hi guys, i rebiult a freinds e-bird 312 a couple years ago and it had a isky cam in it. you could tell it had been raced back when from the ware. it had 1964 bearings in it. my freind has had this car in storage since `72`, just started restoration. we feel this is a 285 hp. he sent the cam back to isky for a stock regrind, i'll have to get the spec. for you. i've also got the HR mag with the original bird on a wing article, i'll check the cam spec. for you. have a nice day, see you all at expo 08, wayne.

 lincoln/merc. y-blocks &mel's                                                               bucyrus, ohio.

I emailed Racer Brown to see what offerings they might have for Y Blocks.  They referred me to Weatherly's Classics, also in California.  I called Weatherly's and talked to a guy who was very knowledgable, had a blown 57 of his own, and many other Fords.  I'm sorry I didn't get his name.  He doesn't stock cams, but has Racer Brown grind them per his specs.  He has an original 256 D Code cam, WC-1, and a blower cam, that he said is really for blower applications only.  He calls that one a WC-2.  He said that he had a customers car he drove that really performed well and that he had that cam reproduced.  He didn't recall the specs offhand, but he is going to send them to me. I think if I were doing a D code engine that I wanted to be mild, I would look at the Isky E4 specs, I think they are pretty conservative.

Paul J. - '57 E Code

Welcome, Dennis K.  Glad to have your insight.

In reply to your question about whether the ECZ-B specs match anything that a cam mfg. offered back then, I consulted my 1958 Isky catalog.  In the Y-block listings it lists the following specs for their E-2 Rev-Master:

In. 17-59 Lift .430, Ex. 63-13 Lift .430- Clearance on both is .018"

So it has 256 degrees both Intake and Exhaust.  With 1.43 rockers the .430 lift converts to .300 at the lobe (or .280 if it was computed with 1.54 rockers). 

They also list an E-3 Rev-Master cam, as follows:

In. 26-68 Lift .430, Ex. 71-23 Lift .430 (274 degrees) also with .018" clearance.

Oddly enough they list the E-4 cam for Y-blocks as a regrind only, and I couldn't find any specs.  It is described as Full Race.  I've seen the specs for it somewhere and I was surprised at how close they were to the E-2. 

I bought my first blower cam from my Ford dealer back in 1960- wish I had bought a spare at the time.  Great cam.  Was still in my 292 and working fine when I quit driving it after 99,000 miles.

Hope this is helpful.  Nick Brann

Thanks Dennis. That's good to know.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

I believe the majority, if not all of the TSB's are already available through the Thunderbird Club.

Dennis

Dennis.  Welcome to the site.  That’s some great info.  Thanks for the clarification on the various blower camshafts as that definitely clears up some of the questions.

 

There have been thoughts around publishing another Y-Block ‘how to’ book and with that, the idea to include many of the TSB’s that were issued in regards to the Y.  What are the odds in getting copies of the TSB’s that you have to also be included in such a book?  Although only an idea at this point in time, such a book would be a collaborative effort to get as much information and different points of view as possible.  There’s been a considerable number of learnings since the Y-Block book authored by Eichman has been published and these need to be documented as a permanent record.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Rc 50 -60, .155"-.360" deep at nose, .035"-.240" at heel.

No hardness callout for hard facing alloy.

The tappets were either cast iron or 5120 steel.  I recall the parts book indicates which tappet is used with a particular camshaft.  Any part numbers for the tappets, particularily the ones that go with the M260 cam?     

Yes, it is TSB P-358, not P-357.  The pages stuck together.

The other one is only a single sheet and it does not call out the TSB number.  However, it is titled Item #8 Camshaft Revised (312 Cu In High Performance Engine).  The other items discuss 1958 and 59 model years, so I assume it was issued in 1959.

The service part # for the ECZ-B cam is B6A-6250-F.

The service part number for the EDB-B cam is B6A-6250-E.

The spec on the EDB-B cam is 260/260 .278/.278 112 lobe sep.  

Dennis

Great info and welcome to the site, I am not missing expo 08 for nothing.

Now that info answers some of the reasons my older brother kept telling me that some cams were harder than others in the y's and if you got the wrong combination it wouldn't last.

what rockwell hardness was the induction hardened lobes??? and what Rockwell lifter goes with it??

The same for the cam with hardfacing, what Rockwell and what lifter matches it???

55 Vicky & customline

58 Rack Dump, 55 F350 yard truck, 57 F100

59 & 61 P 400's, 58 F100 custom cab, 69 F100, 79 F150, 82 F600 ramp truck, 90 mustang conv 7 up, 94 Mustang, Should I continue?

Oldmics:

So there you are!!  Dennis was willing to share the info I saw in that big binder.  And as Frank mentioned, he has a Thunderbolt.  Actually, he has TWO!  One is a restored period drag car, the other looks like it just came off the transporter.  And now he wants to come play with the Y crowd.  That's exciting!

John

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"