Mild performance engine build suggestions

Well the V8 Maverick I just purchased is a total lemon. I'm more than a little pissed off too; karmic payback for the I6 I got for a steal, I paid through the nose (relatively speaking) for this POS. Not only is it driving crappy, but after riding it around to check tweaks we'd done we discovered it had almost a quart "more" oil in the crankcase than before driving it around.

:16suspect Er, yeah. Something's leaking through in there. We took off the heads today and sure enough the valves and pistons have a nice buildup, alternating with running too hot/rich/wet depending on where you were. So: rebuild. Arg.

I wasn't intending to go into a full rebuild with this engine but since it's coming apart I'm figuring, since I actually have a little money left, I'd like to do it right the first time. I have a few things in mind that were going to be put on anyway (some have already been ordered from Summit) but would love ideas from others who've been there already as I don't quite have the cash to experiment much. All I want is a mild performance engine that can spin tires when I want it to but will work equally well as an everyday driver; sleeper status is what I'm going for.

Intake
I'd already decided on the Edelbrock Air Gap RPM and will probably stick with that as I don't intend on making a drag car, just a fun street driver. The car came already with a set of Hooker 6901 headers so that part is happily taken care of already.

Electrical
I've got a new distributor on the way (MSD Pro-Billet Ready-to-run, with vacuum advance and magnetic pickup) as well as new wires and a Blaster 2 coil. It was sort of a dream setup that I've been thinking about for a while; I may someday go for a 6A CDI box but I don't think I'll need it.

Pistons/Bore
The idea now is to go .040 over and get new pistons/rings. I'll be the first to admit that I'm leaning towards these pistons because the price is right, but is there anything I should look for specifically? I hope to keep the stock heads provided the valves are still in decent condition; I'd go to aluminum if I had the money but I don't think it's necessary. I'm also thinking of replacing the cam chain assembly, depending on whether it's necessary or not.

Camshaft
Oh G*d, I have no friggin' clue. My idea was this one from Summit based on the stats but I'll be the first to admit I don't know what to look for. I know basically what the stats mean but I'm not sure what to look for with my desire for a powerful commuter vehicle.

Gearing (rear)
For now it's staying stock. I'd love to switch it out but right now I just want it to RUN; the fact that I'm building up the motor is only because I have to and figure might as well do it right the first time. What gears should I eventually look into getting? I know higher will help me at highway speeds but how high is too high?

Transmission
We're keeping the stock C-4, although it's likely going to need a rebuild too. Stupid POS lemon...

Any help would be greatly appreciated! I don't want to go overboard, both in price or build (yes, I did or plan to spend a bit on certain items but I wanted the best). If anyone else has/had similar goals in mind what are the stats for your car?

 

Has the engine been rebuilt before. Is it already .030 over. I'd go as small as possible over bore. When you get the cam try to get it as a kit with the lifters and valve springs included. This way you'll get it all to match.

 

I was thinking about doing that although the money and possibility it's not necessary makes me pause. As far as we can tell the engine hasn't been touched before but the Dude's brother thought he saw some crosshatching in the cylinder which may mean some work was done on it. We'll look closer tomorrow as it was getting dark when we got the heads off and couldn't look too close at the block. As for boring I'm all for a milder bore, I just don't want to mismatch a heavier cam or stroke depth/height with a milder engine. I don't know numbers or what to look for when matching everything together, so any thoughts on a way to go would be greatly appreciated. Education would be a definite plus!

 

The bore will make little difference in how mild or wild the engine is. You won't notice the difference between stock and .040" over bore. The cam you put in is what make the engine mild or wild and the cam you are leaning toward is a mid-range cam that will have a slight lope at low idle speeds and come to life very quickly.
I think you should reconsider the air-gap manifold for street only use - it make cause problems with cold idle and low rpm running due to mixture separation before the engine heat can get to the plenum. Its you call but there are probably better manifolds for your application.

 

You're right on with the pistons and cam choice. Pin height (also called compression height) is critical in a 289/302. And do change the timing set, but an O.E. full roller set for a 5.0 HO from your local parts house is all that's needed. O'Reilly's sells this for about $20-25. Your rising oil problem may just be a bad fuel pump with a busted diaphram. Pull the dipstick and smell it. If it has a strong gas odor, that's it. If it has the color of a milkshake, you've got a coolant leak internally. And a simple tune up & setting the timing can also do wonders.

 

It did indeed smell strongly of gasoline; we figured it was byblow from the rings, never thought about the fuel pump! I'll make sure we check that before any major mods are taken.

I'll be honest, if I can get away with not changing the pistons out I'd be fine saving the money. A light hone of the cylinders might be enough if by changing the cam I could get the power boost I want. I just wasn't sure what to look for; i've seen a lot in members' signatures and tried to make an educated guess based on who else seemed to have the build or goals I wanted.

Much of my research tells me that the RPM Air-Gap will give me the performance I want as well as (slightly) better fuel economy. I was waffling but the Dude pointed out that, given how much I'll drive it, that extra $100+ will pay for itself eventually in gas savings. So unless there's a cheaper knockoff I'm probably staying with that. However, cam and carb combo suggestions with that intake would be appreciative. I'm thinking of an Edelbrock carb also mainly because I've heard they're less hassle in day to day living than Holleys, but I'm totally open to ideas!

 

Dont forget if it is running colder for longer it will use more gas until it hits a decent operating temperature, so your gas saving from a cold manifold might not work as well as you think unless you are only doing long journeys.

 

Hm I hadn't actually thought of that. My last Comet (same year/displacement) always ran hot so I was going to get a 3-pass aluminum (probably Champion) and a hi-flow thermostat around 160*. I was also looking into aluminum heads, but if running cold (or that cold) will decrease my mileage...

In the summer it gets HOT around here though, but winters are fairly mild. Great now I'm all confused lol

 

I had a similar problem. I checked my oil and it was a qt above what was supposed tobe there\]turned out it was gas. I had carb probs and it poured gas into the motor. I found the problem was 2 gaskets on the power valve and it was flooding out the engine badly. fixed the carb and the problem went away

 

Although I'm not used to it being what you'd call "hot" here in England

 

Lol see I should have come here first with the problem! Well the engine is apart so I figure since I already had to get a new gasket set might as well go full forward right?

I'm getting a new carb too as the Motorcraft was running like crap. They took all the smog stuff off but couldn't get the vacuum to work right - kept running rich (I'd bet that was a big part of my problem there). At least this way I get to clean out all the scale and carbon, no matter which way I go on the rebuild.

Here's a question back on my original subject: if I get, say, the Edelbrock aluminum RPM heads could I just bolt them to my stock setup, or what would you recommend I upgrade? Conversely, if I did go for the specs listed above - bore, cam, intake - would I need anything else?

Yes folks, I'm a total n00b when it comes to engine rebuilds. Silly questions seem par for this course...

 

well, I have been following your search for a v8 but somehow I missed the post about you getting one, couldn't find pictures of it either, bummer about its condition since you didn't know of some of its faults till after you bought it, hopefully since you were going to rebuilt moter anyway it will work out!

 

performer rpms are nice heads but if your gonna pony up for nice heads get some afr 165's if its gonna be a cruiser.if your heads are toast i have a pair of low milage e7's that just need springs for cheap.if you get the performer rpm not the rpm air gap you wont have any issues with the cold that some of the "east"coast guys are used to.we rarely get under 40 degrees around here and i have run the air gap on a few cars with no trouble.

 

this might be a good cam for a driver,comes with new lifters.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-K4400/

 

sence your going budget and not looking to set any horsepower records you should look into the edelbrock e-street heads. they are made for people who are after what you have described. edelbrock offers cams that are matched to there combinations. look into that.
i know that it is too late now but you should have done a compression test and leak down test on the motor before you took it appart. those test would have told you if you needed to rebuild the motor or just needed a valve job or head gaskets or if the problem was some where else.
you may want to see what the cost of a short block is from your local autoparts store instead of having yours machined and rebuilt. it may be cheaper and you will get it done faster.