These two things are your worst enemies on the street - I don't worry too much about transferring a lot of heat to the cooling system, so much as the cylinder walls being thin. With those rocking pistons, you'll get some cyl wall flexing & poor sealing. At that bore, you can't really go any further either - besides, it's a downward slope. Agreed - it'd make a good "local" car engine, but I'd be reluctant to plan on putting serious miles on the thing...
No one has mentioned the 1007B and FOR YOUR engine, it would be ideal..It has very good off idle performance, it will turn 6000 if need be and it has a lopey drive-in idle..It will run all day on the freeway with no problems and get good gas mileage. The Potvin 3/8 is a good cam but lacks in low end...You need to get it to 3000...Good cam for light cars.. The 400 jr. is too much cam for most mild street engines. The 404 is an excellent street cam..It is a very short duration grind with an extremely high rate of lift..The rate of lift is what makes it preform so well over a wide rpm range...It will idle with a slight lope at 800 rpm and still turn 7500...The wear factor needs to be considered with this cam...Probably 5 to 7K miles on the street and it needs to be checked for wear. The cam, lifters and tools to install the keys are available but quite expensive..Attached are pics of a 404 lifter and the tools to install the lifter bore keys. Winfield cams are good for model A engines...Almost anything is better in a flat V8. Pete "Been in the cam business 53 years" "Home of the World's fastest street roadster 1956 Bonneville. 163.93 mph"
Specs I have for 1007B are: Lift = .355" Dur = 257* I / 255* E Schneider 260F is very similar, Weber F5 not too dissimilar - both good street cams.
What are the SU-1A specs? My dad has a Winfield cam in his T (yes, with a T motor) and that thing really gets with the program for a stock bodied touring.
While all the commentary here focuses on the relative merits of a variety of performance grinds, I wonder why anybody wants to give up ANY performance down in the 2000-3500 R.P.M. range which is where most street driving is done. Any regrind is going to move the torque peak up and decrease the off idle performance. I like driveability myself and the stock late Merc cam is about as good as you can get for that.
This is an old thread but I wondered why, if you have questions about an Isky cam you don't call Ed and ask him? He loves to talk about cams and hot rods. He is a nice guy and should know more than most about his cams.
That's an excellent point. Now that Bill Jenks is gone I consider myself lucky to have had him personally grind a Potvin Super 3/8 cam for me but I kick myself for not taking the time to ask him more questions about engines and cams in general.
I've been running a Winfield SU1-A for over 16 years now and think it makes an excellent street cam. It's in a 276 cube in a 39 coupe. Getting ready to build the engine for my 32 and am seriously thinking of putting a 404A in it as it will not be driven near as much or as far as the 39.
Ancient thread, but: It was a very mediocre grind that did all things equally poorly. At the July 16-17, 1949 SCTA Speed Trials at El Mirage, entered in the C Lakester class, with this channeled '32, Khougaz achieved a best-ever speed of 141.95 mph. Power was a 286-cid Flathead with a Winfield SU1A cam, Edelbrock heads, and four-carb manifold, backed by a three-speed, '40 Ford box with Zephyr gears. Read more: http://www.streetrodderweb.com/milestones/0401sr_milestone_blue_bullet/photo_13.html#ixzz2QaUalhk3 Makes a great street cam in my 267 inch in a '40 coupe with Zephyr gears and 3.78's. Loves to climb the mountains around here.
The SU1a has slooow ramps, so you can run it on ball pen springs.... Slow opening valves keep the velocity up....which is good So its ok for a street motor, But nothing like a potvin eliminator or a isky 404A
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