Isky cam

427John

Well Known Member
The old 505 series was available in flat tappet and roller,the roller's weren't billets like most they looked more like a flat tappet core that had been hard-faced and then ground.They have been in catalogs since at least very early 60's like 61 or 62.Just looked at your pic again and the grind number starting with RR might signify a roller,also the end of yours looks like maybe it is a billet core.It makes me wonder if the really early stuff was the hardface looking cores and as billet cores became available they switched to those.
 
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rstreet

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 17
Aah the old Isky 505’s. Remember them well. Also the old TRW’s and Chet Herbert’s. I’d guess Pat has a shop full of them and of course the 30/30’s and green stripes.
Robert
 

427John

Well Known Member
I suppose if you make the car light enough put steep enough gears and a high stall converter in it you can make a powerglide like any cam,my comment was aimed more to a close to stock weight impala with a reasonably street friendly converter and gears.The 250 @ .050 duration equaled or exceeded the Ford 427 MR cam including the S/S grind,the Chevy ZL-1 427/LS-7 454 cam,and the Pontiac Ram air 4 cam.Holman Moody had a few grinds that may have been a little hotter and could be claimed as a factory cam since you could get it over the counter at a dealership but that's a stretch.Most of the listed cams were absolutely not recommended for automatic trans cars without the modifications listed in my first sentence.
 

rstreet

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 17
John, I absolutely agree with the modifications you refered to to use that 60's cam. My experience with it was back in the day 4 speed cars with a bit of a "gear" in them seemed to work ok. Anyway they sure sounded great. My 62 409 when I first heard it run had one of those cams in it and the motor needed going through and that is when the cam was changed to a stock unit. Sure did take the sound away.:D
Robert
 

427John

Well Known Member
That's the beauty of big stroker engines not only do they tolerate larger cams, to make max. power they require them.I've had the opportunity to compare a 429" engine to a 460" engine built with same heads,intake,headers,compression ratio,and same big cam.This all was in the same car with the same auto trans and rear gears,to be expected the 460 had much more power below 2700 rpm and much better driveability,while above 2700 rpm was unable to tell any difference between them.That being said for the smaller stock size engines I stand by my original statements.
 
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