361/"303" Early Hyd cam measured

Shortly after I got the 352/"300" solid cam from Sunjet (see previous post), I got an early 1958 361/"303" hydraulic from FERoadster.

This cam, installed in a build date 22 October 1957 car, might be the early "rougher idle" FE cam. As you will see, its duration at .050 is a bit longer than the 186-186 we are used to for the 1958-1965 352/390 base hyd cam, but its 156-156 duration at .100 is about the same.

Below are the measurements I took on the cam in compact notation in a table. I got these with a degree wheel on the cam itself so when it comes to the "advance" that is pretty much by eyeball and I don't trust it. But the other measurements, wear aside, are within a degree or two and a mil or two:
d050=.050" lobe duration, i=intake, e=exhaust
d100=.100" lobe duration, i=intake, e=exhaust
lsa050=lobe separation angle determined from .050" lobe
lsa100=lobe separation angle determined from .100" lobe
adv050=advance determined from .050" lobe, don't trust this
adv100=advance determined from .100" lobe, don't trust this
lobe-i=max lobe lift, intake
lobe-e=max lobe lift, exhaust

I measured all 16 lobes. As you can see there is quite a bit of scatter. I also show the average and standard deviation.
I've never measured a cam with this much scatter at .050. It was either REALLY worn, or very poor quality control.

But, to guess the original specs, I think we'd have to use closer to the maximum .050 and lift numbers, since wear would likely only make them smaller.

This cam and the later 186-186 at .050, 156-156 at .050 version show power quite a bit down from the "300" hp claimed by the 352/300. However, the low end picks up a bit, so with a tight converter in a big Ford, performance probably would have been about equal.

Assuming this cam new at
186-186 duration at .050"
156-156 duration at .100"
110 LSA and 4 advance
.232 .232 gross lift
9.6 compression
Carter 450afb or Autolite 500cfm on top
The Gonkulator shows:

Torq 333 at 2000
Torq 349 at 2700 peak
Powr 272-274 at 4600

No longer a 352/"300", but more low end even with a cut in compression - and no valves to set. Makes sense the factory made the changes.

Just another speculation at the 1st year of FE history!