Yet ANOTHER cam/head question

[ajfriz]

I have a 1990 5.0 h.o. that I'm putting in my 64.5 coupe. I've asked in vintage forums but nobody can answer my questions.
What I have done so far is do a basic re-ring and new bearing rebuild after I brought my block to a machine shop and it turned out to be in near perfect shape. I decided to use the stock TRW pistons because they were in great shape as well.
As far as the heads go, I don't really want to re-use the E7s and was looking into aluminum heads, but I'm really not going that aggressive with the build and I'm just wanting 300ish hp to the ground. The intake I'm thinking of using is a weiand action plus that is good from idle up to 6kish rpms along with some stock GT40 heads. Is the stock cam a good choice for a carb setup? If it is, will 1.7 rockers be a good modification, or just go with a different cam entirely? What kind of lift can I get with stock pushrods and rockers? The carb I want to use is an Autolite 4100 with the larger 1.12 venturis that makes it in the 600cfm range.
I'm sorry to ask a question that has probably been asked thousands of times, but for some reason I can't find the answers to my questions.

 

[clement]

you want 300 to the tires on motor and think you are going to use a weiand action plus, a stock cam and some gt40s?!?!?!?! on basically a stock 302.

stock cam, OOTB victor jr intake, prosystems 4150, TFS TW 190 FAC head milled to 54cc w/ ferrea 6000 valves and the right springs.

 

[ajfriz]

LOL I guess it's just wishful thinking on my part. I guess I keep seeing those damn articles saying you can get 400hp with a stock cam just by changing to AFR heads and good headers.

Would some ported GT40s be a decent gain over the stock E7s? I've been waiting to find some answers before I pulled the trigger on the intake and heads. I was planning on buying a new cam as well, but I really have no idea what would be best. I keep hearing that everyone is running a b303 cam, but I don't know if I need to change pushrods as well as rockers with that setup.

 

[clement]

without knowing who ported the heads or how well the work was done there is no telling what it would do. if it were a good set of heads, then yes.

i assumed you wanted a stock cam, which is why i posted what i did above. also, there is more to heads than a steady state dry flow at 28" of water. and if whoever ported them didnt know what they were doing they probably did more harm than good.

count on changing the pushrods and converting to stud mount rockers no matter what heads you buy.

the bad thing about the alphabet cams is that they are not a billet core, and if enough spring pressure is aplied the cam will actually flex some, also those cams are known to be inconsistent in terms of what they are supposed to be not only from cam to cam, but from lobe to lobe. in other words they suck.

if you dont want to spend money on a real cam leave the stock cam and make your power with a good top end package.

 

[ajfriz]

I don't mind spending the money as long as it's something that will work well. I definitely don't want to end up buying something only to replace it because I'm unhappy with it. I basically got lucky with the block/bottom end not needing anything more than a hone job and a crank polish, so right now I'm feeling like I am money ahead on the project and wouldn't mind buying heads and a good cam.
One reason I want to stick with cast iron heads is just to make people think that I still have the little 260 under the hood with just a few bolt ons. I haven't heard much on the world product cast iron heads, so I'm a little leery of buying them. Anyone have experience with these?
Is the action plus weiand intake any good? This is basically a street car that will only go to the strip maybe 3-4 times a year, and that's only on the classic or street nights, so I'm leaning towards a dual plane over the single.
I'm also using the T5 out of the same car that the engine came from.

 

[clement]

why do you want to run a dual plane? for bottom end torque? then you are going to put an agressive cam in it and loose bottom end torque. leave the stock cam in it and run a victor jr. its a lot cheaper, itll still make bottom end and run hard on the top end.

the world heads are fine, they are just big stock design heads.

you can always paint a set of aluminum heads. i can assure you if you run the package i listed above, you wont get bored. in a 3200lb fox body that is a high 11 second combo. in an old coupe that weighs 2800lbs mid 11s in the quarter are well within reason with a car thats set up half way right.

the combo i listed above wont even hook up unless you are running a drag radial or better in back. or you could put a shelf cam, a dual plane, and a set of big stock arcitecture heads and be lucky for it to run high 12s. its your money.

 

[ajfriz]

Thanks for the input! With the engines I've built in the past I've usually just ran what the machine shop told me to do, but on the last one I built I was VERY disappointed with the results and figured I'd be better off figuring it out myself. That's one of the reasons I was planning on running a dual plane, because they told me I'd need it for a streetable engine, but if I can get streetable results from the package you listed, then I'm all for it.

If my old coupe could run in the 11s, and have good street manners, I'm all for it.