96 explorer engine cam and valvetrain suggestions

[dbfarr]

Hey everybody,

I picked up a 96 explorer engine at the junkyard and am finishing cleaning it up.

The idea here is to run this engine for a few years while I address some other issues on the cougar.

So I'll reseal the engine, and drop a cam in it, put on my performer intake and carb and roll with it.

Still, the pedestal rockers it came with are crappy. I figure a set of Crane energizer 1.7's would be a worthwhile investment.

So should I run a stock HO cam until I build the rear end and install a t-5, or does anyone have other suggestions... If so, what springs would I need, or even better, how do I calculate which springs I need?

Basically, rambling aside, what would you do?

Currently I have a c-4 and an 8 with 3.0 gears.

 

[tb9050lx]

Hey everybody,

I picked up a 96 explorer engine at the junkyard and am finishing cleaning it up.

The idea here is to run this engine for a few years while I address some other issues on the cougar.

So I'll reseal the engine, and drop a cam in it, put on my performer intake and carb and roll with it.

Still, the pedestal rockers it came with are crappy. I figure a set of Crane energizer 1.7's would be a worthwhile investment.

So should I run a stock HO cam until I build the rear end and install a t-5, or does anyone have other suggestions... If so, what springs would I need, or even better, how do I calculate which springs I need?

Basically, rambling aside, what would you do?

Currently I have a c-4 and an 8 with 3.0 gears.

i would put a bcam or ecam in it,def a set of roller rockers the springs should be suffient for these cams,but new springs never hurt

 

[Mustang5L5]

TFS Stage 1 cam w/ TFS upgraded springs for GT-40 type heads.

 

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

TFS Stage 1 cam w/ TFS upgraded springs for GT-40 type heads.

Agree 100%. That's the magic combo around here. A lot of guys run the whole Explorer engine and all they change is the cam and valve springs (headers and all that too obviously) and run deep in the 12s with traction.

 

[dbfarr]

Agree 100%. That's the magic combo around here. A lot of guys run the whole Explorer engine and all they change is the cam and valve springs (headers and all that too obviously) and run deep in the 12s with traction.

What about rockers, worth the scratch for a set of used Ford Motorsport 1.6's? Or diminishing returns on what is effectively an engine with around 2 years of life?

 

[LiquidGT]

It would be worth putting 1.6 rollers on it.

I have a 96 Exploder motor and TFS1 cam and TFS springs, all I have to say is watch out with the TFS spring kit (or heads). It turns out Ford made some non standard exhaust valves on some of the GT40 heads. My machinist couldn't get the valve retainers to work on the exhaust side without shimming the hell out of it (.200 worth of shims). After some research I found out Ford made some GT40s with weird valves and I had to use some -.050 (I think) valve retainers on the exh side to fix this headache. I still have a half set of those things, if you happen to run into the same problem PM me.

 

[stykthyn]

What about rockers, worth the scratch for a set of used Ford Motorsport 1.6's? Or diminishing returns on what is effectively an engine with around 2 years of life?

depends on how much you bought the motor for.
I bought mine for less than 200 dollars at pick and pull and have all the bolt ons in my signature for less than 1000 if you dont count headers. car runs like a raped ape too.

 

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

What about rockers, worth the scratch for a set of used Ford Motorsport 1.6's? Or diminishing returns on what is effectively an engine with around 2 years of life?

As for the guys running that combo, i can't say since i never asked..lol but yeah you'd probably be better off with roller rockers to say the least. A lot of guys around here go pretty fast with relatively simple setups....take mine for example, i've got ported 40 year old heads with an off the shelf Ford cam and that's the bulk of the combo and it goes 12s still spinning 1st and 2nd.