Hey y'all- I've started a snowball downhill and I'm needing input!! I teach high school agriculture and figured I'd get the kids interested in old cars by doing some upgrades on the maverick. Sooo, I've started gathering the parts for an engine build, trans swap and suspension upgrades. Here's what I have so far- 331 SCAT crank/rods Main girdle Kieth black forged Pistons .030 (5cc) Pro Comp heads 60cc (210 runners) Comp dual valve springs MSD 6AL ignition box MSD remote timing retard box MSD pro billet vac advance MSD 8.5mm wires MSD Blaster coil Edelbrock RPM intake Demon Carb Hooker 6901 coated headers X pipe with cutouts Nitrous plate/ bottle T-5 with short throw shifter Caltracs Subframe connectors Mini spool with 4.11 Trac Loc with 4.11 Still need- Roller Cam Hydraulic lifters Rocker Arms Harmonic balancer Timing Chain Higher capacity oil pan Rollcage 3pt harnesses (or 5pt) What am I missing? I'm either going with an Anderson n-91 cam or a custom grind. Not looking for smooth idle, good manners, etc. I'm looking for a nasty sounding cam that's going to peak out under 7000. The car will be used for occasional cruises and will be run hard otherwise. I'm about tapped out money wise, lol. Anyone have anything on the list that I could try to get a deal on? I need advice on what my compression needs to be and how i can get it there. I'm trying to get the kids involved and I'm almost there now!! Where can I save a little money on the parts I have left to buy? I don't want to sacrifice the money I've already spent by cutting corners now... Any thoughts? Thanks y'all!!!
Buy the heads as bare castings and take them in to a shop and have them worked over as far as the valve seats and guides and valves them selves. I know it is extra money to be spent but they are not good heads out of the box and have a bad history of shabby assembly and such. Probably for the money you could get a set of AFRs or Trick Flows. Personally I love my Trick Flow fast as cast 190s but even they were worked over a little bit with new springs. I would stay away from the Demon carb and just go with a nice Holley 750 dp or even a Quick Fuel dp. Sounds like it will be a beast but the bottom line is if you want to play you got to pay
Thanks for the info! The heads are already on the way. At least I can have them worked over at some point and I know I'll pick up a little more power. I've ordered springs already for them and I just need rocker arms now. The demon was a gift from a friend, he threw it in as a bonus. I have a Holley also, but I thought the demon might make more power?
I ran the Anderson N-91 cam in a '85 GT Mustang that had a 10 to 1 compression DSS built 331 short block. It is a great sounding cam and has 6,900 RPM shift points. I had ported and polished Trick Flow Twisted Wedge heads and used a Parker Funnelweb intake and an AED 850 carb with BBK 1 5/8" long tubes, Dr Gas X-pipe and MAC FLowpath mufflers. The car ran 11.22 @ 122 MPH with a TKO 500 trans and 4.56 gears on 27x10.5x15 MT ET Street tires. The cars weight with me in it (230 pounds) was 3,100 pounds. It was a very quick all motor street car, especially considering this was about 10 years ago. If the T5 you have is stock it is going to be in WAY over it's head with your combo and probably won't last long at all. I also don't think the 4.11 will be enough gear. Even with the 4.56's in my car I could have went to a 4.88. The cam doesn't like to run under 2,300 RPM's and if I had the car on the highway it would 'buck jump' when running 55-60 MPH in 5th gear. It ran much smoother at 70 MPH.
The N-91 cam is a beast & will work great,but you are going to need the Edelbrock rpm air gap intake for better performance,the rpm unit will suck with your combo because it gives up at 6500.I really like stick shifts & want to run one in my car but the expense is just to great.You will need at least A Doug Nash to get something to hold up with what you have & you need a minimum 4.56 gear to take advantage of that cam,a 331 will make a lot more power than you think.Go with a good 750 carb & it will be perfect for your car,if you don`t have a 9in rear get one or you will be sorry.
I have a new in the box timing set I could let go for a good price. I can post you some pics later. I just built a 347 this summer, the little stuff adds up quick. What are you planning for a clutch setup?
I was running a 650 Speed Demon on my 302 and now running a 750 Speed Demon. Both are animals! From what I have read the Edelbrock RPM and the RPM Air Gap are the same manifold runner wise. The Air Gap has the air gap. That is the only difference. As far as a dual plane intake, I went with the Weiand Stealth. Equal or better performance for less money.
The air gap has a slight advantage over the standard rpm at higher rpms but not enough to go out and get one especially since he already has one. Age old debate just like asking what cam, heads or carb to use, everybody has their opinion. Even Edelbrock says there is not much difference
I'd lose the remote retard box and go with a programmable ignition system. They've come a long ways since we had to use those other options years ago. MSD 6 and 7 series are very feature rich units. Use a arming switch and a full throttle switch and all you need do is prgoram it with your laptop. Is also MAP based too so you can tailor it far beyond the vacuum assist canister on any distributor for good mileage and clean up the chambers and pipes.
Well I got a narrowed 9" yesterday. It's less than a half inch wider than my current 8" so I'll have that much beefed up! At this point, the weak point is definitely the t-5...
Hey, I had a 331 in my 80 t bird. Was 10.5.1 engine, trick flow tw stock heads, cam was solid 305 adv duration, 635 lift, tunnel ram with two worked 600 holley's, msd, custom headers, c6 with brake and a 3800 stall coverter. Ran a 5.29 gear. Built this combo as a baseline. Bottom end was as strong as I gould make it and was built for 7800 rpm. Best time with this set up was 11.58. Car needed more stall. Cam wasn't in power band until 4500 so 60ft times were in 1.70 area. I'd shift at 6800 and go through traps at 6300. Next step was going to swap converter out for 8" 4500 but life happens and had to sell car. Always bothered me I didn't finish it.
Lightning the car,agood chassis & a higher stall would have easily got you in the 10s.With that 60ft you were leaving a second on the table.