Road Trip Part Deux.. After
receiving a letter from George
Taylor of Burt, NY, Dad and I
decided to give him a call.
George related he used to read
my Gater articles and had a few
flathead pieces he wanted to
part with. One of them was a
radius tappet camshaft... So Dad
and I loaded up and headed to
the Niagara Frontier,
speculating and arguing along
the way as to who was to end up
with this cam if it was in good
shape... Actually, it wasn't much
of an arguement, we share and
share alike, who ever needs it
first will use it. The ride was
great, nice weather and
beautiful scenery, you can't beat
New York for that, although the
weather hasn't co-operated
much this summer. Upon
reaching Georges' home he
greest us and we get to
blabbering. The camshaft is a
Crane 415S, never seen one
before but it's a doozy. It
originally came from Harvey of
course, then through B&M
Speedshop to engine building
John Clement who also built the
powerful engines Dirt HOFmer
Ed Ortiz raced. George worked
on a crew for driver Bob Steen
who won the sportsman track
championship at Ransomville in
1959, they also ran Lancaster
when it was dirt and Holland
occasionally. The camshaft was
in an engine that eventually
blew up in 1960 and George
saved it as it wasn't hurt. He
saved the lifters as well and kept
them in order... very nice. Upon
inspection this thing is sweet,
reminds me of a 425 as far as
the profile and measures up
close to that on lift, 0.420 Ex.
and 0.423 In. Now the argument
begins! George also had several
blocks and one complete engine
to offlaod and we were more
than happy to help him gain
some space in his garage. We
also got to meet his neighbors
Larry and Harold Stoltzenberg
who also had some nice toys in
the garage. Harold had a '48
Ford Sedan and a '36 Plymouth
Sedan that has been in the
Great American race, that one's
for sale. Only wish I had taken a
picture of it. A very fruitfull trip
and a great way to spend the
day.
Later in the week (which I took
off - finally!) I awake to
machinery out on Rte. 17C. The
DOT is cleaning out the culvert
in the street and so I go to
'supervise'. They have plenty of
supervisors I see but the
operator is a guy I recognize. It's
Bill Strosahl Jr. who looks up
and says "I was supposed to call
you.." No problem. During a
break he comes over to the
garage and looks over his
father's last car, "sure has
changed a lot.." They always do,
which makes the restoration a
fun challenge. Great week off -
now, back to werk..
receiving a letter from George
Taylor of Burt, NY, Dad and I
decided to give him a call.
George related he used to read
my Gater articles and had a few
flathead pieces he wanted to
part with. One of them was a
radius tappet camshaft... So Dad
and I loaded up and headed to
the Niagara Frontier,
speculating and arguing along
the way as to who was to end up
with this cam if it was in good
shape... Actually, it wasn't much
of an arguement, we share and
share alike, who ever needs it
first will use it. The ride was
great, nice weather and
beautiful scenery, you can't beat
New York for that, although the
weather hasn't co-operated
much this summer. Upon
reaching Georges' home he
greest us and we get to
blabbering. The camshaft is a
Crane 415S, never seen one
before but it's a doozy. It
originally came from Harvey of
course, then through B&M
Speedshop to engine building
John Clement who also built the
powerful engines Dirt HOFmer
Ed Ortiz raced. George worked
on a crew for driver Bob Steen
who won the sportsman track
championship at Ransomville in
1959, they also ran Lancaster
when it was dirt and Holland
occasionally. The camshaft was
in an engine that eventually
blew up in 1960 and George
saved it as it wasn't hurt. He
saved the lifters as well and kept
them in order... very nice. Upon
inspection this thing is sweet,
reminds me of a 425 as far as
the profile and measures up
close to that on lift, 0.420 Ex.
and 0.423 In. Now the argument
begins! George also had several
blocks and one complete engine
to offlaod and we were more
than happy to help him gain
some space in his garage. We
also got to meet his neighbors
Larry and Harold Stoltzenberg
who also had some nice toys in
the garage. Harold had a '48
Ford Sedan and a '36 Plymouth
Sedan that has been in the
Great American race, that one's
for sale. Only wish I had taken a
picture of it. A very fruitfull trip
and a great way to spend the
day.
Later in the week (which I took
off - finally!) I awake to
machinery out on Rte. 17C. The
DOT is cleaning out the culvert
in the street and so I go to
'supervise'. They have plenty of
supervisors I see but the
operator is a guy I recognize. It's
Bill Strosahl Jr. who looks up
and says "I was supposed to call
you.." No problem. During a
break he comes over to the
garage and looks over his
father's last car, "sure has
changed a lot.." They always do,
which makes the restoration a
fun challenge. Great week off -
now, back to werk..
