According to some preliminary measurements I've made, it looks like I might be able to make a 261 cam fit a 216 by changing the diameter of the bearing journals. I've got a junk 235 cam in the lathe right now to test the theory. If it will slip into an old block I have once the journals are reduced in size then I can do a timing and lift check to see if there might be any piston/valve problems.

Update- - - -with the cam bearing journals resized, a 54-up full oil pressure 235 big-journal cam fits a small-journal (splash-oiler) 235 block and the crankshaft clears everything. Since the 235 has a longer stroke shaft than a 216, logic suggests the same modification would work on a 216. I'll probably pick up a new Elgin 261 grind cam and incorporate it into the updated 216 I'm working on.

Now, wouldn't it be impressive if a 216 can be built to outperform a 235, either in HP, torque, or maybe both?
Jerry


"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
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