E303 cam and TFS heads combo?

[stang302v8]

Hi im building an 86' 5.0 motor to drop into my 1970 mustang and i want to make it into a low end torque producing power house. Sacrificing top end for low end is not a concern. I have done some research and Ive come to the conclusion that I want to go with the E303 cam, and Twisted Wedge TFS heads. I'm running an edelbroch rpm performer intake supporting a holley 600cfm 4 barrell. I would like to know if anyone here is familiar with TFS heads and E303 cam combination, and if it is a good idea? if it works well?I'm 17 years old, not a lot of experience with building engines, this is my first time, advice is highly appriciated!

 

[Grn92LX]

If you want low end punch, the E303 is NOT the cam for you. Get yourself a custom grind cam specifically made for low end power. Get soem good flat top pistons and shoot for 11:1 compression.

 

[txstang84]

if your 86 short block is out of a stang, it'll have relief-less flat tops...and i think you can run the TW's on those motors, but depending on your lift numbers, you'll want to clay the tops to make sure you don't arrange a up close and personal meeting between a piston and a valve...

the heads are excellent though, and the e-cam is a good grind, but you might be better suited using the TFS stage 1 grind as it's designed to be used with the TW's...once again though, you'd have to ck clearances

there's more guys in here with the 86's though, i'd wait for them to reply...

welcome to stangnet, and good luck!

btw, good call bringing an old beast back to life!

...horsepower is addictive, future purchases are inevitable...

 

[stang302v8]

thanks, i appriciate the info. i want to make this old beast a red light to red light dominator. So why wouldnt the E303 cam be good with low end torque? ive heard it is great. is the trick flow stage 1 any better than the E303 cam , used with trick flow heads? i read that the E303 has LSA of 110 and TFS twisted wedge has 112 LSA so i figured the E303 would have a more lower powerband resulting in better low end torque?

 

[txstang84]

the e-cam is a good grind, its just that the stage 1 cam is ground to match up to the TW heads better, it's spec'd by tfs to play well with the heads. but if the lsa on the e cam is 110, it'll boost your midrange a little bit more...which is probably what you want anyway...either way, it'll run well i suspect...

but just make sure your valve clearances are good regardless of which way you go

 

[stang302v8]

yeah, i def. am planning on checking the valve piston clearance. i have an important question though, im just now learning about cam specs and i dont quite understand LSA. fromn what i understand the narrower the LSA, the more low end the cam is producing is that correct? and the wider the lsa the more mid range-high end power? im looking for strictly low end power, so was i right in choosing the cam with 110 LSA over the 112 LSA cam?

 

[txstang84]

in mechanical terms, the lsa is the difference in degrees from intake centerline to exhaust centerline, this dimension also plays with another measurement called overlap, the wider the lobe separation you have, the less overlap there is, creating stable idle vacuum, and almost instant throttle response. the narrower the lobe separation, the more overlap you will have, creating more erratic vacuum signals which also creates that intoxicating lopey idle which we all love so much. the low end may suffer slightly, but the midrange will knock your socks off and pull like a freight train...provided that you match your components correctly, either one of those cams will help that car run like a scalded a$$ ape. personally, if i were going to run either of those cams, i'd probably go with the performer rpm intake as the lower performer will kinda restrict you a little bit. i know you said you're not too concerned with top end, but either of those cams will probably make usable power up to 5800rpm (beyond the range of the performer low rise intake.)

you see my combo in my sig, the comp 270 runs 110* lsa, 270* total duration, 224* @ 0.050", i run the rpm intake, and before it started suffering here within the last 10k miles, it used to pull from 1500 to past 6000.

there's lots of ways you can increase low end or at least low end "feel"...a good way is if you'll be running an auto to put in a stall...a 2400 will get the r's up into your torq and power band quicker, and make the car get out of the hole alot quicker...

 

[txstang84]

2* either way will not produce a huge hp loss or gain...they would be negligible at best. not something you would really feel in either the low end, or the top end. now if you were swapping out a stock 114* lsa cam for what people used to call a 3/4 race cam-which usually run a 106* lsa, then yes you would noticed a substantial difference. mostly in the idle-it would be choppy and sound like it's about to die constantly. 110 or 112 are just about perfect for your intended purposes, a carbed 302 with mild mods.

 

[stang302v8]

so youre saying that the sider the LSA, the more smoother idle it will have, and the more low end power it will put out? and the narrower the LSA, the more rough idle it will have, with more of a mid range output?

 

[stang302v8]

*wider LSA not sider ...typo

 

[Daniel50]

the rpm is not the best intake for low end. get yourself a cobra

 

[txstang84]

he's running a carb dude-cobra no worky worky

 

[Daggar]

A nice Roots type blower will cure all your torque desires regardless of what cam you're running.

 

[stang302v8]

well thanks txstang your info has been helpful. by the way, would you know how much it costs in a ballpark, to get a block bored .30 over, cooked, zero the deck, frosted plugs, line bore and installed cam bearings at a machine shop?

 

[txstang84]

what is your exact idea of low end daniel?-less than 2500, 2000, 1500, less? the RPM is rated for 1500 to 6500...

all this still depends on what other stuff you're running, if memory serves the e-cam doesn't come on until 1500 or so anyway...it's got 280* total, 220* duration @ 0.050" and .500" lift...most cams with comparable numbers don't really start "coming on" until close to 2k anyway...

 

[txstang84]

depends on the machine shop, if they are decent then overbore, cleaning, cam bearings and freeze plugs, etc should run about $300-$500. unless you're installing new main caps, or the block is warped you shouldn't need the line boring or zero decking, most machine shops will just clean up the deck unless it warped, and that's kinda pricey to deck a block

 

[txstang84]

...but that's just the block work, if you wanted to replace the pistons, theres another couple hundred, getting the crank ground (if necessary), resizing the rods, buying rings, bearings, gaskets, etc...

even a mild complete rebuild on the bottom end is gonna run you close to $1500 if you count in all the nickel and dime stuff...