Good day all.
I have owned my 65 f100 w/352 for a couple of months now. The motor has 140,000 miles on it but was rebuilt 40,000 miles ago. The extent of that rebuild is unknown. However she runs excellent and used about a 1/4 quart of oil since I have owned it. So that should tell me the motor is happy. I have added hedman headers and a single three inch exhaust w/flowmaster as well as pertronix ignition wires and coil. I would like some more power. My cash flow is limited and I would like to know the best bang for my buck. Option one and least expensive is to keep the two barrel carb and manifold but throw in a comp 268/494 cam. Would this be pointless? Option two is keep the factory cam and install a 390 "S" manifold w/ four barrel road demon jr carb. But will this be poinless without the comp cam? Option three and the most expensive is all three. The truck is driven daily and on the occasional road trip. Any advice would be great. Thanks

Aaron

 

Well, since the motor is happy and relatively fresh, I would leave well enough alone... If you are going to add the carb, you should also updae the internals to handle the juice properly. What is really your target reason for more power. You could also go the route of buying a builder and put all the right pieces into it, then over a weekend just drop her in. That was the route I went, take a look at my gallery. The original 352 "smoke screen special" was pulled and replaced. Of course I wanted something that would leave black streaks in any type of roadway and gas mileage is of no concern as it's not a daily driver....

Just my $.02's --Mike

 

Hi Mike,
Reason for more power would not only be for fun but easier accelleration to reach mph. Figure If the motor has more power and torque over stock then the motor is not working as hard to accelerate to any given speed under normal driving conditions.

 

With that 2v intake your headers make a slim improvement at best. Get a 4v intake to complement the exhaust and you'll notice a definite difference. Also many 4v primary jets are smaller than the 2v...so this combined with breathing better should get power+mpg. So i hear the edel 600cfm carb is mpg friendly and that is plenty of flow for what your setup.

The cam can always come later
You should find out sometime if/how much your cyl. are bored over...could be close to just turning into a 390...the rotating assembly is fairly cheap.

 

So I will see feel improvments with the 4v intake and carb alone? I was under the impression that without a cam upgrade the additional fuel and air from the 4v carb and intake wouldnt do much without the cam lifting and keeping the valves open longer. Thanks

Aaron

 

If you can muster up doing both the cam and intake/4V at the same time it would beat having to lift that intake up and upset the rocker shafts and gaskets twice. I love the FE but its a major pain to do that top end any more than you have to.

 

I definatly do not want to take everything apart twice. Do it right the first time. I can deffinatly wait till later to do the camshaft however, without the cam will the carb and manifold be worthless as far as drivability and power gains? I need to replace my valve cover and intake manifold gaskets and would like all that work to payoff. Thats the motivation for adding the carb and manifold. If these two are pointless without the cam than maybe I should wait. Thanks.

 

Patience Grasshopper...... Do it all at once.. and make sure the springs on your setup will handle the cam.. have them tested by a machine shop for coil bind/open load. also recheck the installed height data while your at it.. sure is sure..

 

I was thinking about putting the same cam in my truck, is true that the stock springs can handle .500 of lift. The heads i bought have dampers in the springs is that part of the stock spring setup, they also came of a mustang.

 

Just a thought but does anyone know the cfm flow for the 352 stock carburator? Demon carburators makes a 2v 500 cfm. Maybe keep everything stock for know but maybe add a beter flowing 2v carb to to go with the exhaust and headers.

 

Ok guys, Ive been waiting for someone to talk about a 390 stock cam for the cheapest power upgrade you can do. this is from personal experience. When I rebuilt my 352, I wanted to put in an RV or some other competition cam but my rebuilder recommended a stock 390 cam along with a high volumn oil pump. these were the only modifications made to the engine aside from a .030 bore. I'm here to tell you that before the rebuild I thought it was a pretty strong engine but I would have to down shift several times to get across the Cascades from the valley to central Oregon. After the rebuild I could fly over the mountains WITH A HEAVY 1966 CAMPER and never downshift at all unless I got behind a slow moving truck. I'm still running the stock 2V carb. I now have dual exhaust and I know it helps the FE breath better but the power comes from the 390 cam. Incidentally, I lost 1 mile to the gallon as a trade off and I now get around 13 MPG, Not bad for a 3/4 ton. Steve

 

Steve,

Where does one purchase a stock 390 camshaft. Did you still have to break it in like an aftermarket cam?

 

I think they are a common part. NAPA probably has them. Break in was not an issue for me as everything in the valve train was new. It had 200K on it at the time of the rebuild and it has 335K on it now and still running like no other. My son has it at college now and all of his buddies want it. It's a '65 F-250. I think the appeal to the college crowd is the fact that it has S/S Magnaflows on it and it sounds mean! Steve

 

All new camshafts being stock or performance should be boken in the same way. And always replace the lifters with the new cam.

 

The reference to "stock cam" is in the grind of the cam, you can buy aftermarket with the same grind. It is a new item and will need to be broken in just as any new cam. Also, do add new lifters, as they break in with the cam.

Cam and lifters should run about $150. Were your heads rebuilt when the motor was? If so, you can probably use your existing valvetrain without an issue. The cost of an "S" code manifold is probably in the $50 range. The price of a new carb is where you get tagged. I would deffinitely stick to something under 600cfm. As said before, the 4v will flow less under normal "2v" conditions, but have a nice kick when you stomp the wow pedal.

--Mike