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Was visiting my nephew TJ in New York last week. He had new in boxes McGurdy speed components for 235/261 stovebolts. It consisted of camshaft, roller lifters, push rods, distributor and electrical components. How effective and practical was this set up?

Rick

rickmg You''ll cause a riot mentioning roller cam for a stovebolt,us old geezers liable to soak our depends LOL

Never heard of "McGurdy"- - - - -might that name actually be "McGurk"? That company built race parts for stovebolts back in the Dark Ages, and I'll bet that roller cam will be totally unsuitable for anything other than wide open competition at RPM ranges a street engine will seldom, if ever achieve. I'm in the process of adapting a stovebolt engine to run roller lifters on a Corvette/261 cam- - - - -no idea yet if it will work at all, or if it will provide any kind of performance improvement!
Jerry

It was probably McGurk, my error. It had instructions and performance data included. My stock 1939 216 runs just fine!

Rick

There is a number on the end of the cam identifying the manufacturer, application, and grind?
No number: reground stock cam.

Hey, I ran a McGurk in my 235 from 1966 thru 1969, am I that old? Run high 16"s in 1/4 mile, fitted in my 53 Chevy 2 dr. hdtp 456 rear end, factory 54 corvette ex. man., 383 valve springs plus other mods. Jumped many new cars off the line

rickmg That mcgurk stuff would be interesting to look at,I suppose you could get a milder regrind on that cam. A big limiting factor on stovebolts was only 4 main bearings. however we had a hot one on 1/4 mile oval in about 54,but they couldn't hold the driveshaft,suspect engineering there.

Reducing duration and lift is ordinary business.
What is pretty much permanent (only very small changes possible) is LSA.
Depending on whether the flanks are convex or not (both were used) it may have enough material to regrind for a flat tappet. If "hollow ground" I would guess not.
The roller tappets should have a link distance around 2" + some wiggle, may have been adapted from GMC (same tappet diameter, different tappet spacing).
Buick L8 also?
Common auto tappets were probably adapted by bushing the tappet bore down to .904" (Chrysler, AMC), .875" (Ford), .842" (GM). More about this on my page here:
http://www.victorylibrary.com/mopar/roller-adapt.htm

Unless something is done about the siamesed ports and terrible intake design it's wasted money. As a low rpm torque engine a Stovebolt excelled but no matter how heavy you smear lipstick on a pig it's still a pig in the performance theater. On an overHEAD valve engine the HEAD is everything and all the short block has to do is stay together. If one has to use an I6 then consider the Atlas to keep it all Chevy or a 300 Ford for all American. Lots of foreign I6's to choose from but if serious performance is the goal then seven main bearings and a 12 port head is the base foundation.

There's always the AMC/Jeep inline six, the one that's based on the International truck 232 and 258 cubic inch engine from back in the 1960's. The Jeep 4.0 liter six is a descendant of that design. 12 ports, and a pretty good port design and breathing capabilities. Just paint a bowtie on the valve cover!
Jerry

It's not wasted unless the builder has no awareness of the relatively modest returns per dollar spent.
It's a hobby, not a race. We did the same thing to VW Type I, remember?

A McGurk roller cam and roller lifters, soaking our depends, lol, you bet your bippy. I have only ever seen 235/261 roller lifters in photos. Never a real set. Chet Herbert made them for the chevy 6 and Frank McGurk sold parts under the McGurk name that were actually made by another manufacture. It would not surprise me at all to find that those lifters were really an uber rare set of Herbert roller lifters.

How cool! Any chance you would be willing to post some photos? It would be quite a treat to see those old time hot rod parts!

Also used in the day: Harley-Davidson roller tappets (1929-83), which guide the .375" roller in a slot in the tappet bore; no links needed.
.731" body OD, .855" roller.
[img]https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2505/6516/products/10-0770_750x.jpg?v=1542127856[/img]

Also used in the day: Harley-Davidson roller tappets (1929-83), which guide the .375" roller in a slot in the tappet bore; no links needed.
.731" body OD, .855" roller.
[img]https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2505/6516/products/10-0770_750x.jpg?v=1542127856[/img]

coilover Could turbo it, had one turboed once ran fine,lotta plumbingthough ! Its a way to overcome the poor in take system.