Help me pick a cam!

[smercier]

Sorry for the long hiatus, just been wrapped up in other things.

The heads are GT-40 irons from a '95 lightning. They've been lightly ported on the intake side, and the exhaust bumps have been removed. I have not had them flow tested, and don't want to invest more money in them having it done.

Right now I'm leaning toward taking a bit of a shot in the dark with an e-cam. Before I do, I'll probably spend a little while on the phone with a few companies seeing what kind of shelf cams they have. I imagine getting a custom cam made without precise head flow numbers isn't the best idea.

 

[69Rcode_Mach1]

I haven't read this whole thread, but let me say. The stock 5.0 HO cam is what you need. It produces tons of torque and really pulls hard through the whole powerband. I think it is underrated, it is a very good cam that offers great results.

 

[smercier]

Yeah, after talking to one of my dad's old racing buddies last night I'm thinking of a stock HO or B cam as well. My main concern with the HO cam is buying a used one. I don't imagine I can find one new outside of the Ford dealership, and I imagine they'd want an arm and a leg for it.

 

[stang302v8]

F303 cam. with 1.6 rockers the lift is .512 and it has LSA of 110. lopes mean and has great power especially midrange-top end. peak power is like 2800-6000 rpm. thats what i went with

 

[milner351]

It is specifically for cases like this that I invested in the desktop dyno computer program.
Like any other program, the output is dependant on the input... however, if you have accurate information on your components you can get within a few % of the real world dyno numbers using the computer.... that aside, what is really important is the fact that you can SEE the trends and shape changes of the power / torque curve by making changes. You can also use the "iterator" and allow the computer to sweep a large range of cam profiles and allow you to choose the best one for what you are looking for.
It sure has helped me make enging build decisions.

I ended up having CAM RESEARCH grind a custom cam for my 395 stroked windsor with twisted wedge heads. I wanted to keep lift at a minimum to preserve the health of my valve train (twisted wedge heads tend to put a pretty good burden on valve guides)
Cam research is an EXCELLENT place to deal with, VERY helpful on the phone, and if you're going with a flat tappent, they offer the only service I know of to break in the cam for you so you don't have to deal with that on your initial fire up of your fresh engine.

GOOD LUCK!

 

[D.Hearne]

H.O. cam has .440 lift. The thing to do with the H.O. cam is to run the 1.73 roller rockers. That gives it close to about .460 something lift.

You're off a little with those specs. The Lobe lift of the GT/HO cam is .278, giving you .445 lift with 1.6 rockers, .473 with 1.7's and .481 with 1.73's.

 

[D.Hearne]

Yeah, after talking to one of my dad's old racing buddies last night I'm thinking of a stock HO or B cam as well. My main concern with the HO cam is buying a used one. I don't imagine I can find one new outside of the Ford dealership, and I imagine they'd want an arm and a leg for it.

If you need a good used GT/HO roller, I've got one pulled from an 88 Lincoln Mark VII. Engine had less than 70K miles on it. Cam looks great, no visable wear, takes a long time for one to wear to the point where it changes the specs anyhow. I'm over here in Opelousas.