This Stuff takes lots of time... Doesn't just bolt right together SME Merch! www.stevemorrisengines.com To Become a Channel Member - / stevemorrisracing
I have built several of these. I do have a few comments/thoughts that might be useful. I have T&D make a "double roller" rocker arm that eliminates that stupid elephant"s foot adjuster. Uses selective lash caps for valve lash and has a roller tip at the valve end just like darn every normal rocker arm ever made. You can set cold lash on the work bench. You definitely had the wrong valves or cam with that huge wheel requirement. It is very difficult to get enough cam into these because the rocker ratio is only 1.28-1.32 varying on the wheel location relative to the cam during it's rotation. I degree the cams just like a normal 4 cylinder engine - times two. You set the lead cam first, and then set the trailing cam. I have had a naturally aspirated 11.5:1 527 inch SOHC with some very highly modified heads go 870+ HP @ 7000 RPM, so the 2000 HP boosted target is/was attainable. No idea what the aftermarket block is good for - I've been over 1000 but that's a far cry from 2000...
When Prudhomme recently restored the Shelbys Super Snake dragster with the blown 427 Cammer only with modern day parts, he said they almost doubled the horsepower from when it raced in 1967…. That’s 4000hp..
Had the same idea...Cool to see real experience with that. Changing the valve spring hat to something to allow use of a roller tip rocker would seem to allow the use on varying contact path the rocker arm to valve relation
@@mikekadlec5428roller tip rockers, still won’t have full contact with the valve stem. Like the original does. Ok idea but , not great idea!!! Remember 2000 hp goal!! Can’t have ok ideas.
@@metalted6128 yup...agreed-thats what I meant by using a shim and bucket design to allow the use of roller tip rocker while dispersing the load across the top of the spring and valvestem evenly
The Ford 427 SOHC is definitely my favorite engine. The customer might bring it back to you for a cam gear setup when he finds out the chain can't keep up.
My neighbor, George Montgomery received 3 of these directly from Ford, maybe '67 or '68. I was there when they were unloaded from the truck in crates. I was maybe 11 or 12 at the time, and Mr. Montgomery was like a kid opening a Christmas present.
I worked at a shop that built some obscure antique race motors. The parts customers brought in may not have even worked together back in the day. These builds would take months to years with a lot of custom fabrication. I feel your frustration Steve.
Ed Pink is still around, he's probably the most knowledgeable Cammer guy ever. Pretty sure the top fuel motors in the late 60s made way over 2500hp with a tiny 6-71.
Those engines made around 1200hp when they were running them in Fuel Cars. I have spoken with Sam Auxier Jr who ran ProStock with the Cammer and he said the factory Blocks were Achilles hill.. I'm 99% sure NOBODY has made 2000hp / Dyno Proven with a Cammer! Andy
@stevemorrisracing exactly 💯. I had a boss that was a huge ford guy back in the day, we had a local drag race called King of the hill. He always had the big block 427 blower deal in his 67 Mustang and it was a pig to keep together. He trailered it because it never did well on the street, and everytime he did street drive it the damn thing was towed back and off came the heads lmaoo 🤣. So this is a huge deal for a STREET ENGINE. Ed pink did some cool stuff and he paved the way for alot of hotrodders, but he never built the smx lol. Wich is a massive achievement on Steve for a 4000++ hp engine to live even 1000 miles of street driving. Well done sir 👏
That was probably a very hard video to make and put out. Good on you for being man enough to do that. I could feel your emotion as a business owner that takes pride in what you. Losing a customer over a very difficult situation to control is frustrating. Sometimes you just can’t do enough to make it better and letting go is all you can do. Keep being awsome and doing your best! God Bless Steve !
Ed Pink is the guy. Fabricating parts for this engine will be a nightmare. I know you know what you’re doing. If this is your first go at this engine. You should definitely enroll at the Ed Pink SOHC Tech for at least two semesters.
That had to be a gut punch getting the call to send the engine home before getting to hear it run, and make it run well. Just one of those deals, you'll never have every customer walk out the door with a smile. It's harder when they aren't smiling because of you though. Thanks for showing it to us, I've only ever heard the name "cammer" but never knew what it was.
Or a blessing, when that valve train comes apart on the first good pull, and wrecks both cam shafts, and both heads., now the customer has no leg to stand on., I’m sure the guy gets upset seeing Steve play on TH-cam, or mess with his own crap, or down doing burn outs with cleatus , but if Steve had to give all that up in order to build engines, would it even be worth it?? Nope., so the guy should have acted a bit like a regular gear head, and offered to Steve, hay, can I come by on Saturday and work on it with you.. or help you., this is not your regular engine build, it’s much more of a let’s try to figure it out…
Yea and may be a huge mistake on the owners decision. You can not rush exotic builds. At Steve’s caliber it would have been done right and if not Steve would have MADE it right. 🤷🏻♂️
Don Nicholson ran a cammer in the early days pre pro stock , the class was called XSS , experimental super stock . The class was big block Ford vs chevy vs mopar all heads up no handicap racing . Don had a lot of impressive outings with this motor. I have seen quite a few of these things over the years in various types of drag cars . The last one I saw was about 27 years ago in a Ford maverick bracket car a guy had built in his garage . In your video this is the first time I ever saw the combustion chambers on this motor . For the time that this motor was designed and built in the early 60's without computers and without cad this was a real amazing piece of workmanship !! I expect Jon Kassee has had some experience with these motors because he did a lot of work for Don Nicholson .
Wow, what an incredible work of mechanical art! I can totally understand people being frustrated with schedules being blown up time after time but you at least have to let the guy who built it run it before he sends it back because if there is an issue when it’s fired up, everybody’s gonna blame everybody else. What a total shame it didn’t get some Dyno time before it left your shop.
So cool to see someone build a historic engine. It would have been so much more cost effective to do the easy thing, but having a legendary power plant is epic.
Steve , it looks like rockers are on upside down. The adjuster may need filpped then put back on the little wheel . On upside down will probably destroy the rockers at high rpm . Look at how the rockers are braced . It looks stronger for stretching the compression
If you want to know more about the Cammer, hit up Ed Pink. He's probably forgotten more about the cammer than most of us will ever know. He even has the original manual for it from the 1960s.
Steve, I'm a FORD guy...which is a weird to say, since i'm only 55. But I have spent hours studying the FE series and FORDS ability to make power reliably. And the biggest contention is that seems to be common was the expense...I love this video, because showed 50+ year old tech! Forget the cross bolted mains and side oiler tech or the fact that many regular 427s were put into boats....I'm sorry your customer lost patience...I hope your video goes a long way to show the care, professionalism, diligence and expertise you gave his project. YOU AND YOUR TEAM ROCK! Looking forward to more awesome videos! Thank you.
@@nobiden3134 I've ported a set of Aussie 2V's... and they were kind of 'meh'. Bowls were WAY too big. Would have had to install some huge seats to make a good shape, and the chambers shrouded the valves terribly. Needed a lot of work there. More compression than open chamber 2V's, but that's about it.
@n2omike mine flow 290I 225E @.500. My dad has the 68 Cougar XR7 390 Twisted Wedge heads. He can keep'em. Bad cross section (turn around the head bolt) Cleveland has Canted Valves for that so called shrouding.. I also have 7/16 studs for roller rockers. You know who Jon Kaase is? Multi world champion of Engine masters challenge.. that 3V head is a raised port Aussie... 750hp carbed.. What's the stroke on your 427?😏
THANK YOU, going above beyond the call of duty. I'm sorry does not need to be said for ALL OF WHAT YOU PUT YOUR COMPANY THROUGH on this one only project. If the customer can not see this than he is blind. The showing of how much you care and your integrity, priceless.
Steve!! Ed Pink... look him up man he is a crazy old man that pushed over 2k hp back in the 70's. Crazy stuff he did with timing too! Up to 7 degrees on the driver side cam... insane. Keep it up man your are an inspiration to all!
There was a Man who shop got destroyed while back. He wrote a book on the 427 SOHC. You are correct parts are hard to find. Even harder is finding a gear drive for one. 427 SOHC with a gear drive sound so GOOD and work awsome.
Wow, is an understatement. Really sorry that you did not get to finish and dyno it. There was a lot to this engine. Thank you so much for showing us all the process of assembly. Be blessed brother
I have been in similar situations. I use to work a 9-5 auto repair job. I also did jobs at another shop, nights and weekends. I also did work in my home shop. I was also selling used parts from a few salvage yards, I worked with. The local tavern was my office. The biggest problem I had, was I would never say no to a job or parts search. I cut myself very thin on time and would get behind on work. It was very tough trying to work with people to get their jobs done. I got to the point of hating dealing with the public. I now live in the extreme northern Wisconsin and have very little contact with people.
I do believe that you are the best in tech and describing the work you do and as far as your skills are second to none! I guarantee you that the customer will DEFINITELY REGRET that they are not having you finish the project! Keep up the great job. I wish I could afford to have you build my ls1 that I have tried to build myself but after 2000 miles of driving it decided to start making noise! God bless you and your family and keep us informed like you always do
Hey STEVE there is a duel cut cap that fits in between the valve and rocker lobe, one side is bigger then the other, it has a tiny hole in center, if you cut in half, it’s shaped like an H side view.. It fits tightly on the valve and held in by pressure
I am pretty certain the other half of the problem is incorrect cams. I believe they are manufactured incorrectly. The base circle diameter is all wrong. The re-engineering of the rocker combined with dialing in the valve stem length was a brave approach, but I suspect it will still be prone to a short life and catastrophic failure. Steves a good guy and I respect his effort. But this may be a box of snakes to be glad to get out of there in the end. I would defer to those who have sorted this out- Jon Kaase, or Jay Brown, ETC.
@@lachlanwestrupp7487 so this was a problem at high rpm, it was the weak link.. so someone came up with a spacer that was in different thicknesses.. the higher the thicknesses the less misaligned at highest point of lift. They were more like a cap that sat on valves, they helped capture oil and to keep them stable.. they tapered out from bottom and sat about 3/8 over valves. Steve would have to figure out best hight and make his own, PAT AUSTIN in Tacoma Washington is the man to talk to, they have about 10 cars in collection with these engines, they probably have more parts for them than any, or used to… I said my piece… they will fail eventually if not right away.. should create a new roller rocker that gets rid of extra moving parts
Incredible job Steve morris that valve train that you had to figure out and remake great job and even a better job on keeping it real and telling us and showing the daily problems that occur and set projects back 100% steve morris
Know the feeling of getting a job finished halfway. And still getting a good product out the door! Thanks for sharing! Lot of responsibilities on you and the teams shoulders there! Enjoy the videos emensly!
There was a recent interview with Ed Pink about his most recent "cammer" build. He gives a lot of good jnfo on the importance of cam timing with these engines.
@@roadrunner4404The spec is no more than a 2 degree difference. The one we just finished was at 107 on the right bank and 108.5 on the left. Took 39.5 man hours to retime the cams and install the valve train after replacing the timing chain that broke after 956 runs.
I think Pete Aardema, and Kevin Braun, have built a few cammers. They are still going strong building land speed cars. They have built some of the most impressive engines that I have ever seen.
It sucks he didn’t let you run it but still props to the customer for atleast having you finish assembling it and not taking a basket of parts to another builder and getting upset at them when they gotta just figure out what and how the other person was working on the combo. Such goes life and people do gotta realize true custom odd ball builds are never cut and dry . Great video 👍
Agreed , but each his own. It’s like a old Harley vs old Honda goldwing, - one is cool factor,loud and you always tinker on but the other is a bland Cadillac ,quiet and probably will outlast us lol
@@ronseth1225 Or, better still, take it to someone like Jay Brown, whose done Dragweek with a Cammer, and KNOWS EXACTLY what all the valve train should look like !!
@@arkhsm guy shouldnt waste a man time with an engine hes not familiar with in the first place place.should of gone around see who’s specialize in cammer engine instead wasting another man time .
From the pictures that are available of these heads, it shows that the base circle of the cam lobes are significantly larger in diameter than the bearing surface. You would have to get new cams to make this engine work.
Connie Kaletta and someone else back in the day made a gear drive to replace the chain when they ran fuel in them in the 60’s. Nick Arias made a cammer for a short time and I think Eddie Hill ran then in 94 or 5 when he stopped racing fuel hydro. I started driving fuel boats the year Eddie quit and had talked to Fuzzy his crew chief about the ford, we were the only boat running Arias on fuel, and did very well when Nick came out with the billet heads Kyle Walker
Love the explanation during the video... Great looking piece. Seems like an effort in futility to build such an engine with so many potential weak points in a high horsepower application but some people like to spend money.
I've known about since I was a kid. Father had one in a 67 Fairlane he raced. Then again he had pretty much every old Ford engine there was at one time or another. Honestly, Steve just isn't the guy for this engine. It's obvious he's good at what he knows and it isn't this engine. No shame in that either.
I just came here to say Ed Pink probably has the parts you may or may not need---and man. Fly him in for a day or 2 at your shop. That would be something. Your wizardry and his. Also: I think Ed said in the Stapleton interviews that he timed the other cam something like 9 degrees advanced to compensate for chain slack after the chain stretched on startup
Back in the day and I am 41 now my grandpa was one of the best on 396 big blocks higher hp served 25 years airforce etc and the old stories I remember and told about the 2 chamber carburetor etc was all true. Especially when internet got more adapt so cool. Your a great mind of problem solving and learning thank you.
Steve this is a badass thought. Your SMX with a type of free-valve design, like the Koenigsegg engines. You can control every aspect of the valve opening and the amount of time it's open for. Watching your older videos with engines on the dyno, you get into some serious variables.
@@Whance_Chilkins I totally get that. I couldn't imagine those valves working for over 100,000 miles without some type failure. But SM is only going 1/4 mile at a time. I think it would be wild to have that type of control over the timing of the engine. Thanks for responding. I didn't know they scraped that idea.
You need massivle lumps of metal in 3000+bhp applications pal. Silly wee skinny boy mulitivalve junk doesn't last 1 second in massive horsepower applications. Yamaha know the upper limits of a multivalve valve assembly so do other marine engine manufacturers and its certainly nowere near cappable of 4000+bhp reliably from a car engine form factor. Koenigsegg dont know half the stuff Yamaha do about freevalve systems so you know.
Awesome work. Not a lot of people can make a Ford run and even less a cammer. Some old school FE people plug those oil drain holes in the lifter galley to keep oil off the crank. Custom billet blocks like that make not be the same.
I know you mentioned not wanting to spend big $ doing custom work on this one engine but it seems converting the weak single chain cam drive to either double row or even better a cog belt drive would sure solve a lot a big inherent weakness with the cammer.
Great video, so many little intricacies in these engines, there are Ford guys then there’s Cammer guys, they sound unique. It’s a shame it had to be sent back and not finished.
With all the new machines you got I was thinking you could make some sweet billet stuff and resolve a few issues with this motor design. Maybe even start with a billet block seeing how rare they are.
Ahhh the cammer..... I love old Ford's and the whole Henry Ford story. I'm not an any particular brand guy but I do tend to lean towards what I would consider the underdogs.... Having said that I'm so glad you posted this and took this project on!! It's cool to learn from you!! And I believe Ford still has the same old timing chain thoughts lol......the 4.0 v6 for example. But anyway I respect your knowledge and expertise and willingness to show us common people how this all works! What a wonderful way to make a living Steve!! Not to mention we share the same world view!! Thanks a million for all you do and educating the rest of us!!
At United Air Lines in San Francisco we had three very distinct gear-head groups. Ford, Chevy, and Dodge. One of my friends was in the Ford group of gear-heads and his knowledge was DEEP. He told everyone that he’d soon have his old ‘71 or ‘72 Maverick up and running and most of us not believing him, this project had been lengthy. So coming into work in the back parking lot one afternoon, we all got there about the same time, bullshitting being a reasonable past time for aviation type mechanics, hear this absolutely wild rumbling sound coming through the back gate. Here comes the Maverick, painted beater flat black, and absolutely the most pissed off thing you’ve ever heard through a very short exhaust system. He parked, got out, drew a crowd of course, and we wanted to see what what under the hood. He pulled the pins, we helped him remove the hood, and sweet Jesus, there sat a 427 Cammer. Absolute silence from 15 mechanics, which in itself was fascinating. Our resident Ford puke had shoehorned a goddamned 427 Cammer into a Maverick. No one had any words, even the resident AMC puke. Silence. We put the hood back on and went to work, everyone still trying to digest what they had seen and heard. Stuff like that never ceased to amaze me. Some very talented mechanics back in the day at United Air Lines.
Thanks for the video. I'm so old I remember Connie Kalita kicking ass in top fuel with a cammer, and switching to the Boss 429 and had nothing but trouble.
What a cool motor!! As a ford guy, it’s the holy grail!! Then add SME into it!! Ooh yea!!! I’m salivating watching this video!! Great job SME!!! As always!!
Don't feel bad at all man. Just about every custom engine builder I've Emailed has a 6 to 9 month backlog of orders. A couple of them aren't taking orders for the foreseeable future. The old saying, 'good help is hard to find' seems to ring more true today than it ever has sadly.
The problem is he took the job, and took forever to do it. Big difference between that and saying "I'm too busy". Shit happens though, especially when you are making unique high HP engines. Not every customer is going to walk out the door with a smile on their face. You can tell he wasn't happy about how it went down either.
Idk if i so much agree with the statement good help is hard to find. I have heard that statement from the ranch i worked for. They told me i was the best hired hand they ever had. They made millions, i made 30 grand. I no longer work there. They just did not want to pay what good help costs these days.
Excellent presentation. Thanks you. A really interesting engine in the vain of the Boss 429 and whatnot. Love seeing the old stuff still being kept alive. That said, a new LS or Coyote can make 2000hp at a fraction of the cost and maintenance and rebuilds will be a breeze. A person has to really think before digging deep into the pocket to keep this old girl alive.
I was thinking that while I was watching this. Someone has to be set on having that engine move their car down the strip when there are so many "better" options. Coyote is what came to mind, but that isn't nearly as cool as this. Now how it runs and holds up may change that fairly quickly.
Research Jon Haus for improved design cammer crate engines up to 1500 hp pump gas and more than that on custom builds with all the parts machined to work together. Jon Haus also redesigned all of the flaws associated with Fords original Boss 429. If you want new school engines go to Steve Morris. If you want old school engines go to Jon Haus
Gigantic cubic inch OHV engines with pushrods. You consider high tech? It’s definitely better to have people think you’re ignorant. Rather than posting a comment and removing all doubt.
Great modern approach to a historic engine. Never assume anything will work (which you dont) and all historic chat and figures mean nothing until you run yours. Back in the day people quoted numbers but not how they changed parts every 2 runs. Your engine will do what you want it to do reliably (within reason of course).
Exactly why the LS is such an amazing engine. Thats just too much work, too many extra parts for no gain over what we have available today. Nice job explaining
OHC makes sense and works well with 4 valves per cylinder and smaller engines. With bigger engines OHC adds a lot of complexity and external size for little benefit. Even modern stuff like the Ford Coyote is very impressive the power it can make for a 5L engine. But, for the external size of the coyote you could nearly fit an 8L big block that could make even more power.
By far one of the most complex engines ever made. Patience is a must. I believe Ed Pink has blueprints for the gear drive to replace the not so reliable chain setup. Awesome job bringing back to life.
Edd Pink said they advanced the one cam 7 degree's when they were making serious power in the nitro methane drag cars. He talks about this motor in a recent show on TH-cam!
Dude, contact Ed Pink ASAP. He DID re-engineer this engine like 40 years ago. Save yourself the heartache. My only suggestion is you do so right away, he may not be with us much longer, if you get my drift
Probably not the best bottom line for a working shop... but I love that Steve took the time to come up with innovative solutions for an old platform like this. Pink and those guys in the mid-60s had to figure a lot of things out to make that platform survive on Nitro. 7 degree timing stagger on the cams,etc. in this day and age when you can just get off the shelf parts and throw something together it really does take a good mind to come up with new solutions to old problems.
Beautiful job Steve you guys are doing really nice work !!! It’s really nice to see someone teaching how to do things in the right way even when they take longer !! An interesting fact Ed pink actually ran different cam timing per sides of the engine because of how much chain stretch there was and that probably won’t pertain to this because he was running nitro and nitro is incredibly hard on parts
I work with an old timer that was involved with the Ford racing program back then and held a few patents for parts used in the cammers they raced. He's a very neat guy.
Jon Kasse builds and sells new reproduction Ford 427 SOHC "Cammer" engines from mild to WILD. The great part of it is that he has figured out all the weak points in that engine and redesigned it with all the horsepower and none of the weak points. Oh, and by the way, Kasse has done the same thing with the Boss 429 and sells both the Boss and the Cammer as crate engines. You can buy parts too. The Boss heads can be bought and installed on any 385 series (429/460) block.
Awesome video thanks for sharing my first truck had a 68 428 ford from a police car my uncle put in it I’ve always had a soft spot for old ford engines and the cammer was in a l league of its own
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I have built several of these. I do have a few comments/thoughts that might be useful. I have T&D make a "double roller" rocker arm that eliminates that stupid elephant"s foot adjuster. Uses selective lash caps for valve lash and has a roller tip at the valve end just like darn every normal rocker arm ever made. You can set cold lash on the work bench. You definitely had the wrong valves or cam with that huge wheel requirement. It is very difficult to get enough cam into these because the rocker ratio is only 1.28-1.32 varying on the wheel location relative to the cam during it's rotation. I degree the cams just like a normal 4 cylinder engine - times two. You set the lead cam first, and then set the trailing cam. I have had a naturally aspirated 11.5:1 527 inch SOHC with some very highly modified heads go 870+ HP @ 7000 RPM, so the 2000 HP boosted target is/was attainable. No idea what the aftermarket block is good for - I've been over 1000 but that's a far cry from 2000...
When Prudhomme recently restored the Shelbys Super Snake dragster with the blown 427 Cammer only with modern day parts, he said they almost doubled the horsepower from when it raced in 1967…. That’s 4000hp..
Had the same idea...Cool to see real experience with that. Changing the valve spring hat to something to allow use of a roller tip rocker would seem to allow the use on varying contact path the rocker arm to valve relation
@@mikekadlec5428roller tip rockers, still won’t have full contact with the valve stem.
Like the original does.
Ok idea but , not great idea!!!
Remember 2000 hp goal!!
Can’t have ok ideas.
@@metalted6128 yup...agreed-thats what I meant by using a shim and bucket design to allow the use of roller tip rocker while dispersing the load across the top of the spring and valvestem evenly
The Ford 427 SOHC is definitely my favorite engine. The customer might bring it back to you for a cam gear setup when he finds out the chain can't keep up.
Mitchel Stapleton did an interview with Ed Pink about this engine. There were books from ford Mr Pink had in his shop. It was very interesting.
My neighbor, George Montgomery received 3 of these directly from Ford, maybe '67 or '68. I was there when they were unloaded from the truck in crates. I was maybe 11 or 12 at the time, and Mr. Montgomery was like a kid opening a Christmas present.
I worked at a shop that built some obscure antique race motors. The parts customers brought in may not have even worked together back in the day. These builds would take months to years with a lot of custom fabrication. I feel your frustration Steve.
Ed Pink is still around, he's probably the most knowledgeable Cammer guy ever. Pretty sure the top fuel motors in the late 60s made way over 2500hp with a tiny 6-71.
The biggest fan of Ed Pink is Ed Pink.
Try it and street car engine
@@CopperBasedoh snap
Those engines made around 1200hp when they were running them in Fuel Cars. I have spoken with Sam Auxier Jr who ran ProStock with the Cammer and he said the factory Blocks were Achilles hill.. I'm 99% sure NOBODY has made 2000hp / Dyno Proven with a Cammer!
Andy
@stevemorrisracing exactly 💯. I had a boss that was a huge ford guy back in the day, we had a local drag race called King of the hill. He always had the big block 427 blower deal in his 67 Mustang and it was a pig to keep together. He trailered it because it never did well on the street, and everytime he did street drive it the damn thing was towed back and off came the heads lmaoo 🤣. So this is a huge deal for a STREET ENGINE. Ed pink did some cool stuff and he paved the way for alot of hotrodders, but he never built the smx lol. Wich is a massive achievement on Steve for a 4000++ hp engine to live even 1000 miles of street driving. Well done sir 👏
Can we take a moment and appreciate the art in the way he applies the silicone.
I noticed that too. That guy is an artist and perfectionist, I'd trust him building my engine no problem.
That was probably a very hard video to make and put out. Good on you for being man enough to do that. I could feel your emotion as a business owner that takes pride in what you. Losing a customer over a very difficult situation to control is frustrating. Sometimes you just can’t do enough to make it better and letting go is all you can do. Keep being awsome and doing your best!
God Bless Steve !
20 years ago I worked with an engineer who worked on the SOHC427 at Ford back in the 60's. He was surprised that I even knew about them.
Ed Pink is the guy. Fabricating parts for this engine will be a nightmare. I know you know what you’re doing. If this is your first go at this engine. You should definitely enroll at the Ed Pink SOHC Tech for at least two semesters.
I was gonna say Ed Pink is the cammer man. In fact Stapelton42 has a video of him talking to Ed about the cammers.
@@bobbendt1698 Its an awesome video
That had to be a gut punch getting the call to send the engine home before getting to hear it run, and make it run well. Just one of those deals, you'll never have every customer walk out the door with a smile. It's harder when they aren't smiling because of you though. Thanks for showing it to us, I've only ever heard the name "cammer" but never knew what it was.
Or a blessing, when that valve train comes apart on the first good pull, and wrecks both cam shafts, and both heads., now the customer has no leg to stand on., I’m sure the guy gets upset seeing Steve play on TH-cam, or mess with his own crap, or down doing burn outs with cleatus , but if Steve had to give all that up in order to build engines, would it even be worth it?? Nope., so the guy should have acted a bit like a regular gear head, and offered to Steve, hay, can I come by on Saturday and work on it with you.. or help you., this is not your regular engine build, it’s much more of a let’s try to figure it out…
Yea and may be a huge mistake on the owners decision. You can not rush exotic builds. At Steve’s caliber it would have been done right and if not Steve would have MADE it right. 🤷🏻♂️
@@GRANITEMONUMENT You make so many assumptions in that comment. How did you convince yourself to write all that with nothing to back any of it up?
Don Nicholson ran a cammer in the early days pre pro stock , the class was called XSS , experimental super stock . The class was big block Ford vs chevy vs mopar all heads up no handicap racing . Don had a lot of impressive outings with this motor. I have seen quite a few of these things over the years in various types of drag cars . The last one I saw was about 27 years ago in a Ford maverick bracket car a guy had built in his garage . In your video this is the first time I ever saw the combustion chambers on this motor . For the time that this motor was designed and built in the early 60's without computers and without cad this was a real amazing piece of workmanship !! I expect Jon Kassee has had some experience with these motors because he did a lot of work for Don Nicholson .
Wow, what an incredible work of mechanical art! I can totally understand people being frustrated with schedules being blown up time after time but you at least have to let the guy who built it run it before he sends it back because if there is an issue when it’s fired up, everybody’s gonna blame everybody else. What a total shame it didn’t get some Dyno time before it left your shop.
So cool to see someone build a historic engine. It would have been so much more cost effective to do the easy thing, but having a legendary power plant is epic.
Steve , it looks like rockers are on upside down. The adjuster may need filpped then put back on the little wheel . On upside down will probably destroy the rockers at high rpm . Look at how the rockers are braced . It looks stronger for stretching the compression
Man that was my first thought too!
If you want to know more about the Cammer, hit up Ed Pink. He's probably forgotten more about the cammer than most of us will ever know. He even has the original manual for it from the 1960s.
Can't wait for the collaboration with Jay Brown, he's walked this road and made big power with a SOHC FE.
Steve, I'm a FORD guy...which is a weird to say, since i'm only 55. But I have spent hours studying the FE series and FORDS ability to make power reliably. And the biggest contention is that seems to be common was the expense...I love this video, because showed 50+ year old tech! Forget the cross bolted mains and side oiler tech or the fact that many regular 427s were put into boats....I'm sorry your customer lost patience...I hope your video goes a long way to show the care, professionalism, diligence and expertise you gave his project. YOU AND YOUR TEAM ROCK! Looking forward to more awesome videos! Thank you.
FE stands for Friggin Expensive! lol
I'm only 42.. own 9 classic fords. I prefer the M400 over FE's. The Aussie 2v's are a game changer.
@@nobiden3134 I've ported a set of Aussie 2V's... and they were kind of 'meh'. Bowls were WAY too big. Would have had to install some huge seats to make a good shape, and the chambers shrouded the valves terribly. Needed a lot of work there. More compression than open chamber 2V's, but that's about it.
@n2omike mine flow 290I 225E @.500. My dad has the 68 Cougar XR7 390 Twisted Wedge heads. He can keep'em. Bad cross section (turn around the head bolt)
Cleveland has Canted Valves for that so called shrouding..
I also have 7/16 studs for roller rockers. You know who Jon Kaase is? Multi world champion of Engine masters challenge.. that 3V head is a raised port Aussie... 750hp carbed..
What's the stroke on your 427?😏
@2omike Now that’s funny and very true
THANK YOU, going above beyond the call of duty. I'm sorry does not need to be said for ALL OF WHAT YOU PUT YOUR COMPANY THROUGH on this one only project. If the customer can not see this than he is blind. The showing of how much you care and your integrity, priceless.
Steve!! Ed Pink... look him up man he is a crazy old man that pushed over 2k hp back in the 70's. Crazy stuff he did with timing too! Up to 7 degrees on the driver side cam... insane. Keep it up man your are an inspiration to all!
Pink was definitely the man on these motors. He admitted to having hell until he discovered offset timing was the secret
I feel like I'm at NASA Space Camp when watching videos made by the esteemed Dr. Morris. So much learning!
There was a Man who shop got destroyed while back. He wrote a book on the 427 SOHC. You are correct parts are hard to find. Even harder is finding a gear drive for one. 427 SOHC with a gear drive sound so GOOD and work awsome.
Ed Pink mentioned how he had to offset the valve timing about 7 degrees to compensate for chain slack.
Wow, is an understatement. Really sorry that you did not get to finish and dyno it. There was a lot to this engine. Thank you so much for showing us all the process of assembly.
Be blessed brother
I have been in similar situations. I use to work a 9-5 auto repair job. I also did jobs at another shop, nights and weekends. I also did work in my home shop. I was also selling used parts from a few salvage yards, I worked with. The local tavern was my office. The biggest problem I had, was I would never say no to a job or parts search. I cut myself very thin on time and would get behind on work. It was very tough trying to work with people to get their jobs done. I got to the point of hating dealing with the public. I now live in the extreme northern Wisconsin and have very little contact with people.
SM working on a 2k HP engine sounds like SpaceX working on fireworks :P
Can't wait for the epic fireworks on Friday morning. 👍
Paid £125 for a rocket here on 4th Nov that was well worth it it probably went higher than Elons last Actual Space Rocket did.
Mans got the patience of Job
Steve, you are a standup guy and that is rare these days. 👍🇺🇸👍🇺🇸
I do believe that you are the best in tech and describing the work you do and as far as your skills are second to none! I guarantee you that the customer will DEFINITELY REGRET that they are not having you finish the project! Keep up the great job. I wish I could afford to have you build my ls1 that I have tried to build myself but after 2000 miles of driving it decided to start making noise! God bless you and your family and keep us informed like you always do
Hey STEVE there is a duel cut cap that fits in between the valve and rocker lobe, one side is bigger then the other, it has a tiny hole in center, if you cut in half, it’s shaped like an H side view..
It fits tightly on the valve and held in by pressure
I am pretty certain the other half of the problem is incorrect cams.
I believe they are manufactured incorrectly. The base circle diameter is all wrong.
The re-engineering of the rocker combined with dialing in the valve stem length was a brave approach, but I suspect it will still be prone to a short life and catastrophic failure.
Steves a good guy and I respect his effort. But this may be a box of snakes to be glad to get out of there in the end.
I would defer to those who have sorted this out- Jon Kaase, or Jay Brown, ETC.
Connie Kallita is still a resource. It’s not realistic that Pete Robinson, Ohio George and Ed Pink ran that Rube Goldberg valve train.
U sure the rockers dont go up the other way ?
@@lachlanwestrupp7487 so this was a problem at high rpm, it was the weak link.. so someone came up with a spacer that was in different thicknesses.. the higher the thicknesses the less misaligned at highest point of lift.
They were more like a cap that sat on valves, they helped capture oil and to keep them stable.. they tapered out from bottom and sat about 3/8 over valves.
Steve would have to figure out best hight and make his own,
PAT AUSTIN in Tacoma Washington is the man to talk to, they have about 10 cars in collection with these engines, they probably have more parts for them than any, or used to…
I said my piece… they will fail eventually if not right away.. should create a new roller rocker that gets rid of extra moving parts
I was wondering if that adjustable tip was on upside down. Almost looks like it would've taken all the slop out that way. Lol
As 2strokestuffing would say. Easy isn't worth anything". That is why you are the top engine design /builder!
It’s great to see how much pride Steve and his team put into all projects and products well done mate. 🙏🇦🇺👨🏭
Incredible job Steve morris that valve train that you had to figure out and remake great job and even a better job on keeping it real and telling us and showing the daily problems that occur and set projects back 100% steve morris
Know the feeling of getting a job finished halfway. And still getting a good product out the door! Thanks for sharing! Lot of responsibilities on you and the teams shoulders there! Enjoy the videos emensly!
So sick steve. Fantastic work. Love how you don't rush things and take your time and do it right the first time
There was a recent interview with Ed Pink about his most recent "cammer" build. He gives a lot of good jnfo on the importance of cam timing with these engines.
Agreed. Didnt Pink say to compensate for chain stretch at high rpm they advanced one cam 7 degrees. Or was it 12. Ed Pink 2:24
I think that was by stapleton42 with Lake Speed Jr. @@roadrunner4404
@@roadrunner4404The spec is no more than a 2 degree difference.
The one we just finished was at 107 on the right bank and 108.5 on the left.
Took 39.5 man hours to retime the cams and install the valve train after replacing the timing chain that broke after 956 runs.
I think Pete Aardema, and Kevin Braun, have built a few cammers. They are still going strong building land speed cars. They have built some of the most impressive engines that I have ever seen.
Those guys are amazing. I love watching their channel. They are true legends.
I could imagine that puppy under the hood of an early 70's Torino. Wicked!! 💪🔥
I was at a Scottsdale car show and Reggie Jackson had a afx 65 mustang with a 427 cammer 20 years ago but it was impressive
This is why I watch Professor Morris 😁 this stuff is Awesome Thanks for sharing and educating all of us !! Keep up the Amazing Work!!!!
It sucks he didn’t let you run it but still props to the customer for atleast having you finish assembling it and not taking a basket of parts to another builder and getting upset at them when they gotta just figure out what and how the other person was working on the combo. Such goes life and people do gotta realize true custom odd ball builds are never cut and dry . Great video 👍
Ikr.if he want a good running engine could of get a smx instead bringing that weird engine to sm.
Agreed , but each his own. It’s like a old Harley vs old Honda goldwing, - one is cool factor,loud and you always tinker on but the other is a bland Cadillac ,quiet and probably will outlast us lol
@@ronseth1225 Or, better still, take it to someone like Jay Brown, whose done Dragweek with a Cammer, and KNOWS EXACTLY what all the valve train should look like !!
@@arkhsm guy shouldnt waste a man time with an engine hes not familiar with in the first place place.should of gone around see who’s specialize in cammer engine instead wasting another man time .
So much respect to any builder willing to put the work in for a great product I know the the engine will run great.
Always was passionately in love with this motor for decades. Thanks for a knock out job!
From the pictures that are available of these heads, it shows that the base circle of the cam lobes are significantly larger in diameter than the bearing surface. You would have to get new cams to make this engine work.
Darn… I was wanting to see what it would do on the Dyno. Quite the undertaking.
Being a ford enthusiast it was really cool to see this motor as I’ve heard about it a few times from old heads
Connie Kaletta and someone else back in the day made a gear drive to replace the chain when they ran fuel in them in the 60’s. Nick Arias made a cammer for a short time and I think Eddie Hill ran then in 94 or 5 when he stopped racing fuel hydro. I started driving fuel boats the year Eddie quit and had talked to Fuzzy his crew chief about the ford, we were the only boat running Arias on fuel, and did very well when Nick came out with the billet heads
Kyle Walker
Would like to see how spring tension vs. valve stroke works out given the apparent extreme lobe lift? Those lobe lift angles looked pretty sharp.
Love the explanation during the video... Great looking piece. Seems like an effort in futility to build such an engine with so many potential weak points in a high horsepower application but some people like to spend money.
Amazing watching you and your crew work.
I love how you always have every part nice and neat in straight lines. Its very soothing to me and my OCD!!
This is a very rare build and great content!
Steve don't ever stop making these educational video's. Its awesome of you sharing your knowledge. Thank you.
Wow Steve! Incredible project for TH-cam. None of us 60 yo youngsters know anything about cammers. I’m glad to learn.
Mr Steve, I'm glad you showed this. My late father was a huge. Ford FE engine person. 😮
I love that you are working on such a badass and rare Ford engine! Most people didn’t even know about this engine before this video!
I've known about since I was a kid. Father had one in a 67 Fairlane he raced. Then again he had pretty much every old Ford engine there was at one time or another.
Honestly, Steve just isn't the guy for this engine. It's obvious he's good at what he knows and it isn't this engine. No shame in that either.
I just came here to say Ed Pink probably has the parts you may or may not need---and man. Fly him in for a day or 2 at your shop. That would be something. Your wizardry and his. Also: I think Ed said in the Stapleton interviews that he timed the other cam something like 9 degrees advanced to compensate for chain slack after the chain stretched on startup
A lot of R&D into this beast. Thanks Steve.
Back in the day and I am 41 now my grandpa was one of the best on 396 big blocks higher hp served 25 years airforce etc and the old stories I remember and told about the 2 chamber carburetor etc was all true. Especially when internet got more adapt so cool. Your a great mind of problem solving and learning thank you.
Steve this is a badass thought. Your SMX with a type of free-valve design, like the Koenigsegg engines. You can control every aspect of the valve opening and the amount of time it's open for. Watching your older videos with engines on the dyno, you get into some serious variables.
Freevalve is a bust. Koenigsegg shelved it for now
@@Whance_Chilkins I totally get that. I couldn't imagine those valves working for over 100,000 miles without some type failure.
But SM is only going 1/4 mile at a time. I think it would be wild to have that type of control over the timing of the engine.
Thanks for responding. I didn't know they scraped that idea.
You need massivle lumps of metal in 3000+bhp applications pal. Silly wee skinny boy mulitivalve junk doesn't last 1 second in massive horsepower applications. Yamaha know the upper limits of a multivalve valve assembly so do other marine engine manufacturers and its certainly nowere near cappable of 4000+bhp reliably from a car engine form factor. Koenigsegg dont know half the stuff Yamaha do about freevalve systems so you know.
Awesome work. Not a lot of people can make a Ford run and even less a cammer. Some old school FE people plug those oil drain holes in the lifter galley to keep oil off the crank. Custom billet blocks like that make not be the same.
I know you mentioned not wanting to spend big $ doing custom work on this one engine but it seems converting the weak single chain cam drive to either double row or even better a cog belt drive would sure solve a lot a big inherent weakness with the cammer.
Flip the rocker over so the centerline of the follower to tip is below the centerline of the shaft it rides on. Then flip the adjuster 180.
POSSIBLE
How wonderful to see a younger technician working on a old school motor. The S.O.H.C. Elephant Gun.
I thought I was finally starting to understand the workings of a motor..
This thing is a whole nother beast .
Great video, so many little intricacies in these engines, there are Ford guys then there’s Cammer guys, they sound unique. It’s a shame it had to be sent back and not finished.
With all the new machines you got I was thinking you could make some sweet billet stuff and resolve a few issues with this motor design. Maybe even start with a billet block seeing how rare they are.
you paying for them once he makes them yeah?
Ahhh the cammer..... I love old Ford's and the whole Henry Ford story. I'm not an any particular brand guy but I do tend to lean towards what I would consider the underdogs.... Having said that I'm so glad you posted this and took this project on!! It's cool to learn from you!! And I believe Ford still has the same old timing chain thoughts lol......the 4.0 v6 for example. But anyway I respect your knowledge and expertise and willingness to show us common people how this all works! What a wonderful way to make a living Steve!! Not to mention we share the same world view!!
Thanks a million for all you do and educating the rest of us!!
Henry ford. Good friends with Hitler.
Jay Brown - who competed in several Drag Weeks - has built some of these motors. He would be a good resource.
And he has rocker arms that would have solved the issue.
At United Air Lines in San Francisco we had three very distinct gear-head groups. Ford, Chevy, and Dodge. One of my friends was in the Ford group of gear-heads and his knowledge was DEEP. He told everyone that he’d soon have his old ‘71 or ‘72 Maverick up and running and most of us not believing him, this project had been lengthy. So coming into work in the back parking lot one afternoon, we all got there about the same time, bullshitting being a reasonable past time for aviation type mechanics, hear this absolutely wild rumbling sound coming through the back gate. Here comes the Maverick, painted beater flat black, and absolutely the most pissed off thing you’ve ever heard through a very short exhaust system. He parked, got out, drew a crowd of course, and we wanted to see what what under the hood. He pulled the pins, we helped him remove the hood, and sweet Jesus, there sat a 427 Cammer. Absolute silence from 15 mechanics, which in itself was fascinating. Our resident Ford puke had shoehorned a goddamned 427 Cammer into a Maverick. No one had any words, even the resident AMC puke. Silence. We put the hood back on and went to work, everyone still trying to digest what they had seen and heard. Stuff like that never ceased to amaze me. Some very talented mechanics back in the day at United Air Lines.
Wow what dedication. True fabricator and engine builder. Love the detail.
Thanks for the video. I'm so old I remember Connie Kalita kicking ass in top fuel with a cammer, and switching to the Boss 429 and had nothing but trouble.
Steve get a hold of wood brothers racing they know a lot about those motors.
I reckon you've got your rockers upside-down.
What a cool motor!!
As a ford guy, it’s the holy grail!!
Then add SME into it!!
Ooh yea!!!
I’m salivating watching this video!!
Great job SME!!!
As always!!
Don't feel bad at all man. Just about every custom engine builder I've Emailed has a 6 to 9 month backlog of orders. A couple of them aren't taking orders for the foreseeable future. The old saying, 'good help is hard to find' seems to ring more true today than it ever has sadly.
The problem is he took the job, and took forever to do it. Big difference between that and saying "I'm too busy". Shit happens though, especially when you are making unique high HP engines. Not every customer is going to walk out the door with a smile on their face. You can tell he wasn't happy about how it went down either.
Idk if i so much agree with the statement good help is hard to find. I have heard that statement from the ranch i worked for. They told me i was the best hired hand they ever had. They made millions, i made 30 grand. I no longer work there. They just did not want to pay what good help costs these days.
@@zacharystout492 It isn't that good help is hard to find, it's that bad help is easier to find and good help is hard to keep.
Tale as old as time. Customer with more money than sense.
@@puttervids472 That isn't even close to the story here.
Excellent presentation. Thanks you. A really interesting engine in the vain of the Boss 429 and whatnot. Love seeing the old stuff still being kept alive. That said, a new LS or Coyote can make 2000hp at a fraction of the cost and maintenance and rebuilds will be a breeze. A person has to really think before digging deep into the pocket to keep this old girl alive.
I was thinking that while I was watching this. Someone has to be set on having that engine move their car down the strip when there are so many "better" options. Coyote is what came to mind, but that isn't nearly as cool as this. Now how it runs and holds up may change that fairly quickly.
@@--_DJ_-- I had my 482 fe pistons next to my broken 4.6 modular piston and the 4.6 looks like lawn mower parts in comparison. It's unbelievable
Vein
@@jimanderson1355 We wouldn't have anything cool if vanity wasn't a thing.
You may have been spared the anguish of having the motor saw itself in half on the dyno.
Yep
cool to see you guys venture into all kinds of different engines. great to watch thanks
would love to see someone start to make heads and blocks for these and really try and push this platform, super cool to me
Research Jon Haus for improved design cammer crate engines up to 1500 hp pump gas and more than that on custom builds with all the parts machined to work together. Jon Haus also redesigned all of the flaws associated with Fords original Boss 429. If you want new school engines go to Steve Morris. If you want old school engines go to Jon Haus
@@michaelfercik3691 sorry but Steve Morris "new school" chevy big blocks? 😆😆 yeah, chevy big blocks just came out last year right? 🤣
Gigantic cubic inch OHV engines with pushrods. You consider high tech? It’s definitely better to have people think you’re ignorant. Rather than posting a comment and removing all doubt.
@@banneddamnthats what i was thinking when i read that. BBC is just as old hahaha no joke
That swivel head on the rocker arm looks like nothing but trouble. Awesome project though!
soon as I saw that I thought "screw all that noise"
Great modern approach to a historic engine. Never assume anything will work (which you dont) and all historic chat and figures mean nothing until you run yours. Back in the day people quoted numbers but not how they changed parts every 2 runs. Your engine will do what you want it to do reliably (within reason of course).
2 or more engine shops on 1 engine, That always goes well. Twice the time, Twice the money. and twice the chance of never running.
Exactly why the LS is such an amazing engine. Thats just too much work, too many extra parts for no gain over what we have available today. Nice job explaining
OHC makes sense and works well with 4 valves per cylinder and smaller engines. With bigger engines OHC adds a lot of complexity and external size for little benefit.
Even modern stuff like the Ford Coyote is very impressive the power it can make for a 5L engine. But, for the external size of the coyote you could nearly fit an 8L big block that could make even more power.
Coyote is starting to give the ls a run for its money…
By far one of the most complex engines ever made. Patience is a must. I believe Ed Pink has blueprints for the gear drive to replace the not so reliable chain setup. Awesome job bringing back to life.
Edd Pink said they advanced the one cam 7 degree's when they were making serious power in the nitro methane drag cars. He talks about this motor in a recent show on TH-cam!
I bet "BIG Daddy Don Garlets" would remember most of that stuff off the top of his head.
Dude, contact Ed Pink ASAP. He DID re-engineer this engine like 40 years ago. Save yourself the heartache. My only suggestion is you do so right away, he may not be with us much longer, if you get my drift
That bigger roller will change your duration quite a bit.. was the cam ground for a certain roller diameter?
Probably not the best bottom line for a working shop... but I love that Steve took the time to come up with innovative solutions for an old platform like this.
Pink and those guys in the mid-60s had to figure a lot of things out to make that platform survive on Nitro. 7 degree timing stagger on the cams,etc.
in this day and age when you can just get off the shelf parts and throw something together it really does take a good mind to come up with new solutions to old problems.
It's absolutely incredible how involved and the you put into that engine. Very cool steve
Back in this engine's heyday on the drag strip, they would advance the drivers side cam to about 11 degrees to get valve timing events to synchronize.
Beautiful job Steve you guys are doing really nice work !!!
It’s really nice to see someone teaching how to do things in the right way even when they take longer !!
An interesting fact Ed pink actually ran different cam timing per sides of the engine because of how much chain stretch there was and that probably won’t pertain to this because he was running nitro and nitro is incredibly hard on parts
I work with an old timer that was involved with the Ford racing program back then and held a few patents for parts used in the cammers they raced. He's a very neat guy.
Once again .....Steve Morris integrity. "I took way too long, I'm sorry." No excuses. Not blaming anyone. Pretty rare in TH-cam world.
You've taken what is arguably the rarest/ most expensive engine ever and made it even more so.
Jon Kasse builds and sells new reproduction Ford 427 SOHC "Cammer" engines from mild to WILD. The great part of it is that he has figured out all the weak points in that engine and redesigned it with all the horsepower and none of the weak points. Oh, and by the way, Kasse has done the same thing with the Boss 429 and sells both the Boss and the Cammer as crate engines. You can buy parts too. The Boss heads can be bought and installed on any 385 series (429/460) block.
Awesome video thanks for sharing my first truck had a 68 428 ford from a police car my uncle put in it I’ve always had a soft spot for old ford engines and the cammer was in a l league of its own
Great to see you tackle something so rare and very much the holy grail of Ford racing's golden era!
at the end of the day it is what it is, you did your best to provide the best, no blame for doing it right