Quote:
Originally Posted by antique69lemans
I would consider the Ram Air manifolds. They will flow better without affecting your sound too much. Ask around for some before and after experiences on this site. One thing to remember concerning compression, is state of tune is critical when running on the edge of pump gas requirements. So I would rather have optimum timing and tune with a point less compression in your case. The common trend to "zero" deck your piston combo should allow up to 9 to 9.5:1 compression safely. The hydraulic roller may give a little torque, say 20 -30 ft lb from their hype, but the magic way to increase linear torque is add cubic inches, or dollars. I will also vouch for the negative experiences with CHEAP stall convertors. In many ways you sound like my dad, we have a tug of war on his engine build. There is some great advice on here, especially Cliff's. Ease up a little on your perceptions and you can get what you are after. BTW weren't the SD 455 cars around 8:1 compression and a 068 cam ? I have built motors a little over the edge and been disappointed as far as driveability too.
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Yes, I realize optimum tuning will make or break the combo and whether I am happy with it or not, but to me it's sort of a given that I'll be tuning this car more than just turning the mixture screws on the carb. As I've said, I don't want to raise the compression any higher.
The reason for a hydraulic roller for me has a lot less to do with performance, and more to do with long term reliability. Using a flat tappet camshaft in a new engine build now is a foolish idea as far as I'm concerned, what with the necessity to use a ZDDP additive in the oil at every change. Who's to say that will even be available in ten years? The last thing I'm going to do is build an engine that may be limited in the future to a thousand miles a year because of the cost of a special additive that may not even be available.
I took my block and heads to the machine shop, only to find out that the chemicals they use now to boil out parts are barely strong enough to dissolve grease! They didn't even touch the rust or paint on the block! This state of California is so damn unfriendly to the old car world and chemicals and stuff in general, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if ZDDP becomes difficult to get in the future. Perhaps it's paranoia, perhaps it's whatever, but I'm not putting a flat tappet cam in for that reason alone. If it weren't for that, it wouldn't make any difference to me.
I also ran some numbers, and if this engine runs 200k miles, the cost of the additive alone over that time would add up enough to buy a roller cam anyway, so why not make the more sensible, reliable choice?
I have thought about going the stroker route, but I am not sure if it will make that much difference considering the limitations on compression, exhaust manifolds, carb, etc. Going from 455 to about 488-494 cubes seems very do-able reliably, but for an additional cost of nearly $2k, and I just don't think that extra displacement will get me enough extra twist to make it worth it. Add in the fuel mileage penalty and I've all bust dismissed that idea.