cam help

pdh098

New Member
Feb 16, 2006
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What would be a good cam for a ford 289 with 10.5 comp.,Edelbrock Performer RPM heads,RPM Air-Gap Intake,C4 2500 stall TCI Converter. Going in a 66 mustang.
 
I think that without any prior personal experience with your engine combo and not being an expert, I'd suggest sending in a cam request card to comp cams and they'll be able to point you in the right direction.

A few questions need to be answered first:
-Hyd. or Mech. flat tappet?
-How do you plan on using the car?
-What cam is in there now? & What do you plan on acheiving from the swap? ie: broader power band, higher peak hp/tq, more low end tq, ect.
-What is the max lift you can have with you current combo? Are the pistons notched?
-Header? Size?
-Carb size?
-Rear gearing?
-Rockers? Pedestal or stud? Ratio?


It'll take a whole lot more info in order for someone to be able to get you started in the right direction. With that said, if I had to take a guess, i'd say shoot for a cam similar to Comp Cams XE268H 1600-5800rpm power band

224/230 @ .05", .509/.512 lift, 110 LSA

COMP Cams - Cam Details


With a little more info, some of the more expirienced guys in here can chime in for you.

I hope this helps :cheers:
 
Mechanical flat tappet or hydraulic mostly street and strip, has roller rockers , spring pressure is closed 130, open 325 to about 350 at .544 lift. Was using CompCam 290HR retro-fit didnt make much power.
 
Well . . . what exactly do you mean by it didn't make much power?

Do you mean that it doesn't have any low end torque (judging from the camshaft you indicated you're using, that wouldn't surprise me--that's a pretty big cam for that size engine).

The combo you have indicated seems to be built for high RPM power, and as such, a 2500RPM stall speed converter would most likely be MUCH too tight for it . . . a 3000RPM or 3500RPM would probably be a better choice.

It probably would rev all the way to 6500 or above (assuming the lifters don't pump up if they're hydraulic), which should make pretty good power in the upper RPM ranges, but that's not a real good combination for normal street driving.

I have a stock '98 Explorer roller engine; I've installed AFR 165 heads and a CompCams XE258HR camshaft.

Comparing this combo to the Ford Racing Parts 5.0L crate engines, the cylinder heads are better, and the cam has shorter duration (by a few degrees) but a LOT more lift than the ones in the crate engines; other than those differences, they are very close to being the same, so my combination should be able to produce as much power or pretty close to it as those engines.

Now . . . if you want better drivability on the street, I would recommend a combo either line the Ford Racing crate engines, or comparable to mine. It has GREAT power all the way up through around 5500RPM, and I think that any of these combinations would work well with the converter you have.

Hope that helps!