with experiance comes some wisdom

[grumpyvette]

One of my friends stopped bye and wanted to show off the recent mods to his BBC powered 1965 tempest, now Ive always loved that car, hes one of those guys that can keep a car in BETTER than new showroom condition, the kind of guy who stays up worring if the carpet gets damp or the cars got dirt on the under side of the frame.

anyway, hes had the same combo for years, 4.11 rear gears, M22 four speed trans, 496 BBC, 36 lb steel flywheel,11 dual disk clutch, 11:1 compression, full 3" exhaust, M/T HEADERS, M/T VALVE COVERS, EDELBROCK dual plane intake 850 holley, 9 qt custom aluminum oil pan, ported EDELBROCK rectangle port heads, and a CROWER 01403 cam,

 

http://www.crower.com/misc/cam_spec/cam_finder.php?part_num=01403&x=35&y=9

 

the car used to run low 12s on street tires in just about any state of tune.

 

had instant throttle responce, and generally broke the tires loose at will in all gears

 

 

keep in mind this is 99% a street driven car designed for fun and embarrasing mustangs ETC.

 

he went and installed a super vic intake and a crower

01406

 

http://www.crower.com/misc/cam_spec/cam_finder.php?part_num=01406&x=35&y=9

 

the car sounds ALOT MEANER, makes noticably better power up in the 4000rpm-6000rpm range but lost a great deal of its instant throttle responce and low rpm tq, and has to be driven HARD to get the power benefits....

after he had me test drive the car he asked me what I thought about the changes.....I asked him "was he looking for the TRUTH?" having known me for years he said...thats why IM here PAUL, I said you probably gained 70 HP, but I think its a move in the wrong dirrection, for what you do with the car...

he smiled, and said, he agreed, the car was no longer "FUN to drive" it was faster and sounded meaner, but it had become a P.I.T.A. to drive in traffic, he constantly had to keep the rpms up to smoothly move the car and traction was a problem unless he slipped the clutch, which was a real problem with the dual disk 11 set-up he had... the power brakes didn,t have nearly enought vacuum, ....he totally agreed with me, and asked for advice.

I said you know whats caused the problem,we both do!,you need to either swap back to the older roller cam or at least a new one thats much closer to the old cams specs and personally Id swap the old dual plane intake back on, but only after testing with the new milder cam with the new single plane intake first to find out which works better in your application.

 

he grinned and said, " just wanted to here you say it.....I should have listened when you suggested I neither get to radical with the cam or swap to the new intake without testing the old one first!......what are you and your new garage doing this week?........I smiled and said, I imagine, Ill be buying ice, beer and bandaids , getting ready for a certain pontiac owners car to show up, after he talks to the tech boys at crower., buys a few parts and gaskets...I GUESS IM part mind reader

 

now I don,t know anyone whos been in this hobby that hasn,t made similar moves/mistakes and I welcome the company, but research before spending money on changes sure saves time and effort, so think your real GOALS THRU carefully guys, having the FASTEST CAR AROUND might sound impressive but its RARELY your REAL GOAL, HAVING and DRIVING a RELIEABLE and FUN TO DRIVE CAR, usually is if its not a 90% plus race application " IF YOU CAN,T SMOKE THE TIRES FROM A 60 MPH ROLLING START YOUR ENGINE NEEDS MORE WORK!!"