Well, I know there are at least two people who understand. :winkn:
For the last 25-30 years, I've become a master at stretching dollars. It's always seemed like a race to see whether we got to the end of the month or the end of the money first. :shrug: My lot in life, it's nobody's fault but my own. But I would watch customers waste money on useless things or on parts that weren't designed to work well with the rest of their parts and it would really grate on me. As a salesman, I suppose I should have been happy to watch people waste money. But what I wanted to see were people that ended up with something that ran so much better, they were surprised by it. That's where I got my own satisfaction. I was always tempted to ask people if I could make them happy and save them money, would they be willing to share the unspent budget with me?
I was very lucky to race with Brian all the years I did. He could afford the buy the right stuff and as long as I could show him we had a real need for something, he never held back so much as a dime. It scared me to look at what he spent for us to race each year, but when I compared the number with other Comp racers, we were spending 1/4 to 1/3 of the money. And we always had one of the fastest cars in the country. We knew what we had and we knew how to make it work. Most guys would go spend $3K to $4K on a trick part and pull it back off the car before they ever had it sorted out.
Bottom line, you have to know what you currently have to work with. Next, you have to decide where you want to end up. Then you can decide what parts you can still use, what parts have to hit the bin and what parts you need to buy. If you've got a wee, short tire and a ultra-low gear, then buying parts that make power at 6500 RPM and up is a good plan. But if you're building something to cruise in, remember that small ports, small valves and short, dual-plane intakes really pick up air speed and give great throttle response. We always called HP torque until we got to 5500 RPM. When you're at a stoplight and the light turns green, who cares how much power your motor makes at 7,500 RPM? You need a pile of low RPM torque to get the car moving. How many of you can say your motors spend most of their time above 3,000 RPM? Seriously? Then assemble the parts it will take to make the motor happy in the off-idle to 4,500 RPM range. Sure, tunnel rams and Dominators have that look to them. But in a T-Bucket with street tires? I'll easily dance circles around you with a single 4 BBL. And we both know it.
You say you want a camshaft with 305° of duration. Step right up to the plate. But you better do something to increase static compression, because with that much duration, you're going to have enough overlap that cylinder pressure is going suck mud. Ahhh, so you're sharp enough to bump static CR up around 12:1. Now, here in Indiana, we've had 2-3 weeks of 90° temperatures, so you better make sure you're running race fuel or that motor will be detonating on the starter. And that big cam, well it's going to need big springs. So yank the heads off and cut the spring pockets. Now, with that big spring, a stock rocker arm pivot won't work, so shell out the cash for a set of rockers with roller trunnions. And that cam just moved your power band up about 2,000 RPM, so you're going to need a lower gear to keep the motor happy as you cruise around town. And then, just wait until it's time to drive 80-100 miles to a car show. That fuel mileage stinks, because you're zinging the motor so much higher at highway speeds.
Now, had you built a real torquey, low compression motor, pump gas would still work fine and the motor would be stuck in the middle of its power band as you cruise down the highway. The money you saved on the machine work and the roller rockers paid for the vacuum secondary carb and the intake manifold you're using. You're out enjoying life, instead of waiting for the machine shop to get your heads back to you. A couple blocks shy of Bob's Burgers, wheel to the curb and pull a vacuum cap of the carb. That way the motor will be running rough and then you can tell all your pals it's that new roller cam you just installed. And the funny part?
They'll believe you.
