By reading the whitepapers from Edelbrock, there seems to be a lot of retrofitting that must be done in order for the combo to work successfully, especially on my car. Where does it end man?.. or will it ever?
It's a 302, stock bottom end with an e-cam. I'm figuring about $3500 for the whole project. This would include the heads, intake, tb, pro magnum roller rockers, springs, studs, gaskets, and maybe a different cam.
Anything I'm leaving out?
Right now, I've got TFS heads, stock intake, chip, and a buncha BBK crap I'm gonna throw away. So, if anybody reading this needs some of this stuff, spout a price and it's yours.. first come, first serve.
Need more cubes but for those heads and intake your going to need to get up around 6500rpms to realize the power band with that set-up, the E303 cam will not work very well with that set-up as well. And your low end will suffer. IHMO, get some work done to your TFS heads, get a good intake (like a TFS Street Heat), and consider a better cam along with the small stuff that you already mentioned.
Yeah, that's what I've been worrying about.. the loss of bottom end.
I'm figuring you couldn't put that combo to real work unless you're running like a 331, sound right? I was just noticing your signature, how in the world have you accomplished 10.77 in your 1/4? That's pretty sick..
I've been wanting to swap out to something bigger than the 302 for a long time. I might as well break down and get it. I've got about half the funds and will just finance the rest. I mean screw it.. I'm going to do it eventually anyway. It might as well be when I have the money and it won't hurt to finance a little bit of it.
PM Jay Allen over at Hardcore50.com. He loves to use big heads (TFS R, ported TF Street Heat, AFR 205, Vic. Jr., etc), big manifolds (TFS R, Vic. Jr., Vic. 5.0, etc.) and big exhaust systems (1 7/8" headers and 3" exhaust) on small CID applications. I think he'd want you to spin the motor to atleast 6500, and probably something close to 7000. Obviously, you'd need a much steeper gear to do that. And, he'd probably want you to change over to a mechanical flat tappet cam, which would mean that you have to adjust the valves every so often.
It will be ok...but to be honest, I don't think you'll like the low end on the street. But to each their own. If your going to buy that DSS shortblock, why not get a long block from them? Unless your wanting to do work on your own, I'd buy their 331 AFR 185 longblock with a custom FTI cam. You'd really like it.
As for my old 302 combo, check out the FAQ at the top of the forum, you'll find my old set-up.
i support going with the shortblock, but please think twice before financing half of it. these projects almost always end up costing alot more than expected. it is my opinion that going a few grand in the hole for something like this is not a good idea.
you will be much better off in the long run if you hold off on it and save like a crazy mofo and can pay for it without borrowing anything.