Tell ya what. How about he puts in the Rhodes lifters. If there's no change, I pay for them. If, however, he gets a smoother, quieter idle, you pay for them.
Think 22GT s going to win this. Had a friend several years ago with a Tiger with a hefty cam...installed a set of Rhodes and man did it ever smooth it out and actually seemed to produce more low end torque.
Hi everyone. WOW.. I did not think I was going to get this kind of response. Otherwise I would have checked back sooner.
Getting back to my original post.. and i should have been more clear on this. I was merely asking about my CAM what you guys opinions of it were. I really am in no position to change the CAM. I don't want to spend the money to do it, nor do I have the technical expertise to do it myself. I want to change the exhaust to something tamer. However, I've read where that might not help a whole lot if the cam is to aggressive. That's why I posted asking about the cam. Someone asked about my exhaust and headers. I do not know what what they are. I've looked through all my paper work can't find what they are. I did climb under to take a picture which I'm going to try and attach to this post.
Also, someone asked for a sound clip. I do have a youtube clip that they previous owner made when he was in the process of selling the car. Towards the end he'll start the car. It's hard to hear in the video, but there is a lope. And.. I know from the video, you guys will think I'm crazy because I'll admit, it doesn't sound too bad in the video.
Troy10,
Looking at the photo, it appears there is not an H-pipe and or crossover between the 2 sides of the exhaust... the lack of one results in a louder exhaust... having a shop add a crossover would be easy and inexpensive... my opinion I would start by adding one of those and seeing how it sounds, if it is still too loud then replacing your unknown mufflers with known quiet turbo mufflers like Walker Dynomax Super Turbos would be a good start... in a previous post of yours I mentioned Rainbow Muffler in Cleveland... another option would be Mufflers for Less on Pearl Rd near Brookpark in Cleveland... they put a cat back system on my daily driver for $159... they bend all the exhaust they put on so adding a small crossover would be a simple task for them...
Well I'm obviously not an expert, but what is his best plan here?
Seems like mufflers would be the cheapest, least evasive swap. Find an ultra quiet muffler and see if that makes him happy, knowing that it is a gamble and may have to dig into the motor later...either lifters or cam? Maybe it will be enough to get him by till he is ready for the cam swap if be is still not happy.
How much cheaper would it be for Rhodes lifters (push rods if needed), labor, gaskets, etc. versus a shop swapping out the cam?
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1968 Fastback: 331 stroker, FTI cam, N351 Heads with a few upgrades, 4r70w w/3600 stall, 9" locker w/3.70 gears
So he is going to have to pay for the conversion and pay for new pushrods that are the proper length when he could just toss on a couple of stock mufflers on the thing which will do more for sound then what you are talking about. Sounds like a great plan...go with it.
The stock 65-66 mufflers are smaller than the ones he has, plus they are 2" inlet, while his pipes are 2 1/2". Now that's a great plan.
Instead, he gets the lifters he already has modified, puts them back in with the pushrods he already has, and the car runs the way he wants it to run.
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Amateur restorer. (Well, once in a while I have been paid for it)
Well I'm obviously not an expert, but what is his best plan here?
Seems like mufflers would be the cheapest, least evasive swap. Find an ultra quiet muffler and see if that makes him happy, knowing that it is a gamble and may have to dig into the motor later...either lifters or cam? Maybe it will be enough to get him by till he is ready for the cam swap if be is still not happy.
How much cheaper would it be for Rhodes lifters (push rods if needed), labor, gaskets, etc. versus a shop swapping out the cam?
Well, that's an excellent question.
Since the lifters and pushrods have to be removed either way, that's a wash, labor-wise. Changing the cam requires, additionally, removal of the radiator, fan, fuel pump, harmonic balancer, water pump and timing cover, timing set, and cam. Basically, changing the cam takes a whole day. Coupla mufflers, 1-2 hours, IF the replacements are compatible with the pipes.
If the OP had a set of Flowies, I'd have gone after them first thing. I've driven a lotta Mustangs with Flowies, and I'll never use them. The noise would get old real fast. My other car has straight through mufflers that are quieter than most Flowies. But he's already got big conventional mufflers, I just don't see how mufflers a couple inches bigger will solve his problem. For sure mufflers won't make it idle smoother.
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Amateur restorer. (Well, once in a while I have been paid for it)
I tried some Rhodes lifters with a really lumpy cam I had in a 289, not a huge difference. If compression is marginal for pump gas, these lifters might pose a problem.
__________________ N/A 408 c.i. G-Force 5 spd. 10.x through the mufflers
I agree, if that thing in the photo is not a crosstube. I'm a big believer in crosstubes. Smoother sound, more power. What's not to like?
If its just a sound issue then I would put an x-pipe on it and mild resonating mufflers. I don't know how this turned into such an in depth cam thread.
If its just a sound issue then I would put an x-pipe on it and mild resonating mufflers. I don't know how this turned into such an in depth cam thread.
Well, my part in it is that I think his car is over-cammed for a cruise-night-take-the-wife-to-Dairy-Queen car. Mufflers will not make the car idle smoother.
And the X pipe, a useful item, will not work as well at low rpm as the crosstube. The OP started this by saying " I want a nice muscle car purr... and this sounds like a dragster".
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Amateur restorer. (Well, once in a while I have been paid for it)
I agree, if that thing in the photo is not a crosstube. I'm a big believer in crosstubes. Smoother sound, more power. What's not to like?
As a related question...........how important is the position of the crossover--IOW, where is the optimum position and how bad is it if you can't get it there (our case with the AOD)?? If this is hijacking feel free to tell me and I'll make a new thread.
As a related question...........how important is the position of the crossover--IOW, where is the optimum position and how bad is it if you can't get it there (our case with the AOD)?? If this is hijacking feel free to tell me and I'll make a new thread.
Paint a stripe on the exhaust pipes behind the headers, and make a few high speed passes, where the paint discolors is the ideal location, usually a foot or so behind the collectors.
__________________ N/A 408 c.i. G-Force 5 spd. 10.x through the mufflers
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