Addendum to some of the previous remarks:
From camshaft theory that goes for any engine...
Back in the good old days, guys realized that changing camshaft duration could change the power band and help to increase power. The down side was always a loss of cylinder pressure.
To make up for it, they would increase the compression ratio.
One of the biggest mistakes I remember watching guys do was to take a stock, low compression engine and add a long duration cam to it. The car would be an utter dog with no power. The main reason was the fact that the long duration cam kept the valves open longer and decreased cylinder pressure.
Then there were the guys that heard the romantic benefits of 11:1 compression or 12:1 compression.
They would rebuild their 350 Chevy with those pop up pistons PAW and others advertised and then they would install a stock or very short duration cam. The result was an engine that made way too much cylinder pressure and would ping itself to death on pump gas.
A properly chosen combo of parts would give satisfactory performance on a given octane of fuel.
I have a friend who was quite adept at this and built himself an 11:1 compression 302 Ford with a fairly long duration cam that he tuned to run on 87 octane. The thing was an animal that would go 12.60's @112 on the radials. The 2 key factors were the aluminum heads and the camshaft he picked out.
Manufacturers have know for years the benefit of aluminum.
Besides the weight savings, it helps pull heat out of the combustion chamber and it allows running more advance. I really do think they are beneficial on a Buick V6 as they would be on any other engine.
I also think that the pipe dreams of running ridiculous amounts of boost on pump gas is achievable if you take into consideration the camshaft theory I posed. You can take a long duration cam and kill your cylinder pressure and make up for it with boost.
But the fact also remains that it IS cylinder pressure that makes power. To me, it is just a matter of how much power you want to make. I personally am building a mild engine that I plan on running fairly high boost on pump gas and alky. Yes, I know its a gamble.......then again just about anything you do with these cars is a gamble. But it is a risk I am willing to take.
Ok, off my box now.
From camshaft theory that goes for any engine...
Back in the good old days, guys realized that changing camshaft duration could change the power band and help to increase power. The down side was always a loss of cylinder pressure.
To make up for it, they would increase the compression ratio.
One of the biggest mistakes I remember watching guys do was to take a stock, low compression engine and add a long duration cam to it. The car would be an utter dog with no power. The main reason was the fact that the long duration cam kept the valves open longer and decreased cylinder pressure.
Then there were the guys that heard the romantic benefits of 11:1 compression or 12:1 compression.
They would rebuild their 350 Chevy with those pop up pistons PAW and others advertised and then they would install a stock or very short duration cam. The result was an engine that made way too much cylinder pressure and would ping itself to death on pump gas.
A properly chosen combo of parts would give satisfactory performance on a given octane of fuel.
I have a friend who was quite adept at this and built himself an 11:1 compression 302 Ford with a fairly long duration cam that he tuned to run on 87 octane. The thing was an animal that would go 12.60's @112 on the radials. The 2 key factors were the aluminum heads and the camshaft he picked out.
Manufacturers have know for years the benefit of aluminum.
Besides the weight savings, it helps pull heat out of the combustion chamber and it allows running more advance. I really do think they are beneficial on a Buick V6 as they would be on any other engine.
I also think that the pipe dreams of running ridiculous amounts of boost on pump gas is achievable if you take into consideration the camshaft theory I posed. You can take a long duration cam and kill your cylinder pressure and make up for it with boost.
But the fact also remains that it IS cylinder pressure that makes power. To me, it is just a matter of how much power you want to make. I personally am building a mild engine that I plan on running fairly high boost on pump gas and alky. Yes, I know its a gamble.......then again just about anything you do with these cars is a gamble. But it is a risk I am willing to take.
Ok, off my box now.