Electric Water Pump

[ccz145a]

It all depends on YOUR criteria. My criteria is reliability, enjoyment, and cost. I tend towards mechanical solutions because of the proven reliability.

I just don't see my engine getting much more fuel efficient since teams of engineers worked tirelessly for 40 years and the best they could do for a 454 moving a 3 ton vehicle was 16mpg. So, I don't waste my time on that and just enjoy having a truck and not making payments.

Your quest is different than mine, so my way of solving problems and deciding what to buy may not fit your needs.

[eventhorizon66]

I just don't see my engine getting much more fuel efficient since teams of engineers worked tirelessly for 40 years and the best they could do for a 454 moving a 3 ton vehicle was 16mpg.

I agree with what you're saying in terms of cost-to-benefit, but GM did anything but work "tirelessly" on either the SBC or BBC.  They were given much attention during the 60's, but then R&D was pretty much haulted for better than 20 years.  The current BBC designs do NOT represent 40+ years of R&D (more like 10, LOL).  Good thing they had a winner from the start.

[Skunksmash]

So really, they are 20 years behind. Maybe not that far behind other car co's, but behind what they could be. Although i will say a DOHC v8 is more efficient than a pushrod.

[eventhorizon66]

Although i will say a DOHC v8 is more efficient than a pushrod.

The only clear advantage I can see with the OHC design is reduced valvetrain mass and subsequently increased rpm potential.  There is nothing inherent in the OHC design that makes it more efficient that the OHV design.  Now that said, 4 valve cylinder heads have the ability to satisfy the engines breathing requirements much better than 2 valve heads, but it comes at a cost of a less efficient combustion chamber design with dramatically less swirl (resulting in less mixture agitation after it passes the valve).

[VileZambonie]

Increased surface speeds also need to be factored in. Direct acting valves also hace no rocker ratio advantage and all of the lift needs to be built into the cam. If a rocker ratio is used then spark plug location has to be changed and can't be in the center of the combustion chamber. So there's + and - to each design.

[Skunksmash]

Yeah but i think overall, the OHC is the victor when it comes you get to the bottom line. That's why you won't find a 4 cylinder in the world that is being produced with pushrods anymore. At least not any that anyone would want. Even GM which was very slow to adopt the technology uses it in their cavaliers. Excuse me, cobalts. If you took a motor that was the exact same (as much as it could be, anyway) but one was a OHC or DOHC design, and one was a pushrod, the OHC engine would be more powerful and get better mileage. This is evidenced in those 10,000 RPM indy cars where they just simply can not use a pushrod system.