Featured Technical Rebuilt 302 has no get up! Help.

When I am selecting a cam I talk to the cam grinder or manufacturers tech dept. . They ask for all the vehicle and engine data you can give them they even want to know head flow at different lifts ie: .100 .200 .300 if you have it and so on things like tire dia., gear ratios, trans and converter info on and on Be honest with them about what you expect and type of driving you will be doing. Hasn’t failed me yet. I’m not a pro or racer but talking to the suppliers and machine shops has worked well for me.
Dan

 

Stock rocker arm ratio for a small block Ford is 1.6....

 

Try hooking up the vacuum advance to full time manifold vacuum and let us know how it does.... Thanks!

 

You are a long way from being the first guy who bought a cam that would work good in a full tilt track only car for what amounts to a very mild street engine otherwise and found that it didn't work with his engine or car setup. I'd worry less about thump and rump and impressing mouthbreathers with the sound of the cam out the exhaust and worry more about what cam makes what you have into a little butt kicker even if it doesn't sound radical. Plus you obviously need one that works in the low rpm range and isn't a 4 to 6 thousand rpm cam.

 

I wouldn’t buy more parts without trying to optimize the ones you already own!
As I said the cam in my 289 works well and it has 228 duration @ 0.050 lift, I generally advance my cams 2 degrees plus to allow for chain stretch on street drivers, 2 to 4 degrees will help the bottom end without taking power away.

 

Maybe you've figured it out by now, but I didn't see where you mentioned what kind of a car it's in, how much it weights, what your rear gear ratio is, or what diameter tires you're running. I don't know much, but that seems like WAY too radical a cam for that little motor, and too much carb, unless it's a 2,000# roadster with a stick. Which it doesn't sound like it is...

 

I think you have been watching the "tuners" on youtube. The guys who have a dyno and are going for big HP numbers. They are all looking at the numbers in the 5000 -6000 rpm range. You don't drive a street car very often in that range. You want good torque in the 1500 - 2500 rpm range. That's what spins the tires unless you drop the clutch at 5000 rpm or do a neutral drop. Your big cam in conjunction with a low compression ratio had killed the low end torque. You really want something a lot closer to the stock cam. Low rear axle gears and high stall convertors may help, but they take a toll on overall driveability.

I had an LT1 short block that was ordered wrong, or I should say it was ordered from the wrong year. Instead of the 11:1 compression ratio, it had 8.5:1 compression ratio. We ran the engine with a relatively short duration cam (for a race engine) and it ran well. I changed to a cam with more duration which worked well in my 11:1 engines, it killed all the bottom end on the 8.5:1 engine. It would run if you really wound it up, but it wouldn't pull off the corners. Went back to the milder cam and it ran fine.

 

Hook a vacuum gage to it and see what it tells you, and get an infrared temp gun and check each exhaust exit on the head while someone revs the engine. That should give you a starting point on identifying the problem.

I'd also want a wider LSA on the intake with that displacement.

 

That makes a difference.[now getting the correct info]

Now what do you want to use the engine for?
Daily driver?
Street Strip?

This ^^^ is what I would do now that the compression issue has become a moot point

No it is a step in the right direction [that is a good street cam]

Before you do anything , give the engine a compression test to see what the cranking pressure is.
Then if you haven't got one already, install a multi-keyway timing set.
Advance the cam at least 5°
Then check the compression again.[and try the engine on the street]

If the engine improves with an advanced cam , then talk to a cam grinder
The lift and duration @0.050" might be OK but the lobe separation might need tightening [eg 105°]
Advancing the cam will usually get similar[ish] results

I've had good results with "Dirt Track" cams on the street [they need to "pull off the corners"]
But note a 3" stroke is very susceptible to too much duration [longer strokes are more forgiving]

 

Read post #18 and report back.

 

The torque converter route is a tricky one for you as well. With an AOD trans you will only have converter action ( slippage) in first and second. Third and fourth are direct drive bypassing the converter. So it will still be a dog in 3/4.

 

Ok-
55 customline
Ford AOD - I think the stall might be around 1800
Rear gear - 2:47 or 2:73
Tires- 215/70R15

I switched the dist. Vacuum to full vacuum. With no results.
Went to a light spring in carb- no results.
Took the car down the street, with no change. Even tried to brake torque it again and the rpm’s wouldn’t go over 2k.

 

My car will be a daily, hitting up some shows and to and from work from time to time.

 

Those gears and OD


some 3:73s would help

 

Did you try to brake torque it in a pool of water to see if you can get the tire's spinning and RPM's up enough to make the cam work? You also never mentioned what you are running for ignition, what brand, style, and coil-there might be something hidden there also.

 

The cam that's in it: "Rough idle, wide midrange power band. Requires 2,500+ stall, 9.5:1 and higher compression, and gearing. Bracket race cam."

My suggestion would be to reinstall the stock HO roller cam that was in the '90 Mustang short block. I have darn near the same engine you have (just has 58cc iron Windsor JR heads instead of your 60cc Edelbrocks), Perf RPM intake, 600 Holley, shorty headers, stock '92 Mustang pistons.) It absolutely hauls ass in a '66 Fairlane with 2.80 rear gears. Very strong...impressively so. Maybe something else is also wrong, but your cam certainly is. Having said that...if you hit it at 3000 rpm in first or second gear that engine should pull well even with your cam and gear. If not, something besides the cam grind is wrong. You ARE sure the firing order is correct, right?

 

He would be doing 1398 rpm at 65mph with 2.73's ................and with that cam ???????

Here we are pulling our hair out trying to help the guy on a perceived engine problem and at post #72 we finally get
some relevant info.

3.73's would be a good starting point.
I would give that old tank 4.10's and then either change converter or change the cam.
[cam being the better choice of the 2]

He would be doing 2100 rpm at 65mph with 4.10's and it would have a fighting chance off the line.

This ^^^^ would be the smartest move [and cheapest, if it hasn't been thrown out]

Do this AND add 4.10's with the 26.85" Tall tyres
A stock Roller cam is basically an "RV" cam, But you can only get so much grunt [low rpm TQ] from a 302 so if you want more overall power you pretty much have to utilize higher revs.

 

Just checked it again, firing order is correct. I’m going with a smaller cam. With all the advice on here we are pretty certain that it’s the cam that is the problem.

 

Look at engine vacuum, Timing, And/or fuel delivery....
Did a similar swap in an OT 2 ton car. 1986 HO with the hated E6 heads, E303 "Cheerleader Cam", FMX, 2.73 rear, cast stock manifolds, Edelbrock Performer intake, Edelbork 1406 600 CFM carb, And big rear tires.
Engine has 2 mismatched pistons pulled out of a parts engine (broken skirts, driver side center pistons). Engine was slapped together to get the car running, ZERO concern for "Doing it right". Figured it would do until I built a better driveline. That was 20 years ago. Damn thing runs and runs hard.

 

I suggested 4.30’s and a 2800-3000 stall converter way back. Thing would haul ass!

 

You really need to address the rear gearing. A cam change should be done and will help, but those tall gears will kill performance. At 2.73, in OD that's a Bonneville-ready 1.82 if you have enough power (and you don't).
A 3.73 in OD will be 2.49, still awfully tall. A 4.10 will be 2.74 in OD, for hiway cruising just fine (2400 rpm @ 70) and make for a lively performer in the lower non-OD gears. I wouldn't change the stall speed.

 

Why does the distributor look like it's way too advanced???? One think I do know is Ford was good to notch the base of the distributor and the block with a slash mark with a chizzle once the timing was set to 10° before top dead center.... All you need is a flash light to see if those 2 slash marks are lined up... Also use the full manifold vacuum port for vacuum advance on the distributor... It's located on the Holley base plate in front below the front metering block... It's probably blocked off with a rubber cap....

 

Yes it will, and it will sound really really healthy. With no guts. I have experienced it first hand

 

Have you looked at the carb to see if it is delivering enough fuel? Is the engine running lean? If I’m not mistaken, there are different cams for the accelerator pump circuit on the Holley carbs. Perhaps it needs more fuel?

 

I talked with reps from Comp Cams and Lunati before I bought a cam kit. In the end I read reviews on both cams and the Lunati Voodoo was reported to be quieter under the valve covers. It is a milder cam with an LSA of 110, but it is still audible as not being a stock cam. It pulls like a freight train and I'm happy with it.

Lunati recommended a CR of 9.5 as a minimum, I'm on the brink of 10:1. They recommended a higher numerically rear end, I went from a 3.56 to a 3.89 and it cured the around-town lugging I had. I went with Holley 700 which I have to jet down the primaries a bit soon. Factory was 69 jets, I have 65 & 67 jets to try.

This is the cam I went with.
https://www.lunatipower.com/voodoo-hydraulic-flat-tappet-cam-chevrolet-small-block-268-276.html

 

Air flow restriction ?
Rags / gaskets blocking intake runners?
Mouse nest blocking exhaust / mufflers ?

 

Too much cam.
Too little compression.
Too tall rear gears.
Too low stall speed for the cam.
Going to be tough to fix without spending more money on all the above items.

 

Good God, that gear is WAY too tall. Way mis-matched for that little engine in a heavy car with the bits you've got. It's easy for us to armchair quarterback the build, we've all (most of us) gotten over-enthusiastic selecting camshafts and carburation, for cars, but you're going to have a really hard time getting this set up to be satisfactory. Starting over is not what you want to hear, but that's (I think) the only way out. A LOT more engine, a high torque, low rev big block, would be happy with 2.73 gears, not what you've got now. (As an aside, my roadster, a 2,000 lb car with a 160 HP, VERY mild stock cam, 276 DeSoto, 2.73 gear 8", is comfortable and a great cruiser, but it's no dragster, and it won't spin the tires either...)

 

I think you should keep the cam and put it in a bigger engine...........