|
|
|
|
Original Message
|
| RE: Not to be outdone by some blurry, old webpage... |
| By Dave Shoe - 02/17/2001 1:27:55 PM; IP 216.243.158.78 |
Note that I am still trying to verify some info in the following post:
Mr.F That photo of yours is of a one-of-a-kind prototype 427 Cammer which had low-positioned spark plugs. It made less horsepower than Ford had targeted for the project, so the head was quickly redesigned with the spark plugs in the familiar top-spot. The redesign worked great.
My information has the Cammer making 657 HP at 8300 RPM. This chart is overlayed on top of a 427 HR curve which makes peak power of 540 HP @ 6300 RPM. The Cammer and 427HR had about identical power curves up to 5000 RPM, at which point tthe Cammer curve kept moving in a straight line and the HR started to taper off.
The only Cammer chart I saw does show the HP curve passing through 616 HP @ 7000 RPM on it's way up to the 8300 peak, so I've always suspected that Ford marketing folk decided to release the "7000 RPM" value (the official redline of the race 427 back then) so that Bill France might not notice how formidable a weapon it was that they had before he legalized it for NASCAR.
Note also that the 12.0:1 compression ratio was for the first 50 Cammers contracted back in late 1964 on a shoestring budget for the specific purpose of out-revving the 426 Chrysler Hemi on NASCAR superspeedways. Ford pretty much figured they couldn't out horsepower the Hemi at a given RPM (they're both hemis), but the SOHC design would allow the motor to rev farther than the pushrod Hemi could, thus making more horsepower in the upper registers.
These first Cammers had aluminum heads, Magnesium valve covers, and shim-type rocker adjusters. These first Cammers were made to race. It's interesting to note that the 1964-1/2 Cammer got a cross-drilled steel crank, LeMans rods (before they were called LeMans rods), and a side-oiler block. I'm not sure whether these items were developed with the Cammer in mind, or whether they were part of a parallel performance upgrade program for the 427 development, but they did all come together in the first race Cammers. I've heard Ford did not budget much for the forged steel crankshaft project, but designers were able to economize by borrowing heavily from what was learned in developing the FT truck crank a half year earlier.
Bill France got one look at the race Cammer and had his doubts. Chrysler then responded with a non-functioning prototype of a DOHC Hemi and threatened NASCAR that it would be developed if the Cammer was legalized. Seeing this, NASCAR apparently changed the homologation rules from 50 working motors to 500 motors, effectively illegalizing the Cammer in 1964.
Having lost the first battle, Ford kept the pressure on the 426 Hemi by ordering up 500 "street cammers" in 1965. These street cammers would have 10.5:1 CR, though a few would get an even higher compression of 12.5:1. These Cammers would have to be cheaper than the first batch, so they got iron heads, adjustable rockers, and supposedly a slightly taller aluminum valve cover to clear the adjustable rockers. Ford ordered this new Cammer in two batches of 250 engines. There is some question as to whether Ford ever built the second half of the order.
I suspect the horsepower curve I saw was for the 1964-1/2 race Cammer, as it coincides with the release of the 427 HR. This adds logic to releasing a dyno chart where both engines are graphed together for comparison.
Also,if anyone has ever spotted an aluminum-headed Cammer, I'd like to hear about it. I've heard some about the shim-type rocker adjusters, but have not yet seen an aluminum-headed Cammer.
My investigation continues...
Shoe. |
|
|
This thread, so far...
|
|
|
|
Post A Response
|
|
|
|
|
|