BuickStreet
02-26-2003, 02:57 PM
Ok Nailheaders, here's a fantastic opportunity to buy a Crane Cams Roller cam blank. Price is $150 and the 'banker' will be Lee F Schelin from the NailheadBuick group at Yahoo.
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/NailHeadBuick/
He needs 40-50 orders to make this happen and is already receiving a good response from that group but they have asked me to pass the word onto this group and also the BPG.
He is in touch with Jim Hill of Crane Cams who said this...
Lee:
Yes, I did investigate and found that we haven't had steel roller cam cores
for the Nailhead motor in 15-20 years. If there was sufficient interest we
could make a run of them, but we usually require a minimum of about 40 to
tool up to produce cores. This number is dictated by the capacity of our
carburizing furnaces, 40 per batch.
We do have many cam lobe profiles available for the early Buick, but a cam
core would have to be supplied or a flat-tappet cam in good condition
provided for a regrind. As I mentioned in earlier correspondence, regrinds
on flat-face cams (hyd or mech) are risky, and always prone to early wear.
Spring pressure must be carefully considered, as excessive pressure will
hasten the move of cam lobes into metallic particles that clog up the oil
filter!
As for roller lifters, I find that we did not make any roller lifters for
the Buick, ever. I'm not familiar with the oil system in these engines, but
if you will send me a pair of your tappets I'll check them out and see if
there's anything we have that might work. Of course, Isky was a viable and
reliable source for these, so you might begin by starting there.
Ironically, Pete Robinson, the man who literally "put Crane Cams on the
map", started his hot rod career with a '40 Ford coupe powered by a 6-71
blown Nailhead motor. Pete drove it both on the street, daily, as well as
street raced in the Atlanta area, during his Georgia Tech student days.
Harvey Crane ground Pete a special cam for his Nailhead. That satisfaction
established a lifelong relationship with Pete and Crane, cut all too short
by Pete's untimely death at Pomona, in '71.
-Jim Hill
Then in a later thread...
Lee:
To produce an 8620 steel, carburized "Semi-Finished Cam Core" would cost $150.00 per cam. That delivers a core that has been heat treated (carburized), has a distributor drive gear, rough-shaped cam lobes in correct index (with stock Buick pattern), and ready for finish grinding by any cam company the purchaser selects.
Our normal policy is to ask for an up-front committment of about one-half of the total amount before we could schedule production.
-Jim Hill
Then in a later thread...
The "lobe spacing" will be as specified for the stock Buick prints. These must be turned out of 8620 bar stock, into a "round-lobe" core, then CNC machined on one of our big cam mills. This would be consistent throughout the production run of cores. As far as profile, I would say that the cores will handle anything an engine builder would want to throw at a Buick Nailhead V-8.
- Jim Hill
You can follow the thread by logging into the Yahoo NailheadBuick group but this is one of the latest posts by Lee F Schelin
OKay guys, after discussing the cam deal with Jim Hill of Crane, he
wants me to act as the banker. So if you want a Crane Roller Cam Core,
show me the money....LOL
Cost will be $150 each plus shipping
Send your $$$ to
Standard 1320 Productions
c/o Lee Schelin
2911 East Vista Street Unit D
Long Beach CA 90803
Stick a note in your envelope that your check is for the Crane cam.
I will not cash any check until we have enough funds for all 40 cams.
Once the funds are here, I'll make a check out to Crane and deposit your
check in my Standard 1320 account
This is a rare oppotunity to obtan a roller cam blank that after getting your heads flowed can be ground specifically for your application by any grinder you like. The benefit over a replacement or re-ground cam is that...
...The other cams are preground, most are regrinds of stock cams. That means you can't get the lift if you need something with a little more whomph ...If you've had your ports cleaned up or a major porting job then the only way you can get the correct grind is to start with a core. Remember you can't determine what the cam grind should be until you've had the heads flowed. Once that's completed, the cam grinder can determine the best grind for your engine
Let's support this group purchase as it might be a long while before we get another opportunity like this again.
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/NailHeadBuick/
He needs 40-50 orders to make this happen and is already receiving a good response from that group but they have asked me to pass the word onto this group and also the BPG.
He is in touch with Jim Hill of Crane Cams who said this...
Lee:
Yes, I did investigate and found that we haven't had steel roller cam cores
for the Nailhead motor in 15-20 years. If there was sufficient interest we
could make a run of them, but we usually require a minimum of about 40 to
tool up to produce cores. This number is dictated by the capacity of our
carburizing furnaces, 40 per batch.
We do have many cam lobe profiles available for the early Buick, but a cam
core would have to be supplied or a flat-tappet cam in good condition
provided for a regrind. As I mentioned in earlier correspondence, regrinds
on flat-face cams (hyd or mech) are risky, and always prone to early wear.
Spring pressure must be carefully considered, as excessive pressure will
hasten the move of cam lobes into metallic particles that clog up the oil
filter!
As for roller lifters, I find that we did not make any roller lifters for
the Buick, ever. I'm not familiar with the oil system in these engines, but
if you will send me a pair of your tappets I'll check them out and see if
there's anything we have that might work. Of course, Isky was a viable and
reliable source for these, so you might begin by starting there.
Ironically, Pete Robinson, the man who literally "put Crane Cams on the
map", started his hot rod career with a '40 Ford coupe powered by a 6-71
blown Nailhead motor. Pete drove it both on the street, daily, as well as
street raced in the Atlanta area, during his Georgia Tech student days.
Harvey Crane ground Pete a special cam for his Nailhead. That satisfaction
established a lifelong relationship with Pete and Crane, cut all too short
by Pete's untimely death at Pomona, in '71.
-Jim Hill
Then in a later thread...
Lee:
To produce an 8620 steel, carburized "Semi-Finished Cam Core" would cost $150.00 per cam. That delivers a core that has been heat treated (carburized), has a distributor drive gear, rough-shaped cam lobes in correct index (with stock Buick pattern), and ready for finish grinding by any cam company the purchaser selects.
Our normal policy is to ask for an up-front committment of about one-half of the total amount before we could schedule production.
-Jim Hill
Then in a later thread...
The "lobe spacing" will be as specified for the stock Buick prints. These must be turned out of 8620 bar stock, into a "round-lobe" core, then CNC machined on one of our big cam mills. This would be consistent throughout the production run of cores. As far as profile, I would say that the cores will handle anything an engine builder would want to throw at a Buick Nailhead V-8.
- Jim Hill
You can follow the thread by logging into the Yahoo NailheadBuick group but this is one of the latest posts by Lee F Schelin
OKay guys, after discussing the cam deal with Jim Hill of Crane, he
wants me to act as the banker. So if you want a Crane Roller Cam Core,
show me the money....LOL
Cost will be $150 each plus shipping
Send your $$$ to
Standard 1320 Productions
c/o Lee Schelin
2911 East Vista Street Unit D
Long Beach CA 90803
Stick a note in your envelope that your check is for the Crane cam.
I will not cash any check until we have enough funds for all 40 cams.
Once the funds are here, I'll make a check out to Crane and deposit your
check in my Standard 1320 account
This is a rare oppotunity to obtan a roller cam blank that after getting your heads flowed can be ground specifically for your application by any grinder you like. The benefit over a replacement or re-ground cam is that...
...The other cams are preground, most are regrinds of stock cams. That means you can't get the lift if you need something with a little more whomph ...If you've had your ports cleaned up or a major porting job then the only way you can get the correct grind is to start with a core. Remember you can't determine what the cam grind should be until you've had the heads flowed. Once that's completed, the cam grinder can determine the best grind for your engine
Let's support this group purchase as it might be a long while before we get another opportunity like this again.