I am a proud owner of a 65 ford galaxie 500 with a 352 5.8L V8 and i need to know what all performance products are availible for the most hp increast on a 1000 dollor budget

 

A new set with cam and lifters will give the best performance on a low budget. Then check into a 4 barrel aluminum intake.

 

Go with a edelbrock 650 cfm carb and intake combo take two steps up with a cam and new lifters (crane makes a good grind for a mild BBf) buy a used set of headers off ebay and install a set of Flowmaster knockoffs then spend the rest of your money on a pertronix ignitor kit, good wires,and coil and gear it up to a 3.25 ring and pinion just my opinion though

 

I have found edelbrock carbs to be a major pain in the neck. If you have any knowledge of carburetors - get a Ford (or Motorcraft or Autolite) 4100 4 barreland tune it (if you can find one). They're a heck of a lot less hassle (look for one with internal splash guards). As far as gears a 3.25 set is a midrange. For low end street torque try adapting an 8 inch rear from a 4.9 6 cylinder pickup truck. For HIGHway speed try something higher geared. In all it's up to you what you want it to do. If you want the front wheels off the ground - then low gears. If you want to see 190 higher gears. If you want to live for sure - the 3.25's are nice. I have one in my '77 pickup behind a little 289. If you want any gas mileage you'll want the higher gears for highway miles or the lower gears for heavy city traffic. As far as cams - if you're willing to spend the extra time I believe Crane or one of those guys does custom cuts to get you what you really want. Don't forget to pay special attention to engine harmonics and options. As far as fluid dampers - I find them to be a little ???????? Fluid reaction I find to be something not set in stone - but regular dampers aren't as easy to come by. Rebuilding your old damper is possible and that's the way it was meant to run anyhow. People that think they can do one better than the manufacturer with engines often end up ruining them somehow. Every part improved on must be countered by other parts elsewhere to make it handle the new assembly. You may want to invest in a good rear deck spoiler if you are planning on seeing over 120 or your rear end will pick up (literally) and you'll lose traction. Also - it's wise to beef up the suspension - maybe coil-on-shock springs for extra load support in the rear and a thicker sway bar in the front. 1965 would be all drum brakes right? Well don't even hit the street without a plan of emergency cause even coming down from 100 with drum brakes will give you major brakefade (especially on a downhill). Instead of brakes you may need to manually downshift when you hit 50 or so - and even then you may not stop. Handling the horsepower is more important than making it for the most part. Front disk brake conversion would still be wild to slow from 130. For a disk brake conversion a matched-pressure set for all 4 wheels would be the best and eliminate improper motion in stopping (if they make anything good ???). 'Course you'd have to buy 10 sets or so of brakes with it 'cause these dumb brake companies can't manage to stay in business long enough to sell you set #2. God forbid you should crack any custom or performance parts - the company might not be there to buy another from. So keep in mind history when buying performance parts. 4 two barrel carbs will run better than 2 four barrels. Why? Because each two barrel carb. has individual jets (no secondaries) --- --- of course this will take more fuel to run--- ---secondaries are NOT a constant fuel draw and are cheaper to run. That's the basic carb. idea in performance engines. Now intake - height. Height affects the temperature of incoming fuel and the basic gravity of it funneling downward. Your improvements on intake center on cooling it, atomizing, obliterating or fuming the fuel by however means you decide (superchargers are nice), and improving intake components like valve and carb.(etc.). Now timing - too retarded and fuel will be burning out the tailpipe, to advanced and your engine will puke at lightning speed. Advance10 to28 before and you should be fine - just be sure your cam isn't too wild. remember if the engine is too good your transmission is in for a heap of trouble -especially automatics. They do make heavy duty sun gears , etc. for Ford automatic transmissions (although i'm not sure if they fit older cars of your sort). Next make sure the bottom end of your engine can handle a bigger carb. - use a main cap girdle inside the engine for extra support (your machine shop may likely have to install it). Adjustable rocker arms and maybe roller rockers will help reduce internal friction. Roller lifters will also reduce friction and reduce cam wear - but these things are often a pain to get lined up and operating well without machinery at your disposal. Comp Cams has some custom length pushrods - but don't use any of the aluminum rocker nuts a lot of the companies are trying to pass off - they're crap and you chance blowing your motor to pieces. Last look at your universal joints on your driveshaft. You may want to change them if yours don't have grease zerks. That self-lubricating baloney doesn't fly under pressure. Another change you could make is to transpant a newer transmission in (I know the '64's had some heavy cast iron trans cases from the factory - not sure what date in the late 60's to early 70's the aluminum changeover came - buy they're lighter and less mass equals more horsepower).

 

And then there's Nitrous Oxide...

 

What do they call a supercharger with nitrous? Supernitro? Nitrocharged? Either way it's scary powered. But keep in mind you need some different engine parts/components to handle super or nitro (obviously stock engine components are not too happy with some hi performance intakes and equipment ). Also you may need to beef up your transmission (if you have an automatic) to handle the power. (Although you could do some shaft balancing and material xrays (2 check for air bubbles in the metal) with a stick shift ).