The spec's for 246 (advertised) cams, original & replacement, were issued in YBM a few years ago. For practical purposes they are mostly identical... I believe J. Mummert advertises a 256 cam, but I don't know how close it is to original 1957 Ford. If you are replacing your cam, I'd suggest using something a little warmer than the original 246 degree, even with an auto trans.

Paul

Agree.  A lot of potential reasons why Ford didn't use more agressive cam timing, or went back to the 246 duration cam in 1958.  Fuel economy, drivability, cost, available manufacturing faciilities and tooling, justify marketing the 1958 332/352 engine (don't want that 292 too fast), etc ... .

In the "Ford at Fifty" book, although the caption references a flathead Ford police car.  It states "This squad car, a Ford with a special engine, would be dangerously fast for non-police use". LOL!!!

I was trying to keep this thread somewhat going, hoping someone would post numbers on the available aftermarket 246 duration cams, if there are any.  Curious to see how the numbers compared to the OEM Ford cam, or if they just reverse engineered it.  

Regards,

Dennis

That's true, but I'm speaking in general for the size of the engines at the time they could handle alittle more cam even for grocery getters and still keep a smooth idle at say 216-218-220 @ .050 and retain good gas miliage and more power, but from what I've read from the past some owners thought these cars had too much power then and maybe the power was kept down purposely for the family ride with the smaller cams???

-Gary Burnette-

Probably "high tech" for 1957, at least the .400" or so valve lift.  The 246 and 256 duration cams were for auto trans passenger car engines. 

Look at the two factory blower cams, EDB-D 290/290 .446/.446 and EDB-E 302/302 .454/.454, then compare it to what the other auto manufacturers were offering back then.  Pretty radical for back then.

Regards,

Dennis

  

Both of those cams just goes to show how under cammed these engines were back when new.

-Gary Burnette-

However, that was a 256 not 246 duration cam. 

One could say 1957 was the pinnacle year for the 312 as the high horsepower Ford passenger car engine, with the 332/352 released in 1958MY and the base V8 remaining a detuned 292, then being further detuned in 1960. 

So how does 246 replacement cam timing compare with the Ford 246 duration cam b/p specs?  

Regards,

Dennis

The 1957 cams were 208 @ .050". One reason why the 57's ran better, along with better heads, intake manifold, carburetor, exhaust and distributors.

http://ford-y-block.com 

20 miles east of San Diego, 20 miles north of Mexico

Duration 196/196 @ .050"

Regards,

Dennis

Thanks Dennis.

Are there any .050 interpretations of these specs, or has anyone done a cam doc on them?

Thanks again.

These factory cams have the following B/P specs:

ECK-6250-C = B6A-6250-C  246/246  .264/.262" Cam Lift

ECK-6250-D = B6A-6250-D  246/246  .264/.264" Cam Lift

Remaining timing events are common for both camshafts:

110/116 Lobe Sep

IO 12 BTDC @ 0.016"

IC 54 ABDC @ 0.019"

EO 58 BBDC @ 0.0145"

EC 8 ATDC @ 0.0175"

Regards,

Dennis