I am planning on building a 406 semi daily driver. I will be living in Minnesota soon so that is why it will be a semi daily driver. Any way i am no good with cams and I am wondering what type of specs each of you have without killing MPG to badly. I am not expecting to get great MPG but I want double digits. I also dont have all of the details worked out as far as heads go but I am leaning towards AFR 190s. Thanks for the help.

------------------
Member of NCTGA
North Carolina Third Gen. Assoc.
'89 Iroc-Z
305 TPI few minor things
5 speed
Lowered 2" and yes it is a pain to drive

 

I would go with the Comp XE268 or the XE274.
If you can afford a hydroller get the
XR276HR or the XR282HR. The 276 with 1.6 rockers on the intake would probably work pretty well.

 

My budget is really not going to be a problem. I really dont want to take the chances. I know you can build a really mean engine on a budget but if you dont really have one why bother.

 

My 400 isn't a 406, it's still std bore so it's a 402; but I doubt that makes much difference to the issue at hand. I'm runing a Comp XR282HR with Comp 1102 roller rockers. Mileage is terrible around town, 12 maybe, but is around 19 on the highway.

This is with 186 heads (double-humps) for rabout 10.4:1 CR, a Holley 6211 800 man sec DP carb, Edebrock TES, stock HO exhaust with a Dynomax cat, stock HO air cleaner, Performer intake. It is my daily driver. It passed emissions when I lived in TN, don't know what it will do out here in CA. Yes, it drove from Memphis to So Cal, via Denver, pulling a trailer.

------------------
"So many Mustangs, so little time..."

 

come to think of it we did not give you specs.

268
224/230
.477"/.480"

274
230/236
.480"/.496"

XR276
224/230
.502"/.510"

 

Man RB83L69 that must have cost you a fortune in gas. Thanks for the specs jcb99 I am giong to need to do a lot of research on the subject so I know everything that is going on. But I will remember those for when it is time to put it all together.

 

RB,

You moved to the land of tarantula's and scorpions ?

Ah, Carlsbad is neat - at least the Delta humidity is history, huh ?

Uh, about the cam - I've got the Comp 274 in a 327 street car and I'm very happy with its' manners and drivability. Like RB says, stepping up to a roller is preferable - if you've got the dinero.

No matter which cam you choose, you'll get best mileage at a cruise RPM that most closely approaches peak torque output. This is the area of best volumetric efficiency.

In my 327, that's about 3,200 - 3,500RPM.

Keep it "on the pipe" and it will return 20+ mpg properly tuned.

BOR

 

BOR,
Arent you building a 406? Is that going to be a race engine? I am just wondering what type of combo you are going to run. Thanks for the info above.

 

I'm running a 415 daily driver with a ZZ9 and my mileage averages 24.5 which is a combination of street/highway driving. On the highway it's around 27. This is according to the 86 Vette's computer system calculations.

Stock manifold base, BBK large tube semi-siamesed runners, ported stock plenum, 27 lb injectors, 11.38 CR, 10 degrees of initial timing, 40/48 fuel pressure, 1.6/1.5 roller rockers, 170 F stat, 700R4.

Hope this helps,

Jake



------------------
1986 Corvette Coupe, 415 CID, Edelbrock 6073s, ZZ9

 

I will be using the LPE SuperRam 213 cam. It has 224/234* duration and 467/488 lift.

------------------
Black 90 IROC, L98, A4, 323 gear. SuperRamed 406 in the works!

 

Well BOR, so far I like it out here... the weather sux today though, it rained this morning and it's only about 65°! I'm told that some businesses and schools actually have "rain days" here. What a hoot.

You're right drkhrse, it did cost kind of alot. What happened was that my wife's brother moved to Denver about a month after I moved here; so I had a hitch put on it, gave him $500, let him rent a trailer to pull all his stuff to Denver, and then deliver it to Carlsbad here. He then rode the train back to D. He said it was a pain pulling the trailer but after that was off the rest of the trip was a blast! Plus, the car is a really good road car; comfortable seats, good A/C, CD player, plenty of power (duh!!) etc. So he enjoyed the last half. I've done the Memphis to Denver trip myself, and Mphs to Chicago a couple of times, and to OKC, and to Charlotte, and some other road trips before

Here's the link to Comp... go to the cam spec cards link, and scroll down the list to the "retrofit" rollers, the XR276 and XR282 are in that group. IMHO the 282 is pretty much on the ragged edge of what you would call a "daily driver", but it sure is fun smoking the Mustangs.

http://www.competitioncams.com/


Have fun!

------------------
"So many Mustangs, so little time..."

 

Guys you are the greatest. I appreciate all of the help that was given. I am going to trust you guys and decide between the two comp cams. It wont be until next winter so I have a little time but I want to have it all planned out before I go diving in to the whole mess.

 

I have a Comp XE 284 in my 406. (240/244 @ .050, .507/.510 lift) You may want a vaccuum can with this cam, my brakes don't work all that well while im sitting in traffic. I run a Victor Jr. and Dart Ironeagle heads with 10.25 to 1 JE pistons. I drove this every day during the summer, to the grocery store and everything. You must have a higher stall converter with this cam. i had a tight 2500 stall and the thing would not idle. now i have a TCI Streetfighter that stalls at about 3200. Chevy high performance mag recently tested a 406 that was virtually identical to mine. they got 455 hp and 498 lb/ft of torque.

i can't say much for gas mileage because i need to get a speedometer cable for my Autometer speedo. i'd guess it's around 10 or 12.

------------------
88 S10
Lowered 3/4
Dart equipped 406
12.20 @ 115.25 mph

 

Thanks S10 MAN I have a subsricption to CHP but I havent gotten one in the mail for a while. I will have to find it and see what I can do. I am going to be putting a T-56 and also having it TPI. I have very limited knowledge towards carb and tbi so I am going to stay with what I know. Well, what I think I know.