pk1959":2f6b80pg said:
Thanks rbohm, what about the hood clearance will that be a problem? Also I found out #1 cyl on the 250 is rusted pretty badly from water setting in it I guess, so if pitted will need to be bored, new pistons and a lot more money. I think i may just stick with the 200 since the car is already setup for it. My next question is what cam for the street and how about a 2V carb and adaptor. Any other inexpensive performance mods you can think of?
8) before you toss out the 250 just because the cylinders need boring, dont forget that the 200 may require cylinder boring as well. you need to check that before you decide on a block. if the cylinders are out of round or tapered excessively they also need to be bored. so i consider that a moot point. although as i indicated the 200 is a good choice either way.
as for a cam, you want to select a cam that works best in the rpm range you are planning on using the engine in about 80% of the time. since you want a daily driver, you are looking at the engine running in the 1000-5000 rpm range 80% of the time, and thus you want to select a cam that works in that rpm range. with classic inlines, you can also specify what lobe separation angle you desire, 108, 110, 112, 114 are the most common choices. which one you choose will depend on what compression ratio you want to use, and what grade of fuel you want to use. for instance, lets say that you want to run 10:1 compression, and use 89 octane fuel, or even 87 octane fuel. in this case you would select a cam with a 108 LSA as that would bleed off cylinder pressure at low speeds and thus avoid detonation. on the other hand if you want to run 87 octane with 9:1 compression, but you want more low end torque than 9:1 compression would give you, maybe because you live in a hilly area and need a little extra low end torque, you then select a 112 LSA cam to trick the engine into thinking it has more compression than it really does. in the two instances i listed you are dealing with dynamic compression rather than static compression. classicinlines has a tech article on static and dynamic compression that is a good read.
as for other performance parts, a 2v conversion using an autolite 2100 carb will give an increase in airflow, and the autolite is a simple and reliable carb for the street. i also recommend a decent header to replace the stock exhaust manifold. classicinlines also has a selection of headers available. if you have the money, pony up the cash and have them coated, other wise get the plane tube header and paint it with a good VHT paint, duplicolor puts out a good one.