Thread: 454 or 460?

Tweet

Originally Posted by Paul Kane

If the LOOK of an engine is all you concern yourself with, tigers83, then go ahead and keep your distibutor and oil pump in the back of the engine. Ford put them up front because they put FUNCTION before FORM (or as you refer to form, "looks"). You see, the camshaft is being tugged by the cam chain at the FRONT of the cam. So, why load the cam at the REAR? Yeah, T-W-I-S-T that cam, tigers83! It may not matter to you now (ie in a mild build), but when you start building really powerful engines, even the smallest power robbing details are taken into consideration because they all add up...and also because the more power you try to generate, the more something (such as cam chain up front/distributor and oil pump at rear) can affect peak power output.

Paul

what about oil surge? on the street with a big torquey engine or especially anything on the drag strip wouldnt the g forces slam the oil backwards into the rear of the engine-like it does when you put your foot down and it slams you into the seat-coincidently where the dip down in the sump and oil pickup are on a chev away from where it is on a ford? which is why they woulda needed 'trap doors' and to keep the oil there sorta fixes to problems caused by putting the dissy at the front, is that a more functional reason for putting it at the rear? id tend to worry about that way before worrying about cams twisting or you could have bigger problems haha. i realise extreme engines would have dry sumps though but would this be a problem on the street and street strip cars? just throwin another theory out there