Carb/Cam Recommendations

Okay, I've got a bone stock 302 2bbl and got a good deal on a 4bbl stock manifold. This is in my 66 Ford Fairlane 500. What carb would you recommend? I'd also like to entertain ideas on eventually putting a mild cam in it, so what cam would give good performance, little bit of thump and helps the engine really wake up when the secondaries kick in. If that influences the carb choice, I'd like to know that.

I know that perhaps the stock intake isn't the best choice, but I couldn't pass up the deal, and Im trying to live on a tight budget, as I've spent too much on "look nice" stuff, and don't have enough for the "go fast stuff" right now. I know I should also consider different heads etc..I do have a set of 289 heads, not hipo or anything (that I know of).. could they be a consideration to have ported and polished and would it be worth it?

I guess, in summary, I've got a stock 4bbl intake, some 289 heads that could be added to the equation, and want a carb/cam recommendation.

My goal would be something that's a cut above stock in terms of performance, but still a nice daily drive... Something that, when you hear it you can tell it's been cammed, but not overly.. does that make sense?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Mike

Walaby, what year 302 is that? Being a 2 bbl engine I would think the 289 and 302 heads are very close to the same on specs. I'm pretty sure the 289 heads have those rail rockers with pressed in studs and those will need to be changed for sure. I'd port those heads and change the studs and put all new valve train parts on....I did a set of 302 heads for my Mustang only to have one of the old valves break due to bad valve springs...my cheap a$$ fault! Matching the ports was easy and I couldn't tell if there was any gains from doing this because I had no dyno or tests to match numbers. Anyway....I'd also check out the carb/intake combo test they did here right on this site. I think it's under the tech section and it's pretty good.
As for a cam....do a lot of checking but I can tell you this, I had the old Crane Fireball cam in my 302 also which was a fantastic cam but got terrible mileage with it and great performance! It was close to the 289 hipo cam and it had specs close to .464 lift and .290 duration....great lope too! I'd go with a smaller lift and duration cam for what you want.

I have to double check, but I believe it is a 70 or 71 302. I read the manifold/carb combo test, but I want to make this work with the stock intake.

Im thinking about a Edelbrock 500 Carb, but don't know if that's "too small" if I add a cam. Was playing around the the CamQuest program that I posted about below. Looks like the "great fit" recommendation would be a Competition Cam with 275DEH grind. 275 Intake and 283 Exhaust duration (seat to seat) and .456 lift. Couple other recommendations with lower duration/lift.

What's a reasonable price to pay to have the heads ported, change studs, new valve train etc...? We have a local speed shop here, but would like to have an idea of what's reasonable before I talk to them.

Thanks!

Mike

We're in the same boat at this point, I've got an old Ford dual plane high rise and a 600 Edelbrock carb and headers sitting in the basement just waiting for a few other major changes before I put that stuff on. I plan on keeping my stock cam for right now and know I'll get plenty of hp with the simple bolt. I might do a cam later but that's a big might! I'd get that bigger carb and get another intake, you'll need that bigger carb with that cam anyway. Have you tried buying an intake off ebay? That's where I got mine and some of those intakes go cheap but I wanted a specific one so paid quite a bit. That old Ford dual plane high rise really gives you some great torque and hp.
I don't know how much having a shop do your heads would cost these days but it won't be that bad considering all the gains you get. Do you still have the old distributor with points.....put an electronic conversion kit in it and that'll really help.

I like that cam you listed....sounds like a good one.

On my 62 with a 302 I am running the eldebrock 600 with crane Z cam (272 ver) and it works very well. No bog and easy setup).

Rick.
Have looked at intakes on Ebay, but can't get one for a steal (yet). The stock 4bbl I got was free (just pay shipping), so can't get much better'n that. I've got a Petronix conversion kit installed for the points replacement that works well.

We'll see where it goes.. It'll be awhile Im sure. More pressing "issues" but I like the discussion because it spawns other ideas

Mike

jebeard.. Are you running your setup with a stock 4bbl manifold? If so, that might sway me towards your choices.

Mike

No, it is the Weiand action plus. Which is very reasonable for new intakes.