Cams for my '04 GT?

Yes. Stage 2 cams will put you right at, if not more than 300 whp.

I would be a little weary about not upgrading the valve train. Hitech does state, "Upgraded springs not required, but suggested for operation above 6400 RPM." However, there are many people on this site alone that have had bad experience from not upgrading.

Hitech's are one of the best cams right now for our motors. That being said, I'm not a fan of the sound they produce. If I were to cam my car, I would want people to hear it.

I would get them tuned as soon as they are put in.

Very good Cam thread....where I got schooled. Haha.

http://www.stangnet.com/mustang-forums/832105-cam-question.html

Post at the bottom is a graph of basically full bolt on with Cams. Over 300 whp.

Very good Cam thread....where I got schooled. Haha.

http://www.stangnet.com/mustang-foru...-question.html

Post at the bottom is a graph of basically full bolt on with Cams. Over 300 whp.

Click to expand...

Haha. It was good learning. Thanks for posting the link.

Sonic04GT said:

So I'm thinking about cams with the tax return here soon. Is this a worthwhile mod? I have full bolt-ons right now making 270 at the wheels. Will I break 300 with stage 2 cams? Was thinking either the HiTechs or Comp Cams.

I like the fact that the HiTechs use factory valve springs. Do the Comp Cams require new ones?

I will be paying somebody to do the work. Is this basic drop in and tune? Will I be fine without an immediate adjustment tune?

Currently have

Longtubes
O/R H
catback
pullies
TB/plenum
suspension
gears
tune

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-Worthwhile mod?-
You are looking at spending at least $900 to buy them and get them installed. For some good dyno tune time you are easily over 1k total. That being said w/ either of the two cams you talked about above you should be right at or slightly above 300rwhp on a dynojet. The gain in power across the powerband and the sound made it a worthwhile mod for me. This mod will register on the butt dyno much more than anything you have listed thus far.
Does nitrous give you more bang for buck, yes- but it doesn't last forever like cams do.
Would 1-1.5k better be spent on a good start for a s/c kit- probably, but doing the cams with a supercharger later is not a bad deal either. Cams and superchargers can work very well together.

Bottom line I like my stage II cams. Get them installed correctly, dyno tune it ASAP.



For more details to your questions:
-300rwhp?-
already covered, yes you will be there w/ a dynojet, about 280-290rwhp w/ a mustang dyno (reads typically 3-5% lower).

-Comp 270's or hitech stage II's-
I wrote a ton about my experience w/ the hitech stage 2's in the thread posted by maxpowers.

I can't say a ton about the 270's because I've never owned them but in tons of research before buying they seem to be a solid cam. From the two cams you picked - if you want the rough idle the comp 270's are the one to go with, they are going to sound mean with your o/r H.

-Install-
Both cams have track records of potential PTV clearance problems. With both you will want to have your cams installed by someone who knows what they are doing. For either one- ***You must degree your cams. I know hitech advertises that you don't have to but it is a very bad idea. Google search PTV and hitech (or comp 270's) and you will find some horror stories on the corral about people who "just dropped them in". There are people who get away with it but your mileage may vary. For any stage 2 cam I would use aftermarket springs. My car is low miles and I used stock springs but my valvetrain now makes much more noise and is working much harder than before. Hitech recommend springs after 100k. The comp 270's require springs. If I were to do it again I wouldn't skimp out on springs, you will pay more now but have much more peace of mind later.

-Tuning-
You must tune. Your car will run like crap if you don't get it dyno tuned. The dyno tune is critical to this mod working correctly. With boltons- you just make minor changes to flow and the computer can sort it out. This is a significant change in the way the engine operates. It may require multiple dyno sessions to get the tune right and you should get a proper dyno tune ASAP after getting the cams installed (a mail order tune will not work). You should pay good money up front for a person good @ tuning to get everything right. Mine drove fine after the first tune (the '95% tune') but my tune required some tweaking to get everything right.

So how does cams affect mpg? I think this will be a deciding factor for myself if I get them. Not sure if Sonic cares about this but I do. Any thoughts on how much? I know changing the gears will change mpg but how much depends on the driver and the right foot and I would assume that with cams since its a mod that is always there it might lower it some. Any good info on this?

Any info on mpg change when putting in new cams guys? sorry to threadjack but it seems somewhat pertinent.

ahall2004 said:

So how does cams affect mpg? I think this will be a deciding factor for myself if I get them. Not sure if Sonic cares about this but I do. Any thoughts on how much? I know changing the gears will change mpg but how much depends on the driver and the right foot and I would assume that with cams since its a mod that is always there it might lower it some. Any good info on this?

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I was going to write on gas mileage in my novel above but it wasn't asked about so I saved a little space.

Examples of goods and bads w/ gas mileage:
Goods: Just did a 950 mile trip across to Alabama from SA, started with a full tank, looking at my receipts I used 32.5 gallons to get to 50 miles from my destination. So 900 miles / 32.5 = 27.7 mpg pure highway. This is: 99.99% of the time on cruise control, right lane-going the speed limit, freshly waxed car, with a clean air filter / clean fuel filter / fresh oil change. Overall really the gas mileage hasn't changed for normal hwy driving. This is probably due to the dyno tune being superior to the previous mail order tune (seemed to run a little more rich before). The cams just don't require a significant increase in the amount of fuel when the engine is running at steady state hwy speeds. Another good thing is that even with a 93 octane tune you can still run 87 oct (asked the tuner) with stock compression as long as you stay sub 3.5-4k rpm (perfect for my long trip to save ~20 cents+ a gallon).

Bads: You get heavy with the right foot the mustang is definitely more thirsty than before. It has gone as low as mid teens with mixed city / hwy, no recent exact examples but this is a general trend. I have found that your city driving mpg becomes much more sensitive to how you accelerate. Driving a little more aggressive will easily result in a city 2-3 mpg loss over similar driving w/ full bolt ons.

Pretty much, as widely known, the main determinant of gas mileage is your right foot, you will suffer more at the pump w/ a lead foot. You can still get the same gas mileage you get now, you will just need to be more careful.

Sonic04GT said:

Thanks again for the additional information. So looking at the Comp 270s, do I need cam gears? Like an additional $290.

What about these retainers?
Comp Cams Valve Spring Steel Retainers (96-04 4.6L 2V) at AmericanMuscle.com - Free Shipping!

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You don't necessarily need cam gears, but be sure you time your cams appropriately. See this link for assistance:

ModularHeadShop Articles on Cam degree

Depending on how far off your stock cam gears are, you may also need an adjustable crank gear.

I can't stress it enough Sonic, you have to have the cams degreed properly. Just be sure you are taking it to an install guy who's familiar with OHC engines and specifically feels comfortable degreeing them. In order to properly degree these engines many times you have to file away the keyway on the sprocket.

I installed Comp Cam Extreme Energy Stage III (278/282s) cams in my car without degreeing the cams. I had no PTV issues. I did install a set of Comp Cam beehive springs when I installed the cams. After tuning, I was at 304/309. The heads were holding me back. They had a nice lope to them but since the stock heads couldn't keep up, I never got to feel the full potential of the cams before the lower end seized up due to timing chain guide coming apart and clogging my oil pickup tube.

They were decent cams but a little too big for unmodified heads. I would stick with a good set of Cushman Stage I or II cams.

I reused the stock sprockets and hardware.