A good buddy of mine has an E Bird.He is not the original owner but did acquire it from the original owners.It was quite a runner.

Back in the 70s he had the engine rebuilt.The machine shop commeneted on the use of the dual valve springs from the factory.

The cam was replaced.Unfortunatly it was discarded.

We believe that since it had dual valve springs from the factory that it was a 285 H.P. engine.

His gate release form does not mention anything about a 285 H.P. option.

Thats as close as we have gotten.

It would be great if the CTCI would allow the information from the gate release forms collected from the "E" and "F" cars to be known.

Oldmics

Paul,

           We need to be certain that the timing events were measured at the same lift when comparing different cams. My supercharger book lists some very strange lift numbers for the cams. Today we compare everthing at .050, makes life much simpler, obviously. I've not seen yet, maybe I missed it, what cam was installed in the 285 hp engines.

        I don't think I said the 285 was an E-2, I stated I thought it might have been ground by ISKY. I would be somewhat surprised to discover the cams were machined by a Ford facility. The volumes are pretty low for those guys. Same thing for the intake manifolds, I'd quess those were done by Eck foundry in Manitowoc Wisconson, or another Aluminum foundry, not at Cleveland or Windsor. I don't think either captive foundry had Aluminum facilities in the 50's.

Frank/Rebop

Bristol, In ( by Elkhart) 

Oldmics,

Thanks for your post.  Any factory documents I saw indicated both 1956 260 hp engines used a pair of the EDB-9510-C Holleys.  However, anything could be possible.  Were the Carter carbs ever documented in any factory paperwork?   

I've contacted a couple of former Ford colleagues to see what they may recall, or if anyone else may be around that may have some information.  I think the teo people that could best answer these questions, Sullivan and Hotton, are no longer with us.

Re the 1957 312-285 hp engine.  Has it ever been documented if any of these engines were installed on the assembly line or were they only available as a kit?  I wonder if someone claiming a 285 hp E code would have the Gate Release document available from the T-Bird Club or the original bill of sale or window sticker to substantiate it being the 285 hp version.  Is anyone aware if any Gate Releases exist listing the 312-285 hp engine?    

This is similar to proving a factory 1961 390 Hi-Performance car.  All versions, 300, 375, or 401 had a Z engine code in the VIN.  There were several unique components that identify a 375 or 401 hp car, but since they are basically bolt on, one could be "buiilt".  Original paperwork, either the original window sticker or the bill of sale, were the only actual ways to demonstrate it was an original HP car. 

Regards,

Dennis

Rudder2fly-the only way to identify what the cam is is to have an analysis done on a machine called a Cam Doctor.

Then compare your Cam Doctor information to the published specs from Isky on the E2 camshaft.

If its the same-then you have a winner.To add to the confusion there are at least 3 different E2 grind specifications from Isky on the E2 camshaft.It depends on what era it was produced.

_________________________________________________________________________________

yalincoln-the Merc M260 used two Holley carbs according to the Merc specs.They never had two Carters from the factory.Both Fords and Merc horsepower ratings were 260 although the only thing shared between the two different setups were the same Holley carbs and the cylinder heads which were ECZ-C.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Dennis

I will post of that information when I get the pile of junk off of my scanner.

It is dated 11/8/56

Oldmics

I may have a Isky E-2 Cam. Bought on Ebay back in 2002. What do I have to do to verify what I have?

56 VIC  Gene Stoehr Sr.

also the 260 merc's used carter carbs instead of holleys. fords were 255 hp in 56 with holleys.

 lincoln/merc. y-blocks &mel's                                                               bucyrus, ohio.

the 260 hp was the 56 merc. 312 with 2x4's and a special cam, ( e-2 ) mabey. this bullitin has been posted before. when i rebuilt my friends 57 t-bird e code 312 it had a isky rpm 300 in it. we believe the car was raced back in the day.

 lincoln/merc. y-blocks &mel's                                                               bucyrus, ohio.

Below are exerpts from a letter dated March 19, 1970 written by LaVerne Schumann to Bruce Sizemore in Ford Special Vehicles Dept.  The purpose of the letter was to encourage Ford to forward info to NHRA to legitimize these special components and detailed specifications on the S/C engine for NHRA Stock classes.  

The above is relevant to the 312 S/C engine.  Both camshafts were documented.  However the "usage" description in the letter does not appear to be accurate.

Re the "lightweight" intake valve.  I was never able to find anything on this component.  I spoke to a former colleague of mine, Dean McCann, that worked on the S/C program with Sullivan in 1957 and he never heard of it either.      

The next exerpt discusses a 312 260 hp engine for both 1956 AND 1957.  Both of these reference the Isky E2 cam.  BTW, has anyone ever heard of a 1957 312 4V 260 HP engine?

As previously mentioned, this was in a letter "to" Ford, not written by a Ford employee.

I am aware where Special Vehicles created documents to substantiate certain combinations or components to legalize them for sanctioned racing events.  Typically AMA Form 40A's were generated to "legitimize" unique combinations or components for racing.       

Regards,

Dennis

Re service part labelling -

After 1958 Ford went back to using the Basic Number System.  There are four characters in the prefix.  The first is the decade, the second the model year.  The third represents the Product Line, i.e. - A = Ford (full size).  The fourth character represents Design Responsibility, i.e. - A = Ford Division PEO, B = Metal Stamping Division, E = Engine and Foundry Division Product Engineering Office, Z = Ford Parts and Service Office, etc ... . 

In 1958 and into 1959, Ford (actually I believe only E&F Div) used what was referred to as "boxcar numbers" on engine components.  Pre 1958, either a three letter prefix, i.e. - ECZ EDB, etc ...  was generally used for engineering part numbers and a three character prefix, i.e. - B7A, B6T, etc ...  was used on service parts.

I agree, the reference that Isky offered the B7A-C cam or the Isky E-2 is the 290 deg blower cam is inaccurate.  It is possible that Isky ground service part cams for Ford.  However, attempting to document and verify it may be difficult.

This goes back to my question about anyone having one of these relabeled Isky shipping tubes sold as a Ford service part camshaft.

Re your engine brouchure on the 285 hp engine.  Is there a date on the brouchure?  What does it state about this engine?  Can you post a scan?

Regards,

Dennis

  

   

   

I can't comment for sure on whether or not Ford used the Supercharger cam for their 285 H.P. engine, but considering the timing differences, I doubt it. One thing though, the PHR reprint refers to the the E-2 as having 290 degrees duration. That is incorrect. E-2s were either 256 or 260 degrees depending on the year built. I would bet that the 285 engines used the E-2, because I recall many years ago (1960s) references to it as the cam that Ford used for their Oval track engines.

Paul