e-cam vs. 1.7's

[luckythirteen13]

well i was planning on doing a cam swap in about a month. because of california smog it would be the e-cam. looked at a couple of others but am pretty much stuck with the e-cam. anyways, i dread the day i have to tear my engine apart to put in a cam, specially such a weak cam. then i was talking to dbeck and he was saying save yourself the pain in the ass and put in 1.7's. i was wondering what would be the pros and cons of the two. how much hp would i gain from each
here are my mods:
removed the air silencer
K&N air filter
C&L 76mm MAF sensor
Professional Products 70mm throutle body
Professional Products 70mm EGR spacer
Professional Products intake manifold (upper and lower)
Mac equal length shorty headers
Summit Racing catless H-pipe
Flowmaster-Delta Flow mufflers (with dumps)
aluminum underdrive pulleys (powder coated black)
Autolite platnum spark plugs
Mr. Gasket high flow 180 degree thermostat
electric radiator fan
MSD 8.5mm super conductor spark plug wires
MSD Blaster 2 (45,000volt) ignition coil
MSD 6AL ignion box
advanced timing to 14 degrees
Powerslot slotted rotors
Hawk Racing performance pads
custom shift kit
high stall torque converter
B&M transmission cooler
AFR 165 aluminum heads
Scorpion aluminum roller rockers
hardened push rods
Ford Racing 24# injectors
255lph fuel pump
Trickflow 3/8" heat spacer
UMI rear upper control arms
Mega Bite Jr rear lower control arms
adjustable pinion snubber
weld in sub-frame connectors with seat support
Ford Racing 3.73:1 gears
Ford Racing 31 spline limited slip differencial
Moser 31 spline hardened axels
Torque link
smog pump bypassed
adjustable fuel pressure regulator and gauge

1.7's would cheaper and a $h!t load easier to do
cam sounds cool
im cheap and lazy, so the 1.7's sound tempting but if there is a huge difference, then id go that route. n2o or blower(5-6psi) is possible mid next year
how will each effect the powerband? the stock cam seems to lag at the bottom, will 1.7's fix this?

 

[1990LXDropTop]

There are many cams out there that will pass CA smog. I would consider the crane 2031 or TFS stage 1 cam over the e-cam... I wish I had when I did my cam swap.

 

[bobbys9350]

i would DEFINETLY do the cam man, then do rockers too down the road. I know its a SH$* load of work to do, but once you turn that key for the first time that is the LAST thing you think about!

 

[Dbeck002]

Easy to say when youre not the one putting it in.

 

[maverick0716]

I don't see any aftermarket cylinder heads in that list. If you don't plan on getting some anytime soon (or ever) then just doing rockers isn't all the bad of an idea.....and yes, it would be a lot easier.

Edit: Nevermind I didn't see that you had AFR's In that case, definitly get a better camshaft. Also pick one that actually suits your combo, instead of the E303 which everyone and their dog picks.

 

[Scorcher2005]

hey man, i always dredded the idea of tearing my perfectly fine running motor apart too. But since im leaving for the USMC on Aug 8th, i wanted to get all the stuff in my sig put in. Well, i started on it a few days ago (only about 15 or so hours of work or so done so far) and my engine is sitting there, just a shortblock. i just have to pull the old cam out and clean it all up a bit and its ready for assembly. once you take the intake off, your good to go, no turning back. And its always better to have a friend there, that way you dont get bored and it makes you wanna keep going. Goodluck man.

 

[payupsucka]

do the cam you wont really feel anything from the rockers and especially since you have those afrs the cam will really help out the motor breathe i have and e cam and its not that bad people make the alphabet cams seem worthless they are decent cams its just that they are kind of out dated these days but for the price they are still decent cams

 

[1990LXDropTop]

do the cam you wont really feel anything from the rockers and especially since you have those afrs the cam will really help out the motor breathe i have and e cam and its not that bad people make the alphabet cams seem worthless they are decent cams its just that they are kind of out dated these days but for the price they are still decent cams

I agree. My crane 2040 (same as the e-cam) makes good power for the street. I don't understand why so many people bash it. It is really not a bad cam at all. It may be outdated and there are better cams out there, but it still works... Although I do wish I went with a better cam...

 

[SamSnyder]

Plus, my E303 and GT40 heads are officially certified for CA smog, which means that if I ever get in a fight with the smog guys, I can pull out my receipts and they will have to accept the car as smog legal. Plus, it blows very clean out the pipes.

 

[1mild88lx]

Install the E303 and 1.7RR, a set of heads would be nice.

 

[18mustangs]

Crane cams has quite a few smog legal cams. Go to their website and check them out.

 

[QDRHRSE]

A lot of cams will pass the actual sniffer. Since you have an illegal H pipe anyway you probably shouldn't care. I just passed smog on Monday with a non legal cam. I gave the referee the EO# for an E cam and that was good enough for him. Its not llike they're going to tear down your motor to look.

 

[luckythirteen13]

18mustangs, ive looked at the crane cams that are 50 state legal. they make the e-cam look like a pure drag cam....they suck!
1mild88lx, i have afr 165's already
QDRHRSE , what cam are you running? id like to have 400hp smog legal

i have to pass a smog test by tomorrow, not going to happen, but when i do get around to it, ill see how it runs. if it runs super clean, ill put the bcam in. ill probably put my cats back on tomorrow

plan to put cats back in, run 87 octane, run some stp fuel system cleaner before th test, fresh mobile one 10w30, clean tb and egr and set timing to 8*. if that doesnt do it im super *******

 

[Dbeck002]

lol lower your fuel pressure to like 35 psi and run lean for a little bit, shouldnt hurt.. (hell you told me a little while ago you were running 26:1 or something, i think 16:1 should pass smog JUST FINE!!!)

 

[luckythirteen13]

thats the thing though, the ecu has control of the air fuel ratio at the bottom end so leaning it out will only effect the top. thank God im running 13.5:1 now. that 26:1 crap was killing me. after my new balancer im going to do timing. something isnt right. i was running 26:1 and 14* of timing with no pre-detonation. i checked the plugs and never heard anything.

when i put the battery in the trunk this week, the ecu reset and the car doesnt seem up to par. i have to double check my afr again. shannon said i could take her lap top to the track on the 13th so i will be able to record my runs and load them up so i can tune inbetween each run. all of my testing as been in 1st and 2nd with low revs in 3rd. it will be nice to go out and run 0-100 and see what the wide band o2 has to say about it

 

[SamSnyder]

Not sure that lowering fuel pressure will help and I think it could hurt. As I understand it, lowering fuel pressure at idle could hurt the injector spray pattern, and force the injector to stay open longer to compensate, which means more bigger fuel droplets that will not combust as good. The roller dyno smog test in CA goes from idle to midrange, under load. But I think that for those parts of the power band, a higher pressure will actually improve atomization, with a finer spray over a shorter duration of injector time. In other words, in the lower part of the RPM band where the test takes place, I think that a higher pressure (up to a point) results in a finer spray from each injector, that should burn cleaner. Am I wrong?