Tom,
Three digest posts have passed and not one expert answered your questions.
I'll try, then they can jump on my ignorance.
PORTING AND POLISHING. Our wonderful engines are made of cast iron. The
manufacturers do what they can to make them work, but they are working
against cost. Working on the ports takes the process one big step further by
improving the gas flow. You do need a good mechanic, and I had one, to know
how to "polish" the port and orate a better swirl to the gas flow.
MILD STREET CAM The cam governs how long the valve is open. The longer the
intake valve is open, the more gas in the cylinders. Cams can be gotten from
stock to racing, m;id to aggressive. Mine allows a bit of extra gas in the
cylinder on intake. If you had a racing car you would want an aggressive cam
to allow as much gas in the cylinder as possible.
Both of the above increase power, as well as the larger cylinder bored .040
over stock. I noticed an immediate improvement, but then I was comparing it
with an engine that needed to be rebuilt.
PISTON RODS....Once again we are back to cost. The manufacturer can only
require so much tolerance per item, which translates into cost. Naturally
they have to hit the trarget of final price. By working on the internal
parts of the engine, we can eliminate some of the energy wasted by the
manufacturers required tolerances.
Sorry if I explain all tis as a matter of cost, but I'm an ex product
manager, and everything we manufactured was in relationship to cost.
Remember, when Donald Healey planned what became an Austin Healey, he wanted
to be capable of going 100MPH, and price it between and MG, and a Jaguar.
That target determined what went into the car in terms of parts, and
manufacturing costs.
Jack
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