This question often comes down to "What does the cam sound like at idle?"   Most Y-Blockers these days are into nostalgia.  We don't race our cars, but we want them to sound right on cruise night. Isky makes two cams that I considered when I built my current TBird engine, the 301444 and the 301333. I have used both of these cams in the past.  As amazing as it may sound, I actually got to talk to old man Isky once on the phone.  I called for advice and they put him on the phone.  The 301444 (.425" lift 260 duration) is what most people call an E4.  It's a fairly mid street cam with good manners.  The tail pipe sound is similar to a hot flat head.  The 301333 (.448 lift 270 duration) is the cam currently in my Tbird engine.  It still has it's original T-86 three speed manual with O/D.  This cam has  a much racier idle sound.  It will blow your pants legs around when standing next to the through bumper exhaust pipes. My engine has a Holley 465 cfm 4V carb.  Off idle and mid range is excellent.  If you want a mild mannered 50s idle, I would go with the 301444.   If you want a racier sound. the 301333 will do the trick.  Both cams will work with stock valve springs.

The E4 idles nice an smooth (no cam rock) yet gives a nice exhaust sound telling something robust is under the hood. 🚙

1955 312 T-Bird Warwick, NY

Ok, Thanks a lot so far!👌

You need to evaluate the advice given carefully. I've noticed on here previously, that some advice appears to forget the outline of the needs in the original post.. For instance, your car has an auto trans, not a standard. The wrong cam can be a problem at idle in gear.  The E4 cam seems to be popular with the recent posts, but as someone pointed out, our lead moderator Ted prefers to have it done on a wider LSA than std, to settle it down some.  Maybe he might elaborate on that if he sees your post?.. 


Paul

The FOM automatic transmissions have tight (low rpm stall) torque converters and as a result the transmissions are not happy with upgraded camshafts when trying to idle in gear at low rpm.  When it comes to replacement stock type Y camshafts, both Oregon Cam Grinding and Isky offer camshafts similar (if not exact) to the factory 1957 camshafts.  Keep in mind that the 1957 272, 292, and both the D and E code 312’s all used the same camshaft.  I have checked the lobe profiles on several 1957 camshafts and there are some variances in the measured specs on those which is simply attributed to the manufacturing variances that occur when making thousands of the same part.  That likely explains to some degree why some of those engines ran better than others.

The Isky E4 camshaft ground on 112° lobe centers is marginal at best when used with the early FOM trannies as the engine has a very narrow tuning window for that camshaft to idle correctly with the transmission in ‘Drive’.  This same cam being ground on 114° lobe centers helps with the lower idle.  The catalog listed E4 camshafts are ground on 108° lobe centers and do run with about 1½”Hg less manifold vacuum at idle as compared to the same camshaft ground on 112° lobe centers.  That lower lobe centerline number results in requiring a slightly higher idle for a good carburetor signal.  Hence the 108° lobe centerline is not recommended for a use with a tight converter.

When using the Oregon Cam Grinding 1957 camshaft, I always specify a new core and never a regrind.  The OCG cam number is FO-312.  Isky does use new cores to start with so I do not have to specify that when going the Isky route.  The Isky camshaft that closely mirrors the 1957 cam would be the Isky S-969 grind when ground on 113° lobe centers.  I always specify 2° of cam advance built into the camshafts when custom ordering to help with the degreeing in process.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Thanks for all information!  Perhaps i will go for a stock camshaft  like Melling SYB-2, Elgin E-210-S etc. instead of a special one,, i dont have the G-heads and i´m not so good in camshafts and perhaps it is  not so easy to  order specials from Sweden.

Ted, can you recomend me any brand with good quality stock performance both for camshaft and lifters that i can order from like Summit etc., se the spec of my engine in the beginning.

Regards.
Mats

Not Ted, but you can order the ISK-30144 camshaft and CCA-2931-16 lifters from Summit.  Should work fine for you in a nearly stock engine.  Joe-JDC


JDC

The "ISK-30144" cam is the Isky E4 cam/w 108 LSA, which Ted just said he does not recommend for a Fordomatic-equipped car. 

OP said he has a 61 dizzy..

I don’t see a Summit offering for a 1957 camshaft.  If concerned about keeping the performance of the engine optimal, then avoid the replacement 1958-1964 camshafts.  While those 58-64 camshafts idle good and at very low rpm, they are down on performance compared to the 1957 grind.  I'll suggest you try calling the cam company of your choice and see what their options are for doing overseas sales.  If willing to settle for a 58-64 camshaft, then Summit may have something.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)