If the engine is out, I would remove the welch plug @ the rear of the cam and look for after market manufacturer's I.D.

"FREE SAMPLE"

IF you're going to use the 'Bird on the street, consider changing to a milder cam, too.

NoShortcuts
a.k.a. Charlie Brown
near Syracuse, New York

Haha, it's easier to laugh now that it looks like I've found the main problem. Once the cam is out, I'll make it available to the highest bidder...

I'm wanting to go back with a stock cam and I see that Carpenter, C&G, and Joblot both have NOS cams for $70. Any reason not to go with one of these and a set of the Comp Cam lifters?

I would go with a stock or mild cam and lifters from JMummert.

At the very least, you know you will get USA made products, customer service, and you will support
a Y-Blocks forever member who has done wonders for the resurgence and longevity of this engine.


http://www.ford-y-block.com/

Just my 2c worth.

.


South Australia

The new stock grind cams that are now availiable were patterned after the last version of Y Block cam availiable from Ford.

In late 57 early 58 the Y Block cam was "detuned" and a new crippled DOG was born. These are all that are availiable from the general sources.

Suggest you follow some of the other guys advise and look for a good aftermarket replacement for a driver engine.

John Mummert would be the guy to speak with who can sell you the correct item.

Oldmics

Not all cams are marked regarding specs or manufacturer. Reverse engineering the cam specs with a degree wheel and dial indicator placed on the intake/exhaust lifters is one way to determine the cam specs on those cams not ‘stamped’with identifiers.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

I’ll second the comments regarding the new replacement stock cams. I recently dynoed a stock 292 build with one of those cams and it made a whopping 153 HP. This is an engine that was built back to 1963 specifications so the camshaft wasn’t all the problem but a major contributor just the same. If you can find a replacement 1957 camshaft, then that would be a suitable camshaft for an upgrade in performance without sacrificing oem idle and fuel economy characteristics. There are plenty of aftermarket cams out there that will also give good idle and vacuum attributes so be sure to look at what's available before 'settling' for the 1958-1964 spec'd camshaft.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Ted,

The available NOS cams have the 1958 part number B8A-6250C. The cam Mummert sells is based on the '64 truck cam C4TZ-6250A, which sounds like is the better option for a few bucks more. I will give him a call today and see what he recommends.

Now I have to decide what else to do while it's out...

OK, now that it looks like the main problem has been found thanks to everyone's helpful advice, I need to decide what to do once I have the engine out. Obviously, I don't want to have to pull it a second time because I didn't fix something I should have, but I don't want to do unnecessary work either. A new cam, lifters, and timing set will be installed, but I haven't decided if I should pull the heads for inspection (they were recently reworked) and pull the pistons, then hone and re-ring. Of course, that means inspecting and measuring the bearings as well.

To recap:

• Vacuum around 6-8" hg at idle, compression 110-128 psi on cool engine, dry cylinders, and throttle closed.
• No blow-by out of breather, good bit of fume from draft tube (no PCV system), no sign of oil dripping from draft tube.
• What smoke there was from the tail pipes looked to be fuel related, not oil.
• Old plugs looked pretty good, not fouled from fuel or oil.
• When turning the engine over by hand with the front cover off, you can hear the air escaping into the pan. Reaching TDC compression is easier on some cylinders than others.
• While I assume that there aren't that many miles on it since rebuild, 5/16" slack in the timing chain might prove me wrong.
• Oil pressure at idle is about 25-28 psi when warm, at idle.

So what say ye? Should I tear it all the way down? The additional cost of rings and gaskets is about $150, which might be cheap insurance. Assuming that the bore is round, in spec, and not tapered, can I introduce any problems with a hone and re-ring?