To cam or not to cam, that is the question...

[Anonymous]

Nice one, thanks Dave. I have to order from Hughes direct don't I?

I like the idea of high gearing for economy but this is ridiculous. The problem is that round town (where most of my commuting occurs) the car struggles to beat kids on mopeds from 0-30, I suspect the converter must slip like a swine to even get off the line. (its 5200 lbs of car!) so I'm not actually getting economy advantage until I'm on the motorway, so I still only get 14-15 MPG round town My 340 LeSabre can do that and it has 3.73 in it making for much better acceleration.

I guess the target market for this car was pensioners so low RPM cruising is what its for. Whats the RPM at a USA-legal 55? LOL.

Trans is a 1:1 with a lockup converter.

Ideally I want a lower rear and an OD trans to effectively give me a 1st gear, 'cos now its like driving a 4 speed in 2, 3 and top!

Thanks again mate.

[Dave-R]

Hughes do have outlets now but don't know if that effects delivery or not. Might make payment easier though?

I wonder if the high gearing was to do with emmissions as well as economy ratings? It must be doing just enough to lock the converter at 55mph.

A 3.23:1 rear gear will still work well with this cam. You would be riding on the torque peak at 75mph (which is perfect) and the lower gears will give you 30% more torque at the rear wheels. That would help pick it up off the line.

[Anonymous]

Last Q on this, is it worth bumping the compression ratio with the stock heads by getting one of those skimpy MP head gaskets? According to the maths if my 8.8:1 motor gets them it goes up to 9.25:1 which looks healthier. In reality I'd expect that the slugs are a little further down the bores than spec so it'll be a little less than 9.2

My understanding is CR makes more power regardless of RPM so its a winner for my motor?

Any disadvantages to using those thin head gaskets on a street driven motor?