Re: Trk - Car cams different? -302 Ford

Posted by Ron in Nebr on December 10, 2007 at 21:02:48 from (66.252.113.52):

In Reply to: Trk - Car cams different? -302 Ford posted by Buck from WV on December 07, 2007 at 08:08:53:

I don't know about Fords, but with a little surfing I found websites that told all about Pontiac, Olds, and Chevy engines including head chamber sizes for various head castings...gotta be similar websites out there for Fords. Start doing yahoo or google searches for Ford engines.

Since in your other post you asked about getting the best possible milage, forget about using any stock car or truck cam, and go with one of the aftermarket cams that are designed for what you want. Crane and Comp Cams are two excellent companies to research, and Summit Racing Equipment lists many, many cams for your engine. A stock cam is a compromise designed to do a little bit of everything- not the least of which is meeting emissions standards, especially back in the 80's, which won't be best for milage.

If at all possible, you'll also want to select a head/piston combination that'll let you run the highest possible compression ratio that will still let you use regular unleaded pump gas. Something around 8.5 or 9 to 1 would be ideal, although with the right cam that could possibly be even pushed higher. I know you're not after power, but in reality the paths to power and ultimate MPG are very similar. You're trying to get the most work out of each drop of gas, in other words, making the engine more efficient. The more efficient(powerful) and engine is, up to a point anyway, the less it'll have to work to pull you down the highway, and the less it has to strain, the less fuel it'll use.

An example of this is that in areas with lots of hills like where I live, a car with a V-6 will often get better milage than the same year and model car with a 4cyl, due to the fact that to acheive the same constant road speed you have to have your foot farther into the 4-banger every time you pull a hill, whereas the more powerful V-6 has the excess power to maintain a more constant throttle opening to pull the hills.

Follow Ups:

• Re: Re: Trk - Car cams different? -302 Ford Buck from WV 05:08:33 12/11/07 (0)

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