Cams?

[sunburstgold]

I am looking to spend some of my hard earned money again and was wondering if cams were really worth it? A guy that i work with who previously worked for a ford dealership told me that because the 4.6 is an interference motor if you put cams in it it will only gain a couple of horses, but i also hear many people say that they are very pleased with their cams and the power improvments that they get. Now i will say that my coworker has been wrong in the past... more than once lol ... So thats why i'm askin.

As always thanks!

 

[VTEngines]

I am looking to spend some of my hard earned money again and was wondering if cams were really worth it? A guy that i work with who previously worked for a ford dealership told me that because the 4.6 is an interference motor if you put cams in it it will only gain a couple of horses, but i also hear many people say that they are very pleased with their cams and the power improvments that they get. Now i will say that my coworker has been wrong in the past... more than once lol ... So thats why i'm askin.

As always thanks!

Add another one to his wrong list........

 

[CanadaStang]

Cams help the 4.6 as much as any other engine. The VT stage I's work very well, if your going with the II's you should have LT's in order to take full advantage.

 

[sunburstgold]

Not going with L/ts but i have been looking at the VT 1's are they worth the money or if i'm going to get a cam should i just go ahead and the stage II's and L/T's. I also know that the II's need a tune and valve springs to reach the full potential.

What should i expect out of a VT 1?

 

[jasonh_86]

You're going to need a tune no matter what cam you go with.

I figured if I was going to go with a cam, i'd get somethign that I could build around. So I ordered the VT Stage 2 N/A cams

 

[hotmustang331]

STG1 vs stg 2s are really up to the person.

STG 1s

1 Retain lowend torque of engine

2 Noticable idle, but not radicle at all

3 Pulls up to 6200RPMs, which is the most you want to turn a stock engine

4 VERY easy to install, by simply pulling the valve covers

5 After market valve springs are not needed

STG 2s

1 Loss of lowend torque vs stock to about 3500...surpasses VT stg 1s @ around 4500

2 Very nice idle... definatly noticable and loapy.

3 Pulls to 6400+...but best shift points are really a little high for a stock motor IMO

4 Must pull down the entire front of the engine and retime the engine. (reccomended to degree the cams in)

5 After market valve springs are required ($200 ish)

6 They will peak around 10RWHP higher than the stg 1s


So whatever suits your fancy I guess.....I went with stg 1s after taking everything into consideration. In a way I wish I went with the 2s, but then again I dont. I just want to hit 300, so im pretty sure the stg 2s may have got me there lol.

 

[jasonh_86]

STG 2s

1 Loss of lowend torque vs stock to about 3500...surpasses VT stg 1s @ around 4500

2 Very nice idle... definatly noticable and loapy.

3 Pulls to 6400+...but best shift points are really a little high for a stock motor IMO

4 Must pull down the entire front of the engine and retime the engine. (reccomended to degree the cams in)

5 After market valve springs are required ($200 ish)

6 They will peak around 10RWHP higher than the stg 1s


So whatever suits your fancy I guess.....I went with stg 1s after taking everything into consideration. In a way I wish I went with the 2s, but then again I dont. I just want to hit 300, so im pretty sure the stg 2s may have got me there lol.

That's why I went with the Stage 2's (or will be going with, as soon as they arrive at my door).. but it was a VERY hard choice on stage 2 vs. stage 1.. Both are sooo tempting

 

[sunburstgold]

Well if they only net 10 over the stage 2's then i will EVENTUALLY lol ... go w/ the stage 1's seems like a lot less of a hassle expecially for a street car where low end torque is important. How much do they stage 1's net over stock?

 

[VTEngines]

Well if they only net 10 over the stage 2's then i will EVENTUALLY lol ... go w/ the stage 1's seems like a lot less of a hassle expecially for a street car where low end torque is important. How much do they stage 1's net over stock?

I's say ~25-30rwhp peak is the norm for Stage 1's...but substanially larger gains over stock at higher RPM's. Stage 2 usually gets you about 10rwhp more @ peak and even bigger gains at higher RPM's. I saw a stock 2002 GT that added stg 2 cams and springs gain 30rwhp peak to peak over stock and gain 55rwhp @ 6000rpm over stock.

 

[COramprat]

No real dyno numbers so compare but I gained 5 tenths at the track with cams and tune. That's in the neighborhood of 30HP. I have Comp 262's

I have some iffy numbers of 208 before and 230 after but it was on two different dynos and two different times of year.

 

[BurningRubber]

A guy that i work with who previously worked for a ford dealership told me that because the 4.6 is an interference motor if you put cams in it it will only gain a couple of horses.

That doesnt mean anything. All it means for it to be an interference motor is that if your timing chains/belts/timing set skip some teeth, or you mis-time the engine, or one of the above fails that the valves will crash into the pistons and destroy the engine. Thats how most import engines die, since they use timing belts that tend to snap if they arent changed on schedual.

Non interference engine if you break the timing set/chain/belt no biggy, just get a new one and set the timing... no broken parts.

 

[stangman]

my vote goes to VT cams as well. i have the stage 1 cams & they're great. they even do suprisingly well with boost

 

[hotmustang331]

That doesnt mean anything. All it means for it to be an interference motor is that if your timing chains/belts/timing set skip some teeth, or you mis-time the engine, or one of the above fails that the valves will crash into the pistons and destroy the engine. Thats how most import engines die, since they use timing belts that tend to snap if they arent changed on schedual.

Non interference engine if you break the timing set/chain/belt no biggy, just get a new one and set the timing... no broken parts.

What engine wouldnt be? Rotary maybe? Or maybe one with an insanely small cam? Sorry, im not familure with which engines are or arnt. I know you can send a valve into a piston with a pushrod...if you break a chain.

 

[BurningRubber]

What engine wouldnt be? Rotary maybe? Or maybe one with an insanely small cam? Sorry, im not familure with which engines are or arnt. I know you can send a valve into a piston with a pushrod...if you break a chain.

A 4.0L Jeep engine is one, lol. I dont have a list of them, but there are inteference/non interference engines. Some have enough piston to valve clearance, some dont.

 

[sunburstgold]

what is the difference in a blower can and an N/A cam?

 

[Mike97gt]

What engine wouldnt be? Rotary maybe? Or maybe one with an insanely small cam? Sorry, im not familure with which engines are or arnt. I know you can send a valve into a piston with a pushrod...if you break a chain.

the old 1.9 escorts and 2.0 SPI motors were non interference..

BTW sunburstgold the guy that told you that the 4.6 won't gain much with cams, what was his job at this ford dealer.. lot jockey? cashier?

 

[jasonh_86]

I's say ~25-30rwhp peak is the norm for Stage 1's...but substanially larger gains over stock at higher RPM's. Stage 2 usually gets you about 10rwhp more @ peak and even bigger gains at higher RPM's. I saw a stock 2002 GT that added stg 2 cams and springs gain 30rwhp peak to peak over stock and gain 55rwhp @ 6000rpm over stock.

What mods were on that '02 GT?? Completely bone stock?

 

[VTEngines]

What mods were on that '02 GT?? Completely bone stock?

The ONLY mods to the car were a set of Flowmasters welded in. That's it.

 

[jasonh_86]

The ONLY mods to the car were a set of Flowmasters welded in. That's it.

Holy lord.. I wish I could get some gains like that when mine get put in and tuned.

 

[Cantslowdown]

What cams would be better in the 1/8 say with 4.10 gears..To me i would have to say stage 1s they seems to have the power down low..