The questions: Should I replace the cam while I have the top off? While I was working on the new carb and gathering parts from an old school hot-rodder, he is telling my cam is a factory stick designed to work with the 2 barrel carb, which will be very disappointing with the new 4 barrel. I scratched my head, seems legit...so, this can easily turn a weekend swap into a 6 months on blocks waiting on parts (mainly funding). i.e. sure change the cam...might as well get new springs, and rockers, lifters, may as well change the bearings whiles its out, etc etc. I want to get the car on the road. I have the carb swap parts on hand (for the most part) to make it work. I can get a small cam from Jegs for like $120. The engine is good and I'll run it till it pops, or get the money to replace. I will also be gathering upgrades as I go along, but I cant do it all right now. Will the carb give me enough bump to be content until I can collect more parts? or should I go ahead and swap the cam while the intake is off? Thanks again guys, Northern
get new lifters with the cam and get a cam compatible with stock valve springs to save money lifters don't cost much check your timing chain if you go that far they don't cost much either then bolt everything on and enjoy the ride
Well you know what they say about opinions, so here goes... Even with the stock cam you should get a noticeable improvement, often stock cams in 2-bbl vs 4-bbl were same, with maybe a higher compression ratio(flat top vs dish pistons)... A dual exhaust would help even more and were generally included on 4-bbl engines... If you don't already have duals this would be next after the intake carb(normally I'd say first but you already have the top end parts)... Would the longer duration/higher lift cam make a sizable difference?? No doubt, but for the cost of a set of intake gaskets and maybe a couple hours, you can go ahead and install intake & carb and be riding, while setting aside funds for the next upgrade... If you want to go ahead and swap cams(and lifters) then the springs, retainers and keepers should also be replaced...
dual exhaust would be better than a cam swap but i have got by with stock springs retainers and keepers if the cam isn't radical it is all in the budget how much you want to spend how bad you want it back on the road anymore I buy parts when they are on sale( i have a daughter in college) stash them then get everything together and do it all at once that way i enjoy the car or truck or motorcycle most of the time it's not sitting tore apart waiting on funds to finish which is how most project cars never get finished, they get tore apart the owner loses interest then get sold or rot away i found i have way more fun and interest in something if I am driving it not looking at it in the garage in pieces
Thats what I was thinking...its a can of worms I'm not ready to open. I do need the exhaust like something bad...there is none. It runs from the manifolds, Y's together and extends all the way to the end...about 10 inches from the Y. The muffler and everything fell off on the drive home the day I bought it. Since the power is still minimal, its not that loud, especially inside driving. Yall are right, I suppose the exhaust should be a higher priority.
Save the cam for the time when you refresh the motor. The cam is the heart of the engine and needs to be sized based on what you want to use the engine for and needs to be matched with the proper components. I think you are doing the correct thing by asking some of the "old school hot-rodders" on the forum first.
Some good advice here and you're on the right track. Also keep in mind that most any performance cam will give you considerably better results with higher SCR(static compression ratio) as you get more aggressive with the duration profile. So best to get the heads and piston/gasket/quench height in order before throwing cash at this factory low compression short block or you'll end up with a very narrow and peaky power band with tiny little nuts on the bottom end of the rev range. And remember the parts I linked you on your "too much carb thread" as they will allow you to tune that emmisions carb much more effectively. The cam and teeny exhaust system you have right now will not be requiring much more total cfm than the 2 barrel deal it replaced. In fact, if you don;t buy yourself a vac-sec spring kit to tighten up that newly added rear set of extra barrels?.. you may just end up with a soggy feeling and softer top-end than you had before the carb swap. 600 cfm.. 750 cfm.. dominator.. all still need to be idealized for what you current combo allows for maximum ariflow requirement and a bolt on 1850 series carb ain;t all that and a bag of chips to begin with in box stock form. And I'd highly recommend stepping up the primary squirter size to at least a #36 and start tuning with at least a red or brown pump cam and go up from there. Nix the y-pipe with true dauls to make better use of those 2 extra barrels opening rate.
Can you explain this...it seems you are saying a heavier spring. I bought a new diaphragm (or pump) for the vacuum secondary from a "carb guy". Instead of just giving it to me and let me on my way, he disassembled it and swapped the pump, along with the spring. He put in a lighter spring and said it was to open the secondaries up sooner... your thoughts?
I am surely saying that a heavier spring is typically in order for a low compression, 2bbl, y-piped stock exhausted setup. What he did for you is what a million guys have done before him.. including myself many times.. in assuming that the carb is the biggest bottleneck in the system and swapping over to a 4 bbl carb with all 4 barrels blazing wide open to send you on your way to happiness. It'll huff and it'll puff.. but it just won't blow you house down with a restrictive exhaust like that. Run a cheap and easy to build true dual setup and the tuning flexibility will increase greatly. The engine will tolerate more timing advance as well, which by the way is one of the big keys to maximizing this carb swap anyways, which helps fatten up and widens the rev range, helps build more low end torque. Use the old reliable and very well proven dynomax super turbo setup with 2.25" piping and the pumping losses will be reduced while also allowing the secondaries to become more useful. Probably out of your budget for now, but small tube primary headers(1.5" MAX tube size with smaller 2.5" collectors!) will help build more torque as well. Good luck.
exhaust is the biggest bang for the buck and it sounds so much better too rather than rebuild a 40 some year old motor when the 302 dies in the Maverick I think rather than go through the hassle of building another one, lugging it to the machine shop cleaning boring etc this time I am saving my money and I am buying a crate motor my friends all feel the same way anymore buy throw it in and enjoy it ,it seems more expensive up front but not nearly the hassle as ordering parts and building one but like I said it's all in the budget how much you can or are willing to spend like any hobby you can spend thousands or very little it's all about priorities (like a kid in college)
Ah, I see... I think I'll work on getting the exhaust in order soon. If work goes good, maybe more. Thanks man.
meant to say "2bbl cammed" in the above quote because the cam is downright tiny and severely limits airflow potential no matter what else you do here.. but you seem to have gotten the gist of it all anyways. Aftermarket exhausts are extremely important in that.. letting more out, allows you to let more in. Plus it allows you to run down the road at slightly reduced throttle angles due to the reduced pumping losses associated with freer breathing lungs. As your parts combo currently sits.. you'll be lucky to see any more than about 6-8 horsepower gains and I'd guess closer to about 4-5 horsepower. There is more to be found in ignition advance tuning alone and those gains will often be much more noticeable as they are more pronounced down low in the rpm range where you drive the car most. This occurs because more advance helps build larger amounts of torque and throttle response is also improved to make the motor feel slightly bigger and snappier on initial throttle tip in. There are lots of guys who just bolt stuff on and shrug their shoulders at the mediocre results because they don;t understand that one change requires another. Don't be another one of "those guys" and get into to tuning the ignition advance curve right away. Hotter coils also help prevent preignition and load based pinging as well. One change allows another and they all add up in cumulative fashion to fatten the power curve and also make it seem a bit wider. Double bonus and the added mileage gains to be had when done right gives yet another unseen bonus. IF.. you can keep your foot out of it long enough to ever realize them. And that's a GREAT BIG IF!.. LOL
[QUOTE="There is more to be found in ignition advance tuning alone and those gains will often be much more noticeable as they are more pronounced down low in the rpm range where you drive the car most.[/QUOTE] Amen to that. I installed a rebuilt factory distributor that was tuned for my setup and it made a big difference in the torque.
