Health Guy
New member
Ok...your title says CRATE motor...so i am going to ASSUME, it does not need a rebuild. that being said, aside from a turbo/supercharger, there are only 6 parts that truly contribute to power production.
Heads, pistons, camshaft, exhaust manifold, intake manifold, carburetor....
since your not rebuilding, and you want to keep it cheap as possible, you won't be needing to buy new pistons or heads...as heads can be incredibly expensive, and pistons involves you tearing the motor down.
Buy a set of headers. Small tube for torque, or large tube for power. its your choice...but it depends on what your doing...if your towing, grab a set of small tube headers...racing? ect...maybe the top end power of large tube is right for you. any idiot can install headers, but it can be a pain in the ass, as they are shaped awkwardly...
aluminum intake manifold. keeps the air cooler, and have smoother ports, is also considerably lighter. get more air to the heads, more air=more combustion=more power. and the more air like to exit fast, through your new headers.
Camshaft: You can find an RV cam (which literally means, an RV, like a motor home) which provides plenty of low end torque and high end HP. cams work by opening the valves a larger amount, for longer periods of time. i,e, more air, more fuel, more power.
Carb: once you put on an intake and a set of headers, you can bump your carburetor...dont over carb it like many noobs do...its jsut not necessary. with a cam, intake, and headers, 850cfm will be plenty....don't run below 650...and obviously you'll be running a 4bbl.
basically, in order of should do~
Headers, Intake manifold, Carb, Cam....assuming your running around 9:1 compression, that will easily put you around 400hp, and even mroe than that in torque.
i don't know about how much you plan on spending...but let me explain something 1st. These parts all work in unison with eachother....lemme give you a good example.
Headers, lets say they net you 15hp. and thats the only mod you do....ok pretend you did not do that and you do an intake instead...the intake nets you 15hp as well...
common sense would say that if you did both, you'd be gaining 30hp right? wrong. the more air your pushing in, the more air you need to let out for optimal performance.
when you do both headers AND intake...they sort of work together, kind of feed off eachother by sucking in more air, and also letting it out..sot he net gain might be 35hp total, instead of 30...them numbers are not really accurate...it all depends on your motor setup and its just an example...but hopefully you get the picture...and the train continues to roll with the cam shaft...cause now, if you have a cam, and its lopping the valves open for longer periods of time, your sucking even more air...which means that aluminum intake is coming in more handy, and the headers and spitting out even more air..
i know it sounds stupid, and i might not be the best at explaining it...but thats how it works in a simple nutshell. good luck with the build.
Heads, pistons, camshaft, exhaust manifold, intake manifold, carburetor....
since your not rebuilding, and you want to keep it cheap as possible, you won't be needing to buy new pistons or heads...as heads can be incredibly expensive, and pistons involves you tearing the motor down.
Buy a set of headers. Small tube for torque, or large tube for power. its your choice...but it depends on what your doing...if your towing, grab a set of small tube headers...racing? ect...maybe the top end power of large tube is right for you. any idiot can install headers, but it can be a pain in the ass, as they are shaped awkwardly...
aluminum intake manifold. keeps the air cooler, and have smoother ports, is also considerably lighter. get more air to the heads, more air=more combustion=more power. and the more air like to exit fast, through your new headers.
Camshaft: You can find an RV cam (which literally means, an RV, like a motor home) which provides plenty of low end torque and high end HP. cams work by opening the valves a larger amount, for longer periods of time. i,e, more air, more fuel, more power.
Carb: once you put on an intake and a set of headers, you can bump your carburetor...dont over carb it like many noobs do...its jsut not necessary. with a cam, intake, and headers, 850cfm will be plenty....don't run below 650...and obviously you'll be running a 4bbl.
basically, in order of should do~
Headers, Intake manifold, Carb, Cam....assuming your running around 9:1 compression, that will easily put you around 400hp, and even mroe than that in torque.
i don't know about how much you plan on spending...but let me explain something 1st. These parts all work in unison with eachother....lemme give you a good example.
Headers, lets say they net you 15hp. and thats the only mod you do....ok pretend you did not do that and you do an intake instead...the intake nets you 15hp as well...
common sense would say that if you did both, you'd be gaining 30hp right? wrong. the more air your pushing in, the more air you need to let out for optimal performance.
when you do both headers AND intake...they sort of work together, kind of feed off eachother by sucking in more air, and also letting it out..sot he net gain might be 35hp total, instead of 30...them numbers are not really accurate...it all depends on your motor setup and its just an example...but hopefully you get the picture...and the train continues to roll with the cam shaft...cause now, if you have a cam, and its lopping the valves open for longer periods of time, your sucking even more air...which means that aluminum intake is coming in more handy, and the headers and spitting out even more air..
i know it sounds stupid, and i might not be the best at explaining it...but thats how it works in a simple nutshell. good luck with the build.