302 Rebuild

[allisonstang]

Last summer I upgraded my suspension and added a new Flowmaster exhaust.

This summer I'd like to spike up the hp in my engine and get a nice loppy cam.

My current setup is an almost stock 302, but with new Edelbrock 600 carb, new Edelbrock intake manifold, and new Edelbrock hi-flow water pump.

I'm thinkin' about freshening up the engine with some boring to maybe 306, new pistons, new cam, new alum. heads, etc. What would be the average expected cost for a garage to do all this work??

Thanks.

[mach1steve]

Hi
boring to 306 does little to no good, keep stock bore if you can, it's stronger and runs cooler.
If you still have the stock rear gears, these improvements won't be felt that much (2.80 or 3.00 to 1 ratio).
Good money spent is on some street gears, like 3.55's.
Gears are a torque multiplyer, and can make a stock set-up come alive.

But if you want more power, the aluminum heads are a great upgrade.
Count on $3000 for a basic rebuild + the cost of the aluminum heads, but it really depends on the individual garage doing it.
Shop around and use a reputable shop. DaSilva is a good one for this.

Mach1steve

[fast Ed]

Good advice from Steve. Just FYI, I have a Comp Cams Thump cam brand new in the package that I bought for my 68 Cougar that is now gone, if you're interested. It is a retrofit hydraulic roller shaft. Hadn't advertised yet, I need to go through my pile of extra parts for that car and make a list.

Thumpr™ Camshafts


cheers
Ed N.

[allisonstang]

Steve/Ed,

I currently have 3.25 gears, but I find the car revs too high for highway driving. I'll do about 80 km/h-90 km/h and the car is reving at 3000 rpm. I like the torqueness, but can't stand the high revs.

I bought the car as is and I have no idea what's inside, but I did replace the valve covers and intake manifold and from what I could see from that, the upper engine is definately stock.

I also did a compression check on all 8 cylinders just to see what I would get and all 8 showed 150, which is amazing I hear. The odometer had a reading of 40,000 miles when I bought it and the engine was freshly repainted too. So I'm assuming some work was done somewhere.

I just find I don't have the horsepower that I want and I can't really cruise at high speeds. Also, I would like the engine to have a louder loppy sound at idle.

I've been told that a new cam would increase the hp and give me that loppy sound.

I just don't know what to do or what I need. Should I even bother boring out the engine and replacing the pistons or should I just put in news heads and a cam?? Greatly appreciate the advice guys.

Allison