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How can I restore some of the
horsepower lost from the 60's
without raising compression ratio? So far unable to get help.Thanks; /
Increasing compression ratio is the surest way to increased power, the tighter the squeeze, the bigger the BANG. Based on today's gasolines, you can't squeeze like the "good old days". When compression ratios dropped, so did power output. Look at Cadillac, biggest V 8 they ever built, right in the middle of detuning of the 70's, wasn't a power house. I, mean, how much power should be coming from 500 cubic inches?
:MMost people know that compression ratio inreases horsepower,but there are other tings.One other thing Ford did to the 460 was retard camshaft timing.Dodge had to do something else,also. Thanks;200 HP&a30ft.motor is a poor match
:MMost people know that compression ratio inreases horsepower,but there are other tings.One other thing Ford did to the 460 was retard camshaft timing.Dodge had to do something else,also. Thanks;200 HP&a30ft.motor is a poor match
First thing is to check to see if you have a 440-3 Dodge truck engine in your rig. Look right in front of the rocker arm cover on, (I think), the left bank. There should be a little boss on the block, facing upwards, that will have "440-3" stamped on it. Since Dodge quit building big truck engines around 1978, and the emission control laws applied at that time to passenger cars and trucks under 6,000 lbs. GVW, your 440-3 wasn't, as it's said, "molested" by the EPA. Bearing in mind that Horsepower is a function of time and truck engines are built to produce maximum torque. If you were to install an RV grind camshaft in ,say, a mid 80's 350 Chevy, you'd find you'd have a pulling fool, but it wouldn't rev over 3,200 RPM. That's due to the fact that RV grind camshafts have very little valve overlap and therefor the engine "runs out of breath" at a little over 3,000-3,200 RPM. Remember that the old 220 Horsepower Cummings pulled a lot of semis with their 30,000 lbs loads around the U.S. due to the fact it produced hundreds of foot pounds of torque.
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