I heard a R1 cam shaft might make a good addition to a 259? Any thoughts on this or more? I have a 259 2-barrel, I am going to build another 259 maybe 4-barrel thought about the cam change. Thanks
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Try a search. There are a dozen previous similar threads.
Bottom line - the R1 cam will lessen the low end torque of the 259" and improve the top end above 3,000 RPMs. It will also slightly lower the fuel economy. It would perform best with the overdrive transmission and a 3.73 or lower gear ratio.
jack vinesPackardV8 -
What Jack said.
Also, don't go too big on the carbuetor like many do.
Also, some cylinder head bowl work (if not more) will go a long way toward good performance.
MikeComment
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44 years ago, at age 20, yours truly installed an R1/R2 cam in my mediocre, Commonwealth-Edison-Tan 1960 259 Lark Regal 4-door with overdrive.
It performed very well...of course, I topped off the engine with a complete R2 supercharger setup at the same time! <GGG>
Ah, youthful bliss and indulgence, oblivious to the non-wisdom of putting that much power to the balance of the powertrain on a fairly well-worn old car, knowing precious little about what I was doing.
After a couple months of hammering, it (surprise!) developed a "clank" in what I thought was the rear end.
So, one fine spring day, I drove to Snider Studebaker / Indianapolis where I hung out and sought the advice of the better line mechanic regarding the subject noise. Always amused by my youthful, mechanical, indiscretions, he immediately instructed me remove the rear wheel covers...with a sense of urgency I did not understand after he torqued the car up against the emergency brake and listened to the "audible irregularity."
He then proceded to "discuss" (the word lecture also comes to mind) the necessity of being attentive to the large rear axle nuts, keys, and keyways on the tapered rear axle shafts with which the car was naturally equipped...preferably before twisting one off, as was about to happen! Yipes!
But the car did run very well...and never broke! (Naturally; after all, it was a Studebaker.) <GGG> BPComment
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Schneider cams in San Diego ( 619-297-0227 ) has a 256 degree regrind that works well in a 259.I ran one of these for a long time in my champ truck.I have towed some realy heavy loads and a trailer thru the the mountains between so calif and so oregon.Jerry is rearly good to deal with. They also have a 264 and 272 degree grinds.
I hope the info helps. DaveComment
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I've used several of the Iskenderian E4 grind cams in the 259's and I'm very happy with the performance of their cams. It's not a radical grind so the low end performance doesn't suffer. BudComment
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This has been covered many, many times in the past, but here goes again:
The Iskenderian E4 camshaft and the Studebaker R1 camshaft are essentially identical in specification. Both have 260 degrees of advertised duration and .410"-425" of valve lift. Increased intake valve open duration usually decreases low end torque by the same amount it increases high end horsepower.
The R2+ regrind offered by Fairborn, among others, is essentially the same as the Iskenderian ST5. These have 268 degrees of duration and .447" valve lift. They will reduce low end torque a bit more, increase top end a bit more and have more valve clearance click/clatter because of the steeper takeup ramps.
jack vinesPackardV8Comment
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