Big cam small head vs small cam big head

[blykins]

Try it without the stall converter....

[plovett]

Tell that to all the guys with 4000 lb Galaxies with big cammed 390's and 4 speeds.

They're out there, driving around......

Hey O.P.! What'd you decide to do?

paulie

[blykins]

Tell them what? Tell the 4-speed guys to not use a stall converter? Big Galaxies run really well with big cams, 4-speeds, and big gears.

Yes, I'm curious to hear the final word as well. If we haven't ran him off....

[My427stang]

I think this discussion drifted away from the original poster's question

With an FE head design and most modern aftermarket options, its nearly impossible to kill the low end enough that a Cobra wouldn't be drivable with a wide range of cams.

Note that I didn't say any cam, I am saying a very wide range of cam designs will lug a lightweight standard shift Cobra all around town.

So just match the entire engine, not just the cam, for the RPM range he desires. No use putting a 7000 rpm cam if the car is going to be shifted at 5500, regardless of whether it would have enough low end to drive him to Chick Fil-A happily. He would be dealing with a grumpy cam down low without taking advantage of it

Going back to his original question though, knowing the modern FE heads have relatively small CSA and port volume, I say go the best flowing standard style heads and matched intake he can afford and then cam to meet the RPM peak he wants based on that combo. Unfortunately, with most Cobras you have to take into account a crappy exhaust, but hey, nothing is perfect. If the best he can afford is stock truck heads, he's probably getting a little more cam...if they are worked BTs, he'll need to pull a little lobe out of it to hit the peak.

In either case though, like I said earlier, its not a 69 Boss 302, there just aren't any cavernous, mixture stalling high RPM heads out there. Seeing as there isn't, he may as well go for the cleanest airflow he can.

Hell, I'd run a Lexus-like 256 adv duration on 114 centers in my Mustang if I could meet the rpm and power peak I wanted using other means...why run something radical when you don't need it? Not that I could, but you get my drift.