Valve lash for 59A style camshaft

R

RandyMettler

Senior Member
Valve lash for 59A style 1942-1948 cam

Does anyone know what the valve lash perameters are for the intake and exhaust for a 1942-1948 59A camshaft? Not sure exact year.
I have a 1949 8BA block with a 59A style camshaft installed with front mount breakerless reluctor and magnetic pickup MSD crab style distributor.
I checked Vanpelt and could not locate the lash settings. I belive, but am not sure, setting the lash to the year of the camshaft, not the year of the block is the correct way to adjust in this situation.
I did not set up this modification so I am unsure if the camshaft is stock or modified. If it is a race cam or slightly modified will the lash settings be different? My guess is yes.

Regards
 
Only catch may be if the valves have later rotators which makes it a bit difficult for V8 barners to answer, at least where I have asked before. Still would appreciate an answer to such a question, only where the rotators are involved. Good Luck: Fred A
 
Valve lash is determined by the camshaft and supplied by the cam grinder. An unknown camshaft will require assumptions on what setting to use. Might start by determining the lift.
 
I posted this on the H.A.M.B. a few weeks ago.

"I have an Engle roller tappet in the early hemi in my race car. It was new when I got it, but somewhere along the line, the "cam card" had been lost. I called Engle and talked to an engineer. The first thing he asked me was how I was going to use it. When I told dirt oval racing, he said that anything .015 to .025 would work, but for my purposes, run on the "tight" side."

What I'm telling you is that anything close to stock will work fine; if it's a few thousandths off, you'll never know it. If it "clacks" or burns valves, you have to be way off.
 
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Thank you for your reply. I was not able to find that information. I need to look into the rotator issue. I did not know they were different between the 8BA and 59A. I am guessing the only way to know is to pull the valves and cam and measuring? Finding the correct measurements may be difficult.
 
Since it's a stock cam, get the clearances for 59A and 8BA, both rotator and non-rotator, set in the middle of those numbers and you'll be fine. If you are in a position to determine exactly what you have without too much effort, go with those settings.
 
So if the 1935-1948 Intake .012 exhaust .014

Vanpelt info
1949 8BA Intake 0.10-0.12 Exhaust 0.14-0.16
1949 Late 8BA Intake 0.13-0.15 Exhaust 0.17-0.19

Stamped inside my 8BA block near the firewall side of the valve valley is 8BA-12. Could the 12 be the month the block was made? If this is true the block would be a "Late 8BA"? This would make a difference in the lash settings. But all that being said I should be setting the lash according to the year of the camshaft, not the block (1935-1948 Intake .012 exhaust .014)?
 
tubman said:
Since it's a stock cam, get the clearances for 59A and 8BA, both rotator and non-rotator, set in the middle of those numbers and you'll be fine. If you are in a position to determine exactly what you have without too much effort, go with those settings.
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Since the valves are being adjusted, it would be obvious if there are rotaters or no rotaters.
Set gap accordingly.
 
I'm sorry, I wouldn't know the difference by looking. I have the intake manifold off.
All I see are the valve stems, top locking clip, springs, spring retainer, valve guide retainer, valve guide valve lifters.
What do the rotaters look like? I can not find any information on them.

Regards
 
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tubman said:
Since it's a stock cam,...
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Where did you get that it was stock? From original post:

"I did not set up this modification so I am unsure if the camshaft is stock or modified. If it is a race cam or slightly modified will the lash settings be different? My guess is yes."


 
JSeery,

When I mentioned stock or modified in the post I was referring to the 59A cam in my 8BA block. I Know it is a 59A cam because of the configuration front of the cam where the crab distributor indexes. What I don't know is it a stock cam for a 59A or if it is a race cam. The car idles like it is a racing cam but that could be due to the fact it is not running correctly. That is why I am checking the valve lash settings.

Thanks for you help
 
RandyMettler said:
JSeery,

When I mentioned stock or modified in the post I was referring to the 59A cam in my 8BA block. I Know it is a 59A cam because of the configuration front of the cam where the crab distributor indexes. What I don't know is it a stock cam for a 59A or if it is a race cam. The car idles like it is a racing cam but that could be due to the fact it is not running correctly. That is why I am checking the valve lash settings.

Thanks for you help
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That's what I understood from your original post.
 
I have attached pictures of my lifters, Cam, and the tag inside the block that I believe is 8BA-12. Are these rotators? Could the "-12" be the month the block was produced?
 

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The rotator retainers are two piece in addition to the keepers. Yours appear to be the one piece retainers.
 
Not rotators from what I can see.

Have you ran this engine?

Does the distributor fit nicely? (No resistance to sliding into place when orientated correctly).

I have a cam where the offset of the slot is incorrect. I am worried yours may be similar. Please prove my suspicions unfounded.

If the distributor fits nicely without resistance the slot is probably ok.

The fit of the distributor should be like in this video https://youtu.be/6UsbbUdAtCw at around the 2:30 mark.

Mart.
 
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That is interesting that you mention this. Yes the distributor fits in well and rotor is pointed to number one when the marks are lined up on crank at the bottom right. It is indexed offset so will only fit one way. The rotation the distributor rotates left when the engine is cranked. The rotor I have also rotates to the left to advance the timing. I'm not sure if this is correct. I'm sorry about the blurry picture. The cam has a small hole to the right of the slot. The picture to the left was taken number 1 cylinder TDC clocking to 10:30. That is incorrect isn't it? Or is the 2:30 mark the mark on the crank pully, which would be correct as shown in the 2nd picture? The distributor pictures are taken #1 TDC. The sharpy line on the blue tape is #1TDC. The fourth picture is me advancing to maximum.
Yes I have ran the engine. It carbon fouls plugs and the idle is all over the place. Gas seeps into the oil. It has dual 94s with 3.5 Charley Price power valves. The car lacks power. The compression is 110 on all cylinders, so I can not figure out why the idle is rough? I am going to focus on the ignition - timing, distributor, coil and ignition module. Also a fresh set of gaskets on both carburetors'.
 

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Because of the timing gears the cam (and thus the distributor) rotates in the opposite direction of the crankshaft.
 
I am reading past posts for research. I believe I have the adjustable style tappets as they have an adjusting nut. I have noticed that some of the tappets nuts are quite loose. I read at least one post that stated this is a problem resulting from over adjusting and needs to be addressed. I looked for the "light in the lifters" by GB SISSON post but could not find it. I also web searched an found an article that stated tappets and cams are a matched set and it is not a good idea to just replace few tappets that are collapsed. It will eventually destroy the motor. I don't know if this is true and frankly don't know if flathead tappets can even collapse? I am new to all this. If the loose nut is a problem can I use green locktite for a fix? I read a post that suggested this as a fix. The other thing is when I am adjusting a verifying lash, some of the tappets have to be pried down with a screw driver to get the guage between the valve and tappet.

Below is a link to a site, if you haven't seen it before, that has a chart with comprehensive specification of just about every camshaft you can buy for any year flathead. Some of the listed specs are referenced from original ford drawings. Stock 37-48 78-6250 cam is listed at .011. and .015. This conflicts all the information I have read. I will call them after the holidays to verify where the drawings came from. This site goes very deep into cam design and function. Its worth a look.
I am thinking of setting lash bases on the site .012 and exhaust at .015

https://www.tildentechnologies.com/Cams/FlatheadPerformance.html
 
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RandyMettler said:
I also web searched an found an article that stated tappets and cams are a matched set and it is not a good idea to just replace few tappets that are collapsed. It will eventually destroy the motor. I don't know if this is true and frankly don't know if flathead tappets can even collapse?
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Flatheads use solid lifters. The collapse comment refers to hydraulic lifters. Not sure what the "destroy the motor" is about. A loose lifter will make noise and not allow the proper lift for that valve, but it is not going to destroy an engine.

If you can remove the lifters you can take the adjuster bolt out and squeeze it horizontally in a vise to tighten up the fit. Take a look at 51-Merc's post (#6) in this current thread: https://fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=256855
 
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