren't usually anywhere near real world figures.
I think it's more a combination of not being a high rev motor and flow. They are low end and mid range motors. If you build the motor within the limits of it's engineering it's great, if you try to put a whopping cam ala SBC in it, it doesn't like it. The valves are relatively small and the heads don't flow great, an overly large cam will ruin any velocity in the ports and kill the power...
Well I scored a brand new stock cam for the nailhead, along with some crome valve covers. And the price was great, FREE!! So I'm gonna throw it in there as well with a new timing set and lifters, as the cam in there now has a flat spot. The exhaust valve on the #5 cylinder is not opening. As for the intake side the carb works fine so I'll stick to my old moto "if it aint broke don't break it". Although I saw a cool 6x2 intake for sale on ebay last night. Hmmmmm
WTF??????!! Flat Spot on the CAM?!! I was gonna throw a cam in it only for the fact that the nailheads should have the timing sets replaced at 100,000 miles no matter what.I never got that in depth..**** well hell thats an excuse to cam it if I ever heard it and your going stock?!! hahaha thats cool though,should run tons better after that...Hell it dont run too bad now!!
Yeah I know stock. But I want to keep the gas milage resonable. Plus it's a lowrider it doesn't need to be a hot rod. That exhaust valve not opening explains why it pops back through the carb on the freeway.
funny i've been trying to nail down a valvetrain noise problem on my wildcat and pretty much came to the comclusion today that i must have a flat spot on the cam as i have checked everthing else. i was just thinking on going with a stocker or if anything a very mild cam. as said these cars are for cruisin not go fast. if you were putting the motor in a hotrod maybe but look for sensible answers for these cars. ps if you ever want to get a little more slick in te interior the mid 60s tbird opera seat for the back drops right in with just moving one hanger on each side for bracing. the front buckets are a different story as i'm still working on swivel bases for the bird buckets. i'd take some pics of my new interior but won't have a digi cam around for a while. good luck on the car...ken....
Cool thanks for the tips. I'll have to take a look at the t-bird seats. I like the idea of swivel front buckets. Post some pics when you get a chance.
looks like i could get myself into more trouble. i work in a press room for the local newspaper and we print the local thrifty paper. well in the auto parts section was a '64 wildcat 2dr no motor 300obo. going to look at it tommorrow. it should be a good parts donor if nothing else. as far as the swivels go next on my list is vw westie van swivels as they are low profile. hard to find and not cheap when you do. found a guy that has a set local i'm gonna try to get by to look at tommorrow to. if they don't work then it's gonna be get locking swivels from a boat supply and build frame work which i hope isn't the answer. whatever it is i'll do it just have to be after the weekend as it's full already. good luck with the buick...ken....
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