8620 Billet Cam Cores - Flathead Ford First - Anybody Interested??

[BoredAndStroked]

Hey Gang - I'm pondering making a batch of billet CAM cores out of 8620 Bearing/Aircraft quality steel.  Where I need them first is for a Flathead Ford (Arduns), etc..  I'm currently checking material costs . . . but, wanted to check and see if any of you in the LSR community is interested in billet cores.  I'm making 3D parametric CAD models, so I can change designs to match specific requirements:

Examples (Flathead / Ardun):

a) With or without the late 49-53 'snout' - and drive tang.
b) Specify the bearing journal sizes - for those who are going bigger than stock
c) Lobe Offsets:  if you're running flat tappet or mushroom, you may want to offset the lobes to cause the lifter to turn -- centered for roller profiles.
d) Shank Diameter:  Depending on your final profile, you may want a bigger or smaller shank diameter
e) Fuel Pump Cam:  Most racing cams don't need the pushrod cam, but maybe you're building a traditional street engine . . . and want one.

Why am I doing this?  I'm not satisfied with the current suppliers that we've used in the past and they're getting out of hand on costs and delivery . . . time to consider alternatives.

Applications:  If it makes sense to produce the flathead cores, I may be open to others - will have parametric designs for 3 journal, 5 journal, etc..  If it is a 'one-off' job, will come up with a price for 'custom' ones - will need a representative CAM to model from.   

If there is valid interest, then I'll price the materials accordingly and come back with a price to you guys.   If we decide to do this, I'll require a 50% deposit - just so I know who is really "in" and who isn't. 

This is a general 'test the waters' type of inquiry . . . nothing held in stone.

Thanks!

B&S

[Buickguy3]

 Wow! You are picking an ambitious project. It does raise a couple of questions. Will the distributor/oil pump gears be hobbed or just be a blank journal? Will the lobe journals be roughed in or be "full rounds"? When I mentioned "full rounds to Elgin, he really cringed. He said cutting a cam from a full round takes a lot of time and costs a lot of money. Good luck on this project. Keep us posted.
    Doug 

[PackardV8]

When we do a billet cam for one of our obsolete engines, we cut the distributor drive gear and bearing journal off a used cam.  This is then spigoted and pressed into the billet.

I didn't realize the spring pressures on an Ardun were such to require an 8630 billet.

In any case, I'd be interested in doing a run for Studebaker and Packard V8s.  These are 5-bearing cams with rear distributor drive. 

The question then becomes who's going do provide the final grind.  Some cam grinders I know prefer to do the entire process.  The highest value added is the manufacture of the billet. They don't like to take someone else's production and only get the grinding.

jack vines

[Buickguy3]

   On the Buick straight 8 the distributor/oil pump drive are in the middle of the cam so the blank would have to have the gear provision either left raw or have the gear hobbed.
      Doug

[BoredAndStroked]

I won't be worried about how to make or graft gears on - not an issue for flatheads anyway (they press on the back).  What we would need to do is talk to the prospective cam grinder - to see HOW they want us to leave the material for the area where the gears would be either hobbed on, or 'grafted'.  That way, the core would be what they want.

As far as cam grinders working with my billets - I have never seen it to be a problem in that as long as the material is what they want and the bolt holes are put in (cam gears) and the copper plating is correct, then we should be good to go.  Over the years we've had to pay one guy to make cores, then take them to the cam grinders to make the cams -- works out just fine.  

At least this way we'll be doing things with 3D designs (not by hand), such that they are parametric (driven by dimensions and parameters), can be modified to fit specific needs and can be saved for future runs (repeatable).  This is my main purpose -- good quality cores that meet the requirements of what we're all looking for . . . at a fair price with reasonable lead time.

Seems there is interest on the site - I'll work up some numbers for the flathead cores, then we'll go from there.

Keep the comments and ideas coming!   If certain folks need cam cores for other engines - please add them to the post or contact me and we can discuss.

Take care,

Dale

[Glen]

Joe Panek owner of ROTO-FAZE in southern Calif has been making cam blanks for years.

[38flattie]

Sure- how about some for Caddy flatheads?

[Peter Jack]

Sure- how about some for Caddy flatheads?

Worth checking, they've been around since a little before forever. 

Pete

[Glen]

Joe runs a caddy flat head.

[RichFox]

I have seen his V12 OHV Cad. Don't think I remember a flathead.