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Engine mod advice? What would you do.

3K views 27 replies 10 participants last post by  brenx 
#1 ·
Ok, here is the scenario.

You just bought an 74 xbgt hardtop. And you have $1000 give or take to throw at the car to improve performance. This thousand or 1500 max is to include labour for a mechanic to do the work. What would you do?

The rules are the car is to be used only on street, no drag racing at all. The car will be a weekend driver. The car should remain original looking. With the exception of extractors or something easily bolted on and off.
 
#4 ·
The current owner has the original heads and cam in his garage. I was intending to put the engine back to original but was advised to put a different cam in and possibly extractors.

I am wondering what you would do with the thousand or 1500 bucks.
 
#5 ·
First thing I'd do is go over the entire car - replace hoses/fluid/ service trans, new plugs, leads, new power steering fluid, diff fluid, coolant, check suspension bushes...


Then drive it for a bit to see what it feels like, and wether you're happy with the current performance/economy. Then focus on where to spend the $$ in the areas you have identified you want improved. Otherwise, you might be spending the $$ in unnecessary areas.
 
#10 ·
I agree with EBXR. Sounds like you want something thats reliable and is as nice to drive as can be for your extra 1000-1500. If you already have cam and slight head work then it would make sense to go extractors and full exhaust to match the better breathing cam and heads. Tri y headers with twin 2.5 inch exhaust with some decent mufflers will take up most of your budget if you get it all new and pay for all installation. You will get a decent increase in power and might even get better fuel economy.

But as i said, i agree with EBXR about getting all the little reliability things sorted such as hoses, belts, filters, fluids, bushes etc etc.

Also might be worth getting it on a dyno. A good dyno tuner might be able to get your whole package running better by playing with things such as jetting, timing and experimenting with carb spacers etc etc. It should only cost you a few hundred + parts and the operator will be able to give you some advice as to what he thinks would be good for your 1000 for your car.

Aaron.
 
#11 ·
Get it mechanically reliable first by getting it up on a hoist for inspection and fixing any oil leaks, replaces worn bushes in steering & suspension if needed. Check brakes.

Then consider exhaust which is where a lot of power can be found, depending on what is there already. Extractors and a full twin 2.5" system if its not already on it would be the go.
If you already have twin system upgrade the spark to electronic dizzy etc

Good luck with it
 
#12 ·
As others have said, get some TriY extractors and bolt it up to the dual system (if fitted). Otherwise, find a decent secondhand dual system if money's tight. They are out there... I managed to get a dual system for $50 and Pacemaker TriYs for $120. Fitting them up professionally cost me $350, so all in it was under $500. New, it would've set me back nearly $1200, so what you save by going secondhand will mean you can look at other things to fix/improve.

And my first port of call when buying ANY car is to give the engine a thorough service - new oil, filters, check spark plugs, replace any old hoses that look like they're past it, that kind of thing. Then as others have also said, check safety points like brakes, steering and suspension. Repalce anything suspect.

That should pretty much eat up a grand and a bit. If it's all good and you've money to spare, perhaps start looking at the transmission and diff (although I'd leave the latter well alone if it's not making any nasty noises!).

When are you actually going to get your hands on this thing?!? ;)
 
#14 ·
This is where I'd be at:

Cam, heavier valve springs and histall 2200-2500rpm to suit. Cheapest go faster bit is to change the diff ratio. A 3.5 makes all the difference. It's about 2800rpm @ 100kph. You'd be surprised on how a diff ratio change can wake up whats considered a lazy engine.

Playing with the exhaust etc will make more power on the dyno but on the road it'll be barely noticable unless the cams and heads are large,.

Brenden
 
#17 ·
like everyone else said, maintenance work first.. then the fun begins!

if it's still running the standard intake manifold, it will restrict any gains made by extractors. so if fitting extractors, find a better breathing intake manifold. if your carby is good, then i'd look at a cam. but bascially if you change one thing, you'll need to make other changes to get the most from the engine. still running points? change to electronic ignition. you'll probably need more than $1,500 to do all this though..
 
#20 ·
Mate I have no idea. This will be my first foray into the world of x series cars so havent a clue what cams are available or what extractors etc. I will be acting on the advice of the good people of the ford forums and qualified mechanics with a history of work on clevelands.

I dont want a power machine, but I would like to lift it above its standard rated power as with the weight of the car this is rather slow really.

The car I am buying dosnt have any fancy head work or cam. The owner told me he put the cam and head in to save on fuel so I cant imagine he would have gone to too much trouble with adding power. He rebuilt the engine himself so I am not sure what he put in it.

My initial thought was to bring the car back to original by putting the original cam and original heads back on as the owner has them in his garage. But after talking to a mechanic recommended to me by someone who owns an ESP and gets his car done there, also the mechanic owns an XB hardtop himself, the mechanic told me he would put a better cam in it than the original as the original was crap and alot better are available now. He also recommended I put extractors on it as he said this really wakes the old clevos up.

I do not know what heads the present owner has on it, other than he said they were fairmont heads which dosnt make sense to me. So who knows.
 
#21 ·
I would also add, I am not interested in peak power gains, but am more interested in low end power and tourque. At present when the car starts it is that quiet you wouldnt know it was a V8 at all. I want the v8 rumble out of my first V8.
 
#22 ·
Might have to replace a couple of mufflers as well as putting on extractors to get the rumble, if you can't hear it now.


If the owner put a cam in to save fuel, chances are it is probably milder than standard.
 
#24 ·
Black EX-R6 said:
I do not know what heads the present owner has on it, other than he said they were fairmont heads which dosnt make sense to me
being a 74 XB, it will most likely have the small port (2V) heads. check for a "2" on the corner of each head as you look into the engine bay. If it has a number 4, they're the big port (4V) heads. Fairmont heads make no sense, as they would of been running the smaller port anyway.. Only the GT got the large port and only up to early 73.

The original cam would be almost useless these days. Cam technology has come a long way in 30 odd years. Put something in it that has a good rev range, like 2,500 - 5,500 rpm. If you're not going to race it, then all you're looking for is more usuable torque down low.
 
#25 ·
K. I will remember to ask for a cam with rev range of 2,500 to 5500 rpm.

The problem with the heads is it isnt the original so I wouldnt know what was on it. I know the original had the small port heads but he changed them for some reason and I dont know what is on it.
 
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