RE: JPOR: cylinder taper & pulley removal

["BRERETON, John" <John_BRERETON@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I had always thought that the taper was calculated from subtracting the
bottom measurement from the top measurement.  The bottom of the cylinder
(closest to the crank) should be the bigger measurement and is typically
tapered a bit due to the varying directions the connecting rod pushes during
the cranks rotation.  The balancer...I can't seem to remember anything on it
that would keep it from coming off once the big bolt has been removed (if
I'm thinking of the right thing).  Isn't there also some kind of big thick
washer involved as well?  Knowing AMC, you might have some kind of half year
engine where they changed how the pulley mounted to the balancer and never
got mentioned in the TSM because they didn't stay with it long enough. 8^)

I just got my 258 back from the machine shop.  I cost $170 to bore it out 30
over.  Looks right smart too!  A master rebuild kit will be around $475.
I'm thinking of upgrading the cam just a tad to get more low end but don't
want to go too radical.  My 10 year old Clifford catalog suggests a 254 or
260 cam.  Is there anyway of figuring how bad my gas mileage will suffer by
doing this?
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