jcar22

Finished mocking up motor and getting ready to pull for bodywork.
Any ideas on getting alittle more HP with-out breaking the bank?
'88 302 roller lifters, edelbrock performer intake, and Holley 600cfm 4 barrel.
Thanks

67mustang302

Define breaking the bank and a little more power.

Silverblade

a cam to match?

Adrenolin

That term varies greatly from one person to the next. Some might think 250, others 1000, others 2500 and still others 5000 and up. Give us an idea of what your looking to spend and this allows people to voice the best way to maximize your power gains to cash spent.

Personally I'd suggest disk brake upgrade up front before adding more power. Stopping power should always come before go power.

jonward786

if ur worried about breaking the bank, i would just leave the engine alone. the only "cheap" thing i can think of would be a cam, cause you've already got the induction taken care of it seems. headers can be had for pretty cheap too and can free up a few horseys, but a nice pair (ceramic) will probably run u 500-600$.

what i would do instead is grab some gears. won't increase ur hp but it will feel as if you did. if u have a stock gear ratio, jump to something like 3.55 and you will be pleasantly suprised.

tx65coupe

I agree about the gears. I knew a guy that had a 71 or 72 Mach I with a 351 that was a really nice car but had 2.80 gears and was just a dog. He couldn't figure out why his car performed so poorly. Needless to say a gear change fixed that problem.

KMatch

Ditto on the gears. My 72 came with 2.73. Swapping to 4.11 couldn't be described in the difference. Go with gears or a well thought out/researched cam arrangement. Headers aren't as much of a seat of the pants upgrade.

2+2GT

Well, if you are still using the OE iron heads, the exhaust ports on these are choking your exhaust. You can take full advantage of your cam and intake by port-matching the exhaust ports to the headers or manifolds. Cost will be limited to a set of intake, head, and exhaust gaskets, and a cheap die grinder if you don't have access to one. Do the whole job on a Saturday, and even if you have to buy a die grinder, cost should be under $100, and it'll feel like you put a better cam in it. How's that for "getting a little more HP with-out breaking the bank?"

stanglane

have a 72 convertible with 302- had engine rebuilt, flat top pistons put in, mild cam, edelbrock intake and 4 barrel carb. , put in full length hooker headers, 2 and a quarter inch pipes with super 40s muffler, runs and sounds awesome- thinking about porting the heads to get a little more power

jcar22

Thanks guys! I do have new cer. coated headers. Budget is about $1000.00
I like the disc break theory so i'm going for that. Also , about the gearing- PO put a 5 bolt rear-end in the car so i have no idea of gearing. how can i find out what i have?
Thanks