I have a 312 that I would like to put in my 56 tbird that came out of a 57 ford truck. There are a lot of things that I will need to switch from my old engine(which is not rebuildable) to this one: intake, valley cover oil pan, carb(teapot), distrub(dual vac advance) etc. I know that this 57 engine was rebuilt STOCK a few miles back, so should this cam be the same as the 56 that I have to replace? And should my distrub work with this cam?
Are all 312 cams(stock) the same??
- Thread starter cjc56
- Start date
Hoosier Hurricane
Member
First off, Ford did not install a 312 in any truck. That's not to say someone did not install one though. To answer your question, the '57 cam was a better cam than the '56, and your carb and distributor will work fine with a '57 cam. If the 312 came from a '58-'60 Merc, it will have the equivalent of a '56 cam.
John
John
dmsfrr
Well-known member
Here's some reading material about '57 Ford performance engines. But the camshaft info is very limited.
http://automotivemileposts.com/tbird/tbird1957engines.html
http://www.supercars.net/cars/5352.html
Since the chances of your '57(?) 312 having one of the dual quad or supercharged '57 camshafts is basically zero, I'd answer your original question... Yes, if your '56 distributor is working correctly it will work perfectly fine with the cam in the 'stock' 57 engine. Any slight difference between the 'base' cams for the two yrs is functionally irrelevant.
I'm assuming you're swapping distributors to keep the tach drive.
FYI: I've seen recommendations from several senior members to advance the initial timing setting approx 4 to 6(?) degrees more than the factory setting, for better overall performance.
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Is the engine that was in the truck a 2bbl or 4bbl? If it's a 4bbl which intake manifold (ECZ-A or ECZ-B) and carburetor does it have? Are you sure it's a '57 312 engine?
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