I started with full length headders from Headmen (they diddnt quite fit right) And a full 2 1/2 inch duel exhaust with H pipe. I exited the pipes right after the 2 chamber Flowmasters. It sounds just right! It growls at idle and ad a constant speed, You can easily hear your self talking over them, Then it barks pretty loud when throttled. It made quite a torq difference considering the 2bbl 302 is still unchanged. Then I put rims and tires on it and the extra torq went away due to the 1" extra diameter tire. I will solve this by putting 3.55 or 4.11 gears (I have both) in the 8" rear. I have an old Twisted Torqer single plane intake and 650 dp Holly. And a set of fully ported 69 Windsor heads (1.94/1.6 valves Flow 227 intake and 181 exhaust @ 550 with 55cc chambers) They are gasket matched. I am wondering how much cam I can run with the stock 72 pistons? I heard I can get away with up to .520 lift. Any cam recomendations? Some time soon it will get a 5-Speed and 9" rear with 4.30s. The motor has 90K miles on it and it onely needs to last untill the 306 is finnished next summer.
Compression is going to be your limiting factor here. Duration and lobe separation are the aspects you are going to have to pay attention to. I would keep the l/s wide (at least 110 degrees) and probably would not run anything more than high 22x or low 23x @ .050. This holds true as long as you are sure that the chamber size is actually 55 cc (seems small for a 351W head unless it has been milled quite a bit). Whatever you decide to go with, you really should check valve to piston clearance to ensure there ar no clearance issues. That said, I proably would not make any modifications to this motor and focus on getting the fresh one built.
Single vs. Dual Plane intake I would stay away from the single plane intake. I learned that the hard way. It will kill your torque on the bottom end. Seth
I agree with Fred, just use this motor until the new one is finished. More than 1 project can become a hassle and a headache. Collect all the info you can for the 306 and focus on building that motor the way you want to.
Careful that you aren't running too lean with that 2 bbl and headers. Also, do you just have the 3.55 gears or the whole pumpkin?
The heads are milled quite a bit and I have both the 4.11 and the 3.55 third members complete. I know the new 306 motor should be the main focus but I already have all the parts (exept cam). A friend of mine gave them to me, and they are machined and ready to install. It really will not cost too much to make the car alott more fun and will give me something to play with when the inevitable delays and problems turn up with the 306/5-Speed set up. The 306 should take 6-8 months to get the parts together and build if no surprises happen (yea right!). I plan on getting the D.S.S. long rod (1.8 ratio) light weight piston/rod combo and main girdle/windage tray. I have a forged 70 BOSS 302 crank ready to go (altered to fit a 5.0 roller block) and heavy duty main caps from a high PO 289. And plan on installing an Anderson Ford Motorsport hi rev cam probably N-71 or N-91. That with the 5-Speed and 4.30s will still give the car a 2.66 final drive ratio. I will hopefully get a set of aluminum AFR 185s or Twisted wedge heads. I hope for 350- 400 wheel HP. It should be able to spin 7400 RPM safely according to the 5.0 magazine guys and Rick at AFM. And still be street friendly. This is pretty much a big experiment with alott of expensive stuff that I have never used before (hi rev cam, aluminum heads, ect,) So any experience or opinions you guys have to share would be great.
There was another post somewhere but somebody made a real good point. If your engine only is producing power up until say 6500 rpm, then why would you put that extra strain on your engine? Makes no sense to spin your motor to 7400 if the powercurve peaks at 6500. -Todd
