Thread: For Don Shilady

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Hello,

Just sitting around with the roadster in the garage for winter weather. The last good run was a fun ride of about 50 miles in November with a niece who is one of the most lively family members. After that short trip I sent her a Christmas present of a 1929 roadster T-shirt from Bratton's Antique Auto Parts. She was delighted with the shirt and I already have about six of them for both Coupe and Roadster '29 Fords. For the last two years I have been pleased with the Jones high speed crank pulley to max out my small alternator. However on the 50 mile trip my niece wanted to hear a Jim Croce disk on my four speaker "quadraphonic" system. The sound system performed well with good volume over the trip but just on the last few miles we had some slight rain and the electric windshield wiper struggled greatly due to insufficient current competing with the sound system. Actually that was the first time I used the sound system for more than a short test. At present I am considering a switch to disable the two speakers in the mostly closed rumble/trunk. That may make it possible to play the sound system with the wiper on? The main reason i am writing now is because I am doing some winter dreaming of a cam change and using Rhoads lifters. Last fall I matched up with a stripped '28 roadster and he easily walked away from me at a light using a dual quad intake and obviously a better cam. My R400 low gear is good for 50 yards or so but after the first (auto) shift a higher lift cam definitley has an advantage. Sooo, lets hear some suggestions for the best cam with Rhoads lifters in my 355 SBC with 9:1 CR, ported 882 heads and Edelbrock Performer-RPM with a single 600 cfm quad carb. Tube headers are the shorty type for hood fit and a H-pipe exhaust with twin turbo mufflers. I like the Comp Cams dyno chart for the 274 cam but am wary of cam break-in problems with Comp Cams unless one pays another hundred $ for nitriding now available. An easier alternative is to just switch to 1.6 roller rockers without a cam change for such little improvement that it might not make much difference with my present small cam which is basically a copy of the 1977 camaro stick. Considering I may not teach this summer I may not have any fun money to make a cam change but I already have the 1.6 rockers so that may be what I will do to make a slight improvement. Some tests show that just adding 1.6 rockers on the exhaust valve add some power but in the past folks on this Forum have said the rocker ratio does not make much difference?

Best Wihes,
Don Shillady
Retired Scientist Teen Rodder