Are there some ballparks? I searched and the general consensus is that a well balanced stock assembly is probably good for about 6200. What about to get to 7000? 7500? This will probably be a later roller block with solid rollers. I'd like to build a real screamer race 302 for a stripped-down mav. Just wondered how much farther I can rev per dollar invested.
curtis, i run a 308. i shift at 6200 and go through the traps at 7200. i talked to my engine builder about changing rear gears to lower the rpm's and he said i had a long way to go. so i guess it's all in how it's built and the quality of parts used.
We turn a 351w full race motor to 8000, in a sprinter. You cannot do this with stock crank assembly and expect any reasonable life. The other thing is airflow. The heads and carb have to flow well enough to support that rpm level and the cam has to also support the flow and valve train/springs operation must be at a quality level to have reasonable life. The stock heads even ported, flatten out above 6500.
My 100% stock motor ( not my current one) had nothing but new rings, cam, manifold and headers and I turned it to 6500 RPM constantly for a period of 2 years and over 15000 miles while in high school. At that age I did not care that the power stoped at 5000 or so LOL.. But it did come apart. Sometime around 2 years and that 15k mile mark, it sucked a valve right through the piston! So, it was not the bottom end that let go. (I did have it balanced and machined well, but nothing special)
depends on how you build it. I have ran my stroker to upwards of 7,800 rpm. Doc Hudson runs his destroked beast in the 9,000 range.
We just had several lengthy discussions over at Automotive Forums about this. I moderate the Engineering/Tech forums and a proprietor of coates rotary valve showed up to sell his product. He couldn't prove any of his speculation. He was later seen selling the "Tornado"... Thanks for the replies, folks. So I'm thinking a well balanced bottom end on a stock crank, main studs, top notch rod bolts like ARP wave loc, and careful attention to weight of reciprocating parts should get me a safe 7000, with occasional 7500-8000 on the weekends. Sound right? Is there a forged or nodular factory crank I should look for?
What Ol' Blue said (IMHO). If you want reliabililty and longevity, I'd stay around 6,000-6,200(max). If your money and time (labor) is no object, rap 'er to 8 G's.
Excellent info, thanks to all. Details aren't hammered out yet, but I've never owned a car that responded well to a high-revving engine. All of my rides are 4000 lbs or more. I once had a BMW 3-series which was fun, but not as light as you'd think. Now that we're doing a lightweight racer, I'd really like to get some revs out of things. Even if I go too far and I don't like it, its only a cam and head swap to get back out of the stratosphere. Since I'm not familiar with aftermarket Ford intakes, at what RPM do you guys swap to a single plane like a Torker, and is there a need to ever go to something like a Victor Jr if you're going above 7000?
I used to shift the 302 I had in my car at 8200. This was with a stock balanced crankshaft and polished stock rods with the good ARP wave lock bolts swinging those old heavy TRW pop up pistons. The key is in the quality of the machine work. As much attention to detail must also be given to the valvetrain as well. The valve springs in particular will take a beating at 8000 rpm. The valve springs required much more maintenance than the bottom end in my situation.
I clicked on NEW NEW 1974 Maverick and got Not Found The requested URL /1974 Ford Maverick 302.htm was not found on this server
Yep, I was in the middle of editing the website and my lovely XP locked up. It will be up later tonight or tomorrow. Sorry 'bout that.
