1966 Ford Mustang - Windsor Warrior

The camshaft is off COMP Cam's shelf with 0.565/0.574-inch lift, and 232/240 degrees of duration at 0.050-inch lift. Its 112-degree lobe separation angle makes it really street friendly with a strong idle and a higher vacuum level. This is what they call a "fast acting" cam, where rate of opening and closing is very fast. It has less total duration without sacrificing high-end power. As with many other parts, it gets a healthy coat of assembly lube before it goes in.

Every engine Smeding builds uses a multiple-layer steel head gasket by Cometic. They give a great seal and distribute the load around the bolt holes more evenly than other gaskets.

With the heads torqued on, the rest of the valvetrain can go in. This includes the hydraulic roller lifters, pushrods, and Scorpion rocker arms. Hydraulic lifter adjustment is really easy: just one turn past the nut's seat on the rocker arm, and it's good to go.

Edelbrock's Victor Jr. intake manifold is one of the most popular intakes on the market. Smeding uses it because the ports are 1/32-inch smaller than the head, helping the torque curve. Smeding has custom intake manifold gaskets made, and "The Right Stuff" gasket material instead of the end seals and for around the water passages.

A lot of the value in these crate engines comes from the dyno testing. There is no better way to ensure something will work unless you test it yourself. Chad Martin, tuner at Smeding Performance, performs the small changes needed to get the air/fuel mixture just right.