Reground stock 196 OHV cam

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   anyway this past weekend was the SoCal TT, about 600 miles of driving in two days in so cal, this time LA to Joshua Tree/Palm Desert, mountains S. of Banning, etc. most fo that time spent at 2500 - 3000 rpm, often flat out, now that i have the suspension about as dialed in as it's gonna get until i fix the stiffness fore of the firewall, then later, ditch the front suspension and with it, the rest of the understeer.
for probably the first time in any car, i could have gone faster if i had more power. usually in canyon stuff i've been handling-limited, eg. notorious rambler understeer. most of that, in this chassis, is in the *rear* suspension, and camber loss up front, with soft springs.

anyway the cam, head, carb, spark timing and T5 and axle were all in sync, it pulled solid 1800 - 3200 and likely more, but it doesn't feel like i oughta rev to 4000, or at least past 3500, which in fact it should be OK with. not sure why i'm reluctant or how to tell. i mean for relativelty sustained effort, i don't do 1/4 mile stuff, it's all long endurance.

this undersquare motor is certainly cam limited. the head sealing is too lousy for turbo, which would solve it outright (the section between siamese pairs is under 0.25"). i'm too chicken to go even 4psi, i cant afford to blow it up.

i think my next motor is a 258, probably an 82, so i can get the light crank. it'll fit in my highly modified engine bay, i moved the firewall back 3" and i don't use a belt driven water pump. a slightly warmed over 258 would beat this thing hands down.

if i had the money to play i'd think of pushing the 195.6 ohv more, but i'm having too much fun driving to chance blowing it up.

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tomj Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List AMC Addicted Joined: Jan/27/2010 Location: earth Status: Offline Points: 7555	Post Options Post Reply Quote tomj Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Oct/10/2017 at 12:51am
	anyway this past weekend was the SoCal TT, about 600 miles of driving in two days in so cal, this time LA to Joshua Tree/Palm Desert, mountains S. of Banning, etc. most fo that time spent at 2500 - 3000 rpm, often flat out, now that i have the suspension about as dialed in as it's gonna get until i fix the stiffness fore of the firewall, then later, ditch the front suspension and with it, the rest of the understeer. for probably the first time in any car, i could have gone faster if i had more power. usually in canyon stuff i've been handling-limited, eg. notorious rambler understeer. most of that, in this chassis, is in the rear suspension, and camber loss up front, with soft springs. anyway the cam, head, carb, spark timing and T5 and axle were all in sync, it pulled solid 1800 - 3200 and likely more, but it doesn't feel like i oughta rev to 4000, or at least past 3500, which in fact it should be OK with. not sure why i'm reluctant or how to tell. i mean for relativelty sustained effort, i don't do 1/4 mile stuff, it's all long endurance. this undersquare motor is certainly cam limited. the head sealing is too lousy for turbo, which would solve it outright (the section between siamese pairs is under 0.25"). i'm too chicken to go even 4psi, i cant afford to blow it up. i think my next motor is a 258, probably an 82, so i can get the light crank. it'll fit in my highly modified engine bay, i moved the firewall back 3" and i don't use a belt driven water pump. a slightly warmed over 258 would beat this thing hands down. if i had the money to play i'd think of pushing the 195.6 ohv more, but i'm having too much fun driving to chance blowing it up.
	1960 Rambler Super two-door wagon, OHV auto 1961 Roadster American, 195.6 OHV, T5 http://www.ramblerLore.com