Yes, it is worth the cam swap into THAT dakota ($300?). That paint looks excellent (from your pictures). Headers, etc. The reason why people do not "feel" 5 trq increase is due to the mass being pushed. A 20 trq increase may be felt, but adding 5 here and there add up, and mods are complimentary to each other. On a side note: You could buy a spare block and refurbish/mod that one and swap when your ready.

 

Yea..i think i may do an engine swap in the summer when I dont need the 4x4..then do the mods to that block...good idea!..right now im just pushing for a lil more economy...it doesnt have any codes stored or check engine light so i just dont know what would be a good idea to replace or modify for better economy.

 

great deal on the truck. and i agree with siggie on the on the engine. you can throw a cam at it. it is worth it in my opinion if the compression and leak down tests are good. i don't know if 1.7 rr's are avail for the 3.9 but i would geuss they are. the engine swap would give you time to play and do whatever you want. lotsa things to play with if you wanted to.

 

what is a TRQ?

 

trq= torque

I try to avoid using terms in horsepower, because hp is a function of torque. 1 Hp is 33,000 lb-ft/one minute (as stated by Watts for the work of one horse in an 8 hour period). So really, we are talking about increasing the torque of an engine. I really do not give any benefit to hp figures from salemen as it is an ambiguous reference and the peak hp figure may be out of the range I am looking for.

I may be complicating the discussion, but it is a relevant point much like the difference between a motor and an engine; strawberries are not really berries, but a banana is, and palm tree's are not trees at all.

 

think of it like this. the dyno messures torque. hp is figured using the torque and rpm taken from the test. there is a mathmatical eqaution. i can dig in my old books for it if needed but sufice to say that all you want to make your motor more efficiant. you do that through breathing better. get it breathing easy and you'll get a boost in power.
these motors wer not so efficient at high rpm but were more eff at low speeds. that's why it's a truck motor. you need more torque at 2k rpm for pulling. putting it around 3.5 to 4.5 thousand rpm makes more of hot rod motor. the speeds are prolly skewed a bit (just for explanation).

 

To add to this, reducing friction, increasing thermal efficiency (higher compression), and reducing rotational mass increases the performance aspect as well.

I look at HP as "where the motor breathes the best" and is a good value to determine gear sizing, torque converter speed, and where to make changes.

These can be efficient motors, but not as the factory delivered. Obviously the producer has to make value engineering a priority to compete on the market. Oddly enough, the Magnum V6 can be made to compete with a V8 for 25% less money, but they don't sound as good due to the lack of a 90 degree firing order. Personally, from my research and looking through others gains from modding, the Magnum head can be ported and biased to produce 1.2 hp per CI (with a little compression help), which is phenominal. Add the 4" crank, and you have a light recipe for embarrassing the casual punk, and the bragging rights to prove you only have a V6. Adding nitrous would be ridiculous and probably flirting with 450 ft lbs. WITH A V6.

 

Cool now your talkin! I am accustomed to seeing it spelled out. Its like the procedure of driving a truck, In the old days if you just floored a truck that was carrying a heave load you could burn the valves and waste fuel because the weight of the vehicle would prohibit fast acceleration, thus most truck drivers advocated a little pedal and let the RPM build. Ive never gotten out of the habit thus I generally get more mpg than most on any given vehicle. Maby senility and old age have dulled my whits, asked Mrs. N and she said "Honey, new way to say torque".

 

Has anyone ever used the the performance cam keys that advances the cam timing? They come in a set where you can advance the cam timing 1, 2,3,4 or 5 degrees. I am planning on a timeing chain change in the near future and was thinking of useing these instead of modifing the CPS. Figured it would be alot easier and safer...any coments? Thanx