So here's my deal. My '85 F-150 (351W) needs at least one head gasket replaced, I figure I'd do both of them since I'll have the thing apart anyway. I'm planning on replacing the intake while I'm in there, since my EGR is gone already, and all the emissions parts are disabled/deleted and it has some bad leaks around where the old emissions stuff used to be.

I guess I have a couple of questions that some of you fine Ford folk may have knowledge of first-hand, since most of the engines I've rebuilt in the past were bowties...

First is, if I go with an Edelbrock aluminum intake, would I be better off (for a semi-daily driver application) with a Performer series, or a Performer RPM? The engine I built for my IROC-Z Camaro had an RPM on it, and I loved it... The '63 Chevy truck I had used just the Performer series, and it seemed to be a touch lacking for my taste (engine internals and carb were very similar between the two).

Second is, I'm considering a cam upgrade. I would like to try and get a performance upgrade, but don't want to sacrifice fuel mileage to get it. Should I leave my stock cam in there or go with a new aftermarket? If I replace it, I'm not quite sure what I'd go with in terms of lift/duration... It's been a great many years since I did cam work on an engine, and I don't remember much about it. The two I'm looking at now are as follows...

1000-4000 RPM 197/209 dur .448/.472 lift 114 lobe center

1500-4000 RPM 204/214 dur .448/.472 lift 112 lobe center

Would either of these cams be a good choice for a truck I plan on driving around a lot, or should I leave well enough alone and just go with my head gasket/intake replacement?

Oh, and before I forget... my current carburetor is a Holley replacement for the stock carb (somewhere in the 550cfm range, can't remember for sure)minus the emissions attachments. Would I be better off with a larger carb (or possibly re-jetting my current one) or would it be ok on there with the new intake and possible cam upgrade? Fuel-wise, it currently works just fine. Plenty of power, and fair fuel mileage. The only real troubles I'm having are the piece of junk stock intake and the head gasket leaking coolant into the cylinders.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Just remember you have a heavy truck, not a lightweight Iroc camaro. If you soup the engine up too much, it won't be driveable unless you change the gearing.

 

Yeah, I was thinking about that as well. The gearing in the Camaro, though, was 2:73, and my truck has 3:55.

Another note I should probably mention is, the engine that was in the Camaro wound up in a K/5 Blazer for a while too. It had a touch too much torque for the IROC, and wound up cracking it's frame (a sad day in my book, but that's another story). Seems that the setup in that engine was pretty much perfect for that K/5, though... All torque was great for my off-roader.

The way I'd like to get my F-150 is pretty much for an in-town driver. The lack of overdrive hurts my highway mileage, but I rarely take it over 55mph anyway. More torque I figure would actually *help* in town, since it's mostly stop-and-go driving. I may be wrong on this, though... That's why I ask for other's advice before I commit to anything.

 

Just my 2 cent- Put in a new cam. Going into the engine as far as the head gaskets and manifold would put you a timing cover and water pump away. As for cam pick- stock is a mild compromise piece, with alot on its mind ( milage,drivability,blah,blah). Sounds like the low end torque rocks your world, so I'd put in a not so long duration moderate lift (sim to stock spec lift- slightly more). Lift will let it breath through either manifold , but longer durations can cause air flow stutter low in the power band you are creating. Powerband , keep this in mind . Your rig is governed by tire size, gear ratio, trans gearing , converter , exhaust so keep em matched or don't judge each individual mod untill others come together for you.
Your question about manifolds is fundamentally, one only you can answer. will you want the higher rpm power band of the (rpm) v the reg. performer? If so get headers and all that is needed to support it.
Sounds like the carb is cool. With all the work your talking about it sound as if your pretty mech inclined so buy a rebuild kit, clean it up good and try it out before you go any bigger.. carbs have sweet spot they perform best at ( power band-rpm-cfm) you may find you've created the one for carb and your self. Best wishes.

 

Either cam would be a good choice for what you want. Those aren't big cams and you don't have a lot of carb, so you are in good shape. Here's how you decide- if you are happy with the performance and fuel economy you presently have, you will be extremely happy with the performer intake and the milder cam. If you want a little more top-end power, go with the RPM intake and larger cam. Both are matched well to each other. I think your present carb would work well for the performer, especially for low end and economy. Take the next step and you may need a larger carb to get the benefit of the higher rpm power band. Hope this helps.

 

Thanks, guys. I appreciate the input.

I'm going to be more inclined to the milder cam and the Performer intake, as I think I'll have better low-end with that combo. Since most of my driving is in-town, which means stop and go driving, low end torque is what I'll really need. The RPM intake and larger cam would be good if I felt like wrapping up the revs in the engine, but I don't really plan on doing that a whole lot. That Camaro of mine did a lot of street-style racing, and was wound up tight quite a bit, so I can see how the RPM intake was better in that application. Sticking with low-end power is the way to go for what I need, I believe.

My exhaust will eventually get an upgrade, but I doubt I'll bother with headers any time soon. Fitting them around the front axle on a 4x4 is a PITA from what I hear. Intake/cam upgrade + removing one of the cats and installing a higher flow muffler seems to be my best option for now (both labor-intensive and budget-wise). Later on I may work in a set of longtubes, but 'till then I'll just worry about getting it running well and looking good.

I was considering trading this truck off for a fuel-efficient car, but got to thinking... I'll be hard-pressed to find a fairly rust-free 74k original miles 80-86 bodystyle Ford 4x4 truck around here for the price I paid + the money I'd put into fixing her up. $900 for the truck and a few hundred more for the engine upgrades... Seems like a good deal to me. Most of the trucks of that era around here are so rusted out or wrecked they're basically rolling parts vehicles.