Winfield Cams
 

What application would you use the following Winfield cams in , SU-1R & Su-1A , heavy car or light car.
What modifications are required to the engine to get the most out of each cam.
Are they available for all years of flathead engines.
If you are using either one are you satisfied with how they perform.

Re: Winfield Cams
 

I have a SU-1A in my 39 coupe with a 276" engine. I really like it. Sounds great and drives great.

Re: Winfield Cams
 

An original 1953 SU1A was a 280 degree cam that was intended for Bonneville. I ran one at Bonnevile and on the street. Very poor street performance and gas mileage.
Since then many different grinds have come along labeled SU1A. You would have to degree it to tell what you had.
The SU1R had slight less timing.

The more mods you do to the engine, the better most cams will perform. Better breathing = better performance.

The people grinding SU1A's can supply them for any year flathead.
I don't do them because there are so many better grinds.

Re: Winfield Cams
 

Pete ....... I guess copies of copies have created different grinds that are labeled SU1A'S but have become different than the original grind , so the original grind is not a good street cam.
Would the SU1R be a good street cam.
What grind would you recommend for good street performance & gas mileage for a 8BA motor in a 36 5W coupe & a 47 convertible with the 59 motor still in it.

Re: Winfield Cams
 

You didn't say what other mods you were going to do to the engine. Assuming you do the usual heads,manifold,
cam mods, the SU1R would work on the street. It's not a good choice though. It lacks low end off idle performance.

I would recommend a 1007B for the 36.
If the 47 motor is going to remain stock, leave it alone.
If you modify it, the 1007B will work good.
It has a slightly lopey idle.

Re: Winfield Cams
 

I degreed my SU-1A before installing it. 280 deg duration at .015 lift. It works great in my engine. Mileage on the highway is 22 + mpg with OD. Plenty of snort around town.

Re: Winfield Cams
 

Flatjack9 ..... your motor is a 276 with the SU-1A what else has been done to it.
What rear end gear , rear tire size & overdrive unit is in your coupe , 22 mpg is good for a flathead.

Re: Winfield Cams
 

I run a Holley 390 4 bbl and the rear axle is a 9" Bronco with 3.70 gears. Tires are 225-R15's. The overdrive is the aluminum overdrive top shifter out of a mid 80's Ford pickup. At 2500 rpm, I'm running around 73 mph. I've got over 50,000 miles on this car.

Re: Winfield Cams
 

I love to hear that I have a SU-1A in my 39 coupe with a 276" engine. I really like it. Sounds great and drives great.

Re: Winfield Cams
 

My SU-1R came from Jim Brierly. It is an excellent cam, great low end torque, medium range and top end. Running mine in a 32 Vicky with 4" stroke, .030 overbore, 81A heads, headers.
Drove it to Maine last June with 4.11 Columbia and got 20 mpg. Sounds great with Red's, Mellowtones and 1 3/4" pipes. I am running a single Holley 94,which works, but it really wants one more carb.

Re: Winfield Cams
 

This is truly a case of beauty being in the eye of the beholder. My opinion is similar to Pete's--they are poor performers compared to other cams. But, there are some respectable opinions in the opposite camp. What this boils down to is a matter of inches of difference rather than yards between most cams of a similar rating. In our Flatheads most 3/4 cams will give very similar results. Most "full race" cams will give very similar results, etc. etc. Even the differences between maximum performance competition Flathead cams is not a big gap.

Re: Winfield Cams
 

flatjack9 ..... do you have any pictures of the od installed in your chassis , I have one of those overdrives , sounds like yours is the .78 version from behind the 302V8.


motordr .... where is Jim Brierly located , did you have to redome the 81A heads , how much clearance do you have between the piston & the head.

JWL ..... what cam would you recommend

Thats the beauty of ford barn .... getting good opinions from its members , sometimes not the same , but all opinions helpful.

Are there any sound clips of the cams we have talked about so far.

Re: Winfield Cams
 

I don't have any pictures of my installation. I removed the top plate of the center web and flipped it 180 deg to form a tunnel for the tailshaft of the transmission. I also had to remove some material from the vertical plates. I then formed a rear mount behind the center core. Did not compromise the frame integrity at all.

Re: Winfield Cams
 

When is a cam considered 3/4 & when is it considered a full race cam.
The cams we have talked about so far what are they considered?

Re: Winfield Cams
 

I'm dropping a 293 cid 59A with B&M 142 blower into my 37 Slantback. 1942 LZ trans gears, Columbia, 7:00/16 tires. Can't get a straight answer or recommendation on duration/lift of Winfield SU1A, so what duration/lift numbers, not brand/model cam do you suggest? 'Ol Ron suggested a 260 duration/0.350 lift a while back. I like his stuff. Is this the one I want?

Re: Winfield Cams
 

I've never ran a Winfield cam, but they seem to run well at the drags in the early days. But I'd listen to Pete.
G

Re: Winfield Cams
 

Early on, when there were not very many cam grinders the SU1A was one of record setting cams at the dry lakes. Intended for light roadsters and coupes. It's not a radical cam by today's standards. I have an original one in '32 chassis with a 59A engine. I've never finished the car but the engine sounds really nice. It has a nice lope to it. That was considered a full-race cam. You lose compression at the lower end because of the valve overlap with a full race cam. To offset that loss, you need higher compression heads and more cubic inches to get some of that lost lower end power back. Since it was designed to run at 5000 rpm on a dry lake bed they were not concerned with the low rpm power.

I collect 1930s to early 1950s dry lakes programs and photos. Early on the programs listed the entries heads and intakes, later they also added the cams and ignitions. This is a page from a June 5-6, 1948, SCTA El Mirage program. These cars are listed separately from the club entries, these cars are grouped together because they were the fastest points cars from the previous season. You can see the number 1 car is running a Clay Smith Cam, probably a 272. That is good sounding cam but can it still be street-driven. Jack Calori was my good friend and was a Lancer Club Member. He set the early 1947 SCTA "C" Class Roadster Record with a Clay Smith 272 cam. Clay Smith was his good friend. That was a light roadster that was also driven on the street. 1948 is about the end of when a roadster could set a dry lakes record and still be street-driven. The cams these guys chose had a lot to do with if the cam grinder was in their club or neighborhood. On this page you can see Winfield cams, Harman Collins, Clay Smith cams even an Engle cam, he ground the cams later on for the Shelby GT-350 and Cobra race engines. And there are others. Randy Shinn with the #2 car is running a Winfield. He beat Calori's record with that Winfield cam in 1947. Clay Smith and Winfield's were the most popular cams in 1948

Johnny Ryan, a Gopher Club member built one of my favorite dry lakes '32 roadsters. We later became good friends. He ran a Weber cam because both Weber brothers were in the Gophers club when it was formed in 1937. A lot of the Gophers Club worked for Earl Evans foundry. So they ran Evans heads and intakes.


1947 the lancers Club won the overall points championship, so they got the lowest batch of numbers for the 1948 season, starting with 100. They advertised themselves as the "World's Fastest Roadster Club". Here they are minus the fastest club cars on that first page. Ten Clay Smith cams, One Isky, and one Winfield. You can still send a core to Clay Smith and have one ground.

Re: Winfield Cams
 

Pete and JWL, can you let me know your recommendations for my blown engine? (See above). Am I right that a shorter duration is better, with about a 350 lift? Whose cam is the 1007B? Isky? Pete, do you grind this cam?

Re: Winfield Cams
 

Check your email.
Pete

Re: Winfield Cams
 

I loaned my Clay Smith 272 cam to a friend at the track. He blew the engine leading the race. I still have a piece of it with 3 loabs on it, If you want to copy it.
Gramps