230 performance parts

[Beachdodge843]

Rebuilding my ‘51 flathead 230 and trying to track down a beefier cam and preferably an edgy cylinder head. Thank you!
 

every site ive tried is ‘out of stock’ or ‘back ordered’

[Sniper]

Edgy is thinking about running off another batch at the end of the year, early net year.  $1800, a large increase from when I got mine

 

Might be worth it to just mill a stock head instead.

 

You can get you cam reground with a performance profile from the AoK boys or Delta cams or a few others I cannot recall right now.  Even Vintage Powerwagons sells a hotter cam.  But I don;t think anyone sells a new cam you can just buy without a core?

[Beachdodge843]

My motor is sitting at the machine shop as we speak. I didnt want to bring any parts as alot of shops hate that but now they need the cam prior to sourcing any other parts. I definitely want to do the build right, but dont think i’ll be waiting until next year. 
 

vintagepowerwagons is backordered. 
 

wanted to try to get a few more hp out of the build as my b2d is quite the beast. 
 

Edited May 11, 2023 by Beachdodge843

[Sniper]

Regrind is your only option as far as I know.  One of the reasons I bought a core 230 was so that I could take my time and send things out, like the cam for a regrind, while still being able to tool around with the original 218. 

[Beachdodge843]

Any points of contact on regrind? Ive got earl (edgys) email, and the names aok and racer brown with no other info

 

thank you

[Sniper]

http://www.moparmontana.com/store/c7/REGROUND_PERFORMANCE_CAMSHAFTS.html

 

https://deltacam.com/products/cams/

 

https://elgincams.com/

[Vin's 49 Plymouth]

Delta cams is here in Tacoma, I had the full race grind done on my 218. I had it bored and I ported the intake ports. The machine shop balanced the motor down to 7 grams. Sounds like a muscle car, 50 more HP probably and tons more torque. My video of it at idle is on my profile page.

I would have the block decked and head ground. But watch and measure for valve clearance.

 

[martybose]

14 hours ago, Vin's 49 Plymouth said:

Delta cams is here in Tacoma, I had the full race grind done on my 218. I had it bored and I ported the intake ports. The machine shop balanced the motor down to 7 grams. Sounds like a muscle car, 50 more HP probably and tons more torque. My video of it at idle is on my profile page.

I would have the block decked and head ground. But watch and measure for valve clearance.

 

The valve clearance issue is especially important with aftermarket heads.  With mine the valve would close the sparkplug gap on long reach plugs, had to use washers on the plugs to make them work.

[FarmerJon]

Also https://oregoncamshaft.com/.

I have used them and Delta for Other brands. I had good experience with both, and both have profiles for our engines.

Call and talk to each, and see what they recommend. 

One thing I would caution: if you are building this for a truck, and especially if you plan to treat the truck like a truck, be aware that some engine performance modifications sacrifice low rpm torque for high rpm horsepower. An extra 30 HP at 4500 will rarely be felt, vs 20 ftlb of torque at 1400. 

Also vehicle weight-compression-final drive ratio can be a factor. What will take 87 octane in a 1900# hot rod may not tolerate 91 octane in a 6000# truck. 

 

It isn't to say "don't modify" it, but a little research and planning goes a long way towards an end result you are happy with.

 

Somewhere on here is a PDF of engine building tips by Tony Smith. Has a lot of good tips for reconditioning the rods for performance use, back cutting the valves, oil pump reliability, etc.

One of the tips is to deck the block so that pistons are at or above deck, so that they yield good quench. IIRC he recommends getting the piston tops .020 above deck, since most head gaskets are .060 compressed.

This helps efficiency, and also raises compression. 

Look at what the factory did in the late '50s, and put the best gains together:

8-1 compression. Supposedly a improved cam. Dual exhaust/intake (big truck engines) or a 2bbl intake ('56 power pack)

 

If you CC your current head, you can play with a compression calculator to see what gains you could get by milling it.

My '53 217 head has .035 milled off and is 77cc, which on a .030 over 230, with the pistons .020 above deck, would yield around 8.2-1 compression.

 

Good luck, I look forward to hearing how it comes out.

 

 

[martybose]

My 230 motor, with 9 to 1 compression, forged pistons, Edmunds head and intake, cast iron headers, etc. was very finicky even on 91 octane gas.  It was difficult to get an advance curve that would work at all RPM's.  I think I went a little too far with it.

[Semmerling]

I enjoyed this thread, many thanks.