Camshafts
Hotter Cam
speedoo51 1/5/01
Crofton 53 ci with 45 hp was the same as the 44 except
bore was 2.75, same as Homelite, keeping the 2.25 stroke. Don't
know if was left hand ports or standard right or if came either
way. I have Crofton sales pamphlets listing the engine for boat
applications. The Homelite I looked at had more material on
outside of block, between the water jacket covers and the mounting
flange. There is not enough room for the hold down nuts so they
drilled and tapped from flange face side and screwed in studs that
were long enough to go all the way through to main caps! I imagine
that the Crofton 53 was done the same way. The Homelite also had a
camshaft that was twice the size of a Crosley but kept the same
gear drive.
tsrods 1/5/01
You mention the Homelite cam and it being bigger by
twice. In what way? Is the base circle larger,if so does the
Homelite use a taller cam stand to make up for the higher center
line? Also is the cam tanged to drive something on the back of the
cam like the military cam which is used to drive the governor.
Thanks for the info.
speedoo51 1/5/01
As I remember it's base circle was around twice that of
Crosley; close to Ford or Chev v-8's. I think this was to be able
to get the necessary lift and duration while reducing unit
loading. Stands were taller and lifters may have been larger in
dia with some kind of lash adjuster. Don't remember end of cam but
that end was up so probably drove distributor[guessing]
but there is a Homelite site that will show the [eng cutaway
view] and maybe with magnification can see mounting studs I
was talking about. I gonna stick my neck out...I got the feeling
that the block to crankcase bolt patterns are the same, that the
Homelite is a modification of the 53 Crofton. Seb.
tsrods 1/6/01
I think that I have figured it out. The cam that I have
been searching for, is a Homelite 55 cam. The tang on the end of
the cam is to drive the distributor and the excintric between the
#3 and #4 lobe is to drive the fuel pump. Since this cam has a
larger base circle, it can be used to regrind to a more radical
profile than can be achieved with a stock Crosley or Crofton cam.
The bearing spacing is the same between Homelite and Crosley as is
the bearing diameter. So, the stock Crosley cam stand can be used
unmodified. Thanks to all who have responded to my requests.
speedoo51 1/6/01
Something I just thought of; don't know if cam
material/hardness depth will allow as much material to be
removed[to get to Crosley base circle?] and still have
hardness left or be able to be re-hardened. Could maybe raise
center line some as tower shaft splines should be able to handle
some[i.e., move bushing and gear up corresponding amount].
Nice idea though. Would be nice to have a whole pile of Crosley,
Aerojet, Fageol, Crofton, Homelite, ect, engine parts to be able
to mix and match!!
tsrods 1/6/01
They are steel so the cam grinder say. I have talked
with 5 cam grinders,they say it is no problem to regrind the steel
cams. I had a hard time trying to figure out where the cam came
from. Nick Brajevick thought they may have been Military,but that
didn't pan out because of the fuel pump lobe on #3 and #4 . Now I
can talk with the grinders and know where the source of the cam
is.
speedoo51 1/7/01
Which cam grinders have you talked with? I am
surprised that they know of Crosley, ect, Isky being the only one
I had catalog that listed Crosley. I think Braje was getting
unground factory cams so there was enough material to make hot as
he wanted. Stock cams in Crosley, Crofton, ect are steel? What are
you building?
tsrods 1/7/01
Isky-Clay Smith-Schniders-Braje and Cam Craft are the
people that I have been in contact with. They all say they can and
have ground Crosley cams, the only one that can't do it is Nick at
Braje he said he still has the equipment but it is out dated. The
guy's at Schniders and Isky will regrind a welded cam they also
straighten the cam before the grind, the filler rod is a hard face
type rod that is tig welded. I am building a Lakester to run at
Bonneville (scta) and Maxton N.C. (ecta) (landspeed) Jclass 45cid
Blown (turbo) on gas and fuel. The body is a 120 gallon drop tank
from a F-86 jet (1953)
Cam Followers
CCF 11/20/01
Does any one know what year the part that adjusts the
camshaft to valve folower endplay came out or was it there from day one? You know,
the part where you can put different size shims on and get the
valve to camshaft just right. I knew a man once that told me
a story from when he worked in the engine plant in Cincinnati that
he was partly responsible for the invention of that part. So was
it always engineered from day one or was it changed at some time
during manufacturing, thanks in advance if anyone knows.
Jim_Bollman 3/08/02
I can't find the backup info but I recall the earliest
production Tin engines used solid cam followers without the slot
and the valves were adjusted by taking the cam off and putting
shims under the follower.
Lubrication to Camshaft
cosmicray – Sept 6, 2004
I need to find out if I am getting lubricant to the cam shaft. Is it possible to run the engine with the valve cover removed? Will oil spray all over if I do?
A50CrosleyTrk – Sept 6, 2004
Yes it will sling oil all over the place even at idle. You may still want to try it, I have seen oil starved cam shafts. You could dry off cam area and slip back on cover, start for a minute, then take cover back off to see if all is wet with oil. Just be quick to turn off and have rags to soak up oil. I have considered making a valve cover with Plexiglas in it. The troubles I have seen are that the bronze elbow just gets too loose to feed cam with oil and the bronze tower shaft bushing have spun covering an oil port. This system does not require much oil pressure but does require oil at bearings and follower. Think of it more as a flow of oil.
chuckk – Sept 6, 2004
Take the valve cover off, remove the spark plugs, pull coil wire. Crank over engine, it should turn over fast enough to pump the oil, if not, jump the starter using 12 volts. When I redo a motor I prelube everything, then crank the motor until the temporary oil gauge shows oil pressure.