1966-FASTBACK

i posted a thread the other day about finding the best place for a crate 347 stroker for my 66 fastback. there's no way the wife is going to sanction 6k or 7k when the stock 302 i have still runs perfect. so now i have decided to do the heads and cam upgrade instead. my question is what combo will give me what i want??? what i want-- a thumpy engine thats dependable and makes HP in the 330 to 350 range.

eZ

I would buy some AFR 165's and a custom cam.

htwheelz67

yep afr 165's or even better twisted wedge heads, I'm wary on hyd cams anymore, I'd convert to a hyd roller and run like an xe 274hr for a little thump. I have seen a dyno test on a 5.0, 274hr, 10.1 comp,tw heads, air gap int and demon 650 make right around 400 hp. I think it was 428hp on westec's "magic dyno and 400 hp with afr 165's, stock 5.0 cam, 1.7 rockers and the above, I dont quite believe those numbers but I'm sure 350-375 hp is very dooable. The roller cam wont get flat lobes, will idle better and give a broader range and more lift than a comparable hyd cam. The TW heads will give a bit more power than the 165's and cheaper. The xe 274 has the same ramps as the xe 262 so bottom end will be about the same but past 4000 rpm power will increase quite a bit.

dcohen

edelbrock performer rpm's are very similar to the afr's and are cheaper, on a street car you will never notice the difference

Adrenolin

I'd suggest a roller cam upgrade from Comp Cams to start with. Its one of their Retro-Fit kits. Order the cam, lifters and timing chain kit. Your looking at about 550 - 575 with the hold down kit. Instead of ordering new aluminum heads at 1200+ go find a set of 351w heads and gasket match them to a new RPM intake. I've got a set but I'm sure you could find a set on the west coast cheaper then shipping from the east coast. The larger 351w heads ported out would give your a huge performance increase over the stock 289/302 heads and save you money.

67mustang302

Edelbrock has excellent quality as well. While you're at it, you might as well spend the bones for a good set of pistons, like Mahles. They'll be way stronger, weigh less, and with a good ring pack have reduced friction and wear. The valve reliefs will give some extra space if you don't have any right now. Might as well just spend the money on a custom cam setup, since it's not that much more. Edelbrock or TFS heads are decent. I have AFR 165's on mine, for some reason lately people have been getting on the "hate AFR" bandwagon(not talking about this thread, just in general). They're all good heads that will perform well, so you might as well get whatever is cheapest. Edelbrock heads are very good quality. If you have the gears in the differential, then you could put good pistons in and just do the Edelbrock RPM top end kit, saves the trouble of having to buy stuff separately.

htwheelz67

there is a big difference between afr/tw and edelbrocks, you will feel the difference. If you are going over about 212 @0.50 duration and 500 lift go retrofit rollers and not a small base circle cam.

kalli

the 351W heads is probably the cheapest option to wake up a 302 but I wouldn't be happy with the reduced compression.
i have those edelbrocks rpms on my 302 and with a matching cam you should be easy in the 300+ range

Jforte13

I am contemplating this same exact thing with my 302, it is not stock but also not highly worked,So the edelbrock performer RPM heads or ARF and what cam is a good combo???

my77stang

i've been eyeballing a lunati voodoo grind for my motor, but they are flat tappet (which everyone is now scared of..... sissies LOL)