MTFCA Forum

I have a cam that I got from a friend who got it from a friend and no one knows who ground it. It could be 10-20 years old for all we know. This is what I know about it.

• It was ground from an early cam with short front lobe,
• Lobe heels were ground below the shaft O.D. requiring a thrust kit,
• Lobe lift is .290,
• There is a dab of yellow paint on the rear end,
• It came with a machined cam nut (fillet omitted for thrust washers) that appears to be made for the cam and not a modified original. The I.D. at the front of the nut is smaller than stock. That means the wall at the opening of the cam nut is thicker than stock and the I.D. is smaller than the nut’s thread O.D.
• It is coated in a cosmolene-type product.
• It is not a Chaffin’s cam as confirmed by Dave.

Does anyone recognize these characteristics? I will try to post pictures later.

Hi Mark,
Could be the cam is setup for a special magneto or distributer drive?
Craig.

Thread repair on cam?
Craig.

No, Craig. The threads are like any other cam. The machined cam nut on the left was machined to size but not completely deburred. It was purpose-made for this cam.

I don’t know who reground the cam but am with Craig in thinking that it was done for a specific configuration. That cam nut is set up for a mag cross drive gear or maybe a distributor drive gear.

There was guy from Texas, not Texas T, who sold cams with 290 lift. It was undercut between lobes just as pictured. This was about 20 years ago. He set up at Chickasha between Bill Barth and Potter, McLaren.

This is interesting. I have another cam nut coming as part of the thrust kit. I'll have to put them together and measure the differences.

Is it possible that nut was made for a different modern seal ? As aside note has anyone concidered milling & plugging a early front cam bearing
so you could turn it around and don't have the knotch for the lobe to hit on a regrownd cam? Some front cover distributer plates have a thrust
bolt ajuster the stops the forward movement of the cam.
Craig.

The notch needs to be toward the rear to clear the lifter.

Hi Mark,
That's right I must have had a senior moment there. I also posted the installed length of a clutch spring was 3".
Starting to look like a pattern
Craig.