What do you do with the "last" one?

I have been offered a NOS Isky cam for my Studebaker at a decent price and I am buying it. The cam card is signed by Ed Iskenderian himself and he also wrote "This is the last E2 Studebaker cam we made. There won't be anymore." My 1980-1/2 Isky Catalog only lists 2 Stude cams, the E-4 and ST-5 and they were both regrinds at that time so this is at least 27 years old. I already have a Daytona Cams regrind very similar to it on it's way but how cool would it be to have the Isky in it? Do I preserve it or do I be a man and use it?

I have no intentions of selling the Stude as long as I am in good health and can enjoy it if that makes any difference and it will be built early to mid-60's style for the most part. The exceptions being trans, diff, brakes and front seat but the seat will have period correct upholstrey.

 

Ed would want you to use it.

Doc.

 

Put the cam in your Studey and keep the card in your "stuff" box. Unless you can make a deal with Speedy Bill, that is!

 

if you cant bring yourself to use it..

SELL IT TO SOMEONE THAT WILL..

the stuff is made to be used..

 

I bought a 505C for my Packard. I am sure Ed likes knowing people are still using his stuff.

 

I think you're right, he didn't grind it to sit in a box on a shelf did he? But once I verify the signature on the timing card it's going under gl***.

 

Theres an oil issue now with the newer formulations that makes wiping a lobe during break-in VERY easy.
Do a search here on the HAMB (it was talked about) or even a Google search on the net.
Certain oils still have the important ingredients that will make the break-in go easier.

I'm pretty sure that if you wipe out the very LAST one due to something stupid like the wrong oil...Isky will go to your house and kick your ***!!!

 

take the cam to a cam grinder and have them duplicate it from a blank
save the "last one" and it's autographed card

 

I'm a little younger than Ed and I'm 6'2" 220 Lbs. so I ain't scared.
It would be pretty cool to have Ed Iskenderian come to my house though even if it WAS to kick my ****!

Yeah the break in thing is all over the car forums, especially the Studebaker forums and had me a little concerned but there are still plenty of alternative oils and additives. I haven't lost a flat tappet on break in yet and I don't plan on starting now (famous last words ).

 

I thought about that but there are no raw Studebaker blanks in existence and haven't been for 30 years or more, only thing available now is a regrind off an existing cam and none of the cams I have found have as much lift as this one. Even the last few years they were available the Isky Stude cams were regrinds on factory Stude cam cores. If I could find one though I'd sure do it, but if blanks were available there'd be all kinds of Stude cams getting ground. Did a Google search on Isky E-2 cams, seems that most of the factory performance packages in the late 50's like the Olds J-2's and some of the Ford 312's actually used the Isky E-2 cam......... if you can believe what you read on the internet.

 

Somethings are just special, and should be treated as such. Ed's signature on the Cam Card saying "this is the last one" should be left with the cam.
I've heard there aren't any cam blanks for the Studes...I'm surprised some small cam company hasn't figured this out and done something about it.
However, be that as it may, the fact that you've got the very last one the Camfather made...just think about that for a while.
You can find another, used or whatever. Or find a core and have one re-ground. Unless you're racing for points and money, it doesn't really matter if you have a Hot Cam, or The Hottest Cam in the car.
I think it's for things exactly like this that every rodder should have a gl*** display case in his shop. We ALL have one or two little nuggets that should be preserved. This cam, and the autographed card, is one of those things.

Or, another way to look at it is like this: I bet Garlits would display it in his museum if he had it. Why? Because it's something special. It's not just a cam ground by Isky, it's the LAST Stude cam ground by them, and Isky himself thought it was important enough to take the time to write it on the card.

-Brad

 

I just had a thought, maybe I should contact Isky after I get it home and see if they'll ask Ed what he thinks I should do........... and verify the autograph.

 

working for a museum may have ruined me, but I think that should be kept in a nice place for display and preservation...

although... my first thought was that you could use it and wait until you broke it to put it on display.. but that doesn't seem quite right.

 

As soon as it arrives I'm scanning the timing card and e-mailing them to verify the signature. We'll see what happens after that but it is THE perfect cam for my car and it is NOT a regrind!!! It's the real deal ground on a raw blank probably before I could even drive. Stude cam blanks have been extinct for 30 years or better. I just bought a 1967 Isky catalog on eBay and one of the pages they chose to display was the Studebaker page. This cam was a special hard faced grind and was $160 in 1967 WITHOUT lifters. The regrind I bought is nearly identical BUT................

 

one more vote for keep it with all your other cool stuff. the signed card is cool by itself, but it takes on an extra degree of cool with the actual cam.

if it were the cam without the card I'd say use it.

 

Keep in mind that I'm a stuffy sporst car nerd, but I'd keep it in a case. There are certain things that should be preserved for posterity. It may go against the spirit of the hobby in some people's eyes, but what about the hot rodders who haven't even been born yet? Where will they be able to see the last Isky Studebaker cam 50 years from now? Perhaps many years from now,you can donate it to a museum and see it on display with your name on it, a little piece of history, all your own. Do you consider that a fitting legacy?

On a side note, I was just reading about Ed's car before I read this post, ironically enough. I admire anyone audacious enough to put their own name on their engine!

 

It's yours, do what you like, if you don't think you can find another or recreate it somehow, use it... just don't throw it away. If you show your car you could frame the card and put a little display thing up telling people about it.

 

I would run it, get an E.T. slip, then pull the cam and display it with the cam AND the E.T. slip.

Tracy

 

Use it.... that's what I'd do and look at it this way "You still have it".

 

If the card wasn't signed I'd use it in a heartbeat. Maybe I'll get lucky and it's a forgery, the card that is.....

 

I'm thinking like Nate, I worked in aircraft museums so I'm a little one sided on this.
The last one and signed by Ed his self.

Now think of this, its the one and only one signed by Ed. If its used its gone for ever, how many people carry on about all the WWII aircraft that were melted down in the post war years. There are quite a few that not even one exists of these days. I put using the cam in this line.
Yeah some of you say but its 'just a cam' but **** if everyone thought its just a 32 Ford in the 40s we wouldn't have a one left.

 

There is no way you could get me to use it. The cam and the card would be on my shelf in a instant. Being Hot Rods, and Hot Rodders, so much of our history got rode hard, busted, and tossed. This is a VERY rare chance to save a piece of our past.

 

As much as I believe cars and parts are to be used, abused and repaired as necessary, NO WAY would I run that if it is authentic. It would be too cool to have it in a nice little display case mounted on the wall. Once you run it, it is no longer NOS, it is just used. To each his own and nothing wrong with running it, but if you are looking for an opinion, I think you ended up with a pretty special collector piece that should be preserved together (NOS cam and signed card).

 

I'm hearing some great arguments both ways. It's not making it any easier to decide I can tell you that. If it was non-moving part that would be something else but cams don't last forever, unless you leave them in the box that is....... Damn, my brain hurts!!!

 

As soon as you decide to use that cam, some cam manufacturer would say they would like to reproduce it but there are no originals remaining to use as a pattern....keep it!!

Dave

 

I think that's the best argument for the preservation side yet!

 

I like that one, just make sure you record the sound or video it or something too.

TP

 

I'll add another vote for this guy's way of thinking. Keep it safe somewhere!

 

I'd get the cam specs and have a cam reground to spec. You get a cam, and the original and cam card are still NOS.

 

I agree with the preservation arguement. How would you feel if someone popped out some new blanks due to the Stude guys demanding it and you no longer had the new cam to use as a pattern? The regrind you have coming is almost the same thing. Use it instead. Is it really going to make that much of a performance difference over the regrind?

You should take the new Isky cam to a good machine shop and have the profile digitized and stored on disc. Then it can be duplicated at any time in the future when a new blank or suitable core becomes available.

Tom