help me with cam and valve spring selection

99FiveOh

15 Year Member
May 20, 2006
2,051
20
99
J-Ville, FL
I'm going to start putting my motor together here in a few days and I need some suggestions. I've done extensive searching on the subject of valve springs and what I'm seeing is 10 different people in a thread suggesting 10 different sets.

I know there was a good set of valve springs from Crane Cams, but I can't seem to find it anymore. Links to summit for these springs turn up nothing. What is a good, readily available set of valve springs that won't break the bank. They are going on either GT40p's that I have or GT40's I might pick up this weekend if they are still there.

Second, cam choice. I really want the Steeda 19 cam, but I'm not going to pay almost 300 bucks for it. I'll go custom before I do that. So, with that said, what is a good of the shelf cam for a street stang. I'll probably never take it to the track and the car will be mostly for shows. The motor will have stock pistons and the aforementioned head choices.

Thanks guys for helping clear this up so I can get to ordering!
 
call comp and ask them about their XE (Xtreme Energy) line. and get the springs they recommend.

then again, if the bank is more important, then maybe you should go with something like a trick flow 1 cam and matching springs.

there is my $.02
 
They still have the crane spring package at summit, You just need to wait about 2-3 weeks to get them. or you can just go trickflow drop in, I got the crane kit.

I though steeda 19 was like $200....???? when did they go up in price?

Only good OTS cam i know that is cheap is trickflow stage 1 or Ford ABCDEFG cams.
 
The Trick Flow 1 cam is pretty close. For the price, it's about right. The GT40 heads are really hurting on the exhaust side, so I'd stear clear of the alphabet cams.

Kurt
 
They still have the crane spring package at summit, You just need to wait about 2-3 weeks to get them. or you can just go trickflow drop in, I got the crane kit.

I though steeda 19 was like $200....???? when did they go up in price?

Only good OTS cam i know that is cheap is trickflow stage 1 or Ford ABCDEFG cams.

Steeda #19 Camshaft for 1985-1995 Ford Mustang 063-0019

I guess it's not quite 300 but after tax and shipping I'll be it will be damn close! Still, if it means I don't have to get a chip right away I guess it's money well spent. I just want the motor portion of my upcoming project to be easy and straight forward.

Are there any springs out there that can use the rest of the stock parts such as locks etc..?
 
It will fit with stock pistons, I don't know if you are using 1.6 or 1.7 rockers but i know they clear with 1.7 rockers, otherwise their lazy asses wouldn't do it, lol. :rlaugh:Also the "E" cam with 1.7 rockers clears too. and the thing that pisses me off is they make more power then i do..., well that's another story.

Anyways the total lift has nothing to do with clearance, it has more to do with duration or something, something, blah, blah.

If it makes you feel better I personally have 530 lift cam in my junk and it clears with my gt40 heads with stock valve size. It runs like crap but sounds good :) and i have no tune. lol

I am just going by what i have seen and not what i have heard. If i were to do it again, I would put "F" cam with the gt40 heads and be done.:rolleyes:
 
It will fit with stock pistons, I don't know if you are using 1.6 or 1.7 rockers but i know they clear with 1.7 rockers, otherwise their lazy asses wouldn't do it, lol. :rlaugh:Also the "E" cam with 1.7 rockers clears too. and the thing that pisses me off is they make more power then i do..., well that's another story.

Anyways the total lift has nothing to do with clearance, it has more to do with duration or something, something, blah, blah.

If it makes you feel better I personally have 530 lift cam in my junk and it clears with my gt40 heads with stock valve size. It runs like crap but sounds good :) and i have no tune. lol

I am just going by what i have seen and not what i have heard. If i were to do it again, I would put "F" cam with the gt40 heads and be done.:rolleyes:

you can put whatever cam you want in whatever motor but just because it clears in one, doesn't mean it will clear in another. this is why you NEED to check piston to valve clearance EVERYTIME. recently saw a stock shortblock 5.o that had piston to valve contact with a tfs stage 1. the deck height was so low on the block from the factory it hit even with the 1.6 rockers. just goes to show you why you need to check. we ended up fly cutting the pistons in the motor and it's fine now, but you NEED to check this!
 
I understand where you're coming from... however, if you have 1000 people take a stock motor and throw an F cam in there and have zero issues, there's an excellent probability that you also will have zero issues. Now, there's always exceptions to these rules as your friend found out first hand. But not everyone is set up to figure out PtV clearances in their garages or shops, therefore we come on here and ask if others either had or had no issues.

I've heard both ways with F cams which is why I steer clear of them for a stock short block application. I will probably end up buying the darn steeda cam ultimately because I know it's a tried and true cam that gets results. And since I plan to supercharge the car it will serve that purpose well.
 
But not everyone is set up to figure out PtV clearances in their garages or shops, therefore we come on here and ask if others either had or had no issues.


You can find enough clay to check ptv in a 9 year olds bedroom.:shrug:

ill write you about the top later but there is a page in my build thread on it. But just take your own advice and pay someone to do it, if you don't want to recommend someone else doing it you probably don't want to try it yourself.
 
Maybe the same skill set involved in doing polishing work like this:


3967__x_fos-orlando-2010.webp


Trust me, I'm 200% sure I can handle putting a new top on my car. I asked you because you've done it and lived it so you could offer a few pointers along the way.
 
you can put whatever cam you want in whatever motor but just because it clears in one, doesn't mean it will clear in another. this is why you NEED to check piston to valve clearance EVERYTIME. recently saw a stock shortblock 5.o that had piston to valve contact with a tfs stage 1. the deck height was so low on the block from the factory it hit even with the 1.6 rockers. just goes to show you why you need to check. we ended up fly cutting the pistons in the motor and it's fine now, but you NEED to check this!

This is rare, May be the heads you saw was milled or block been rebuilt and milled or this is an early stock block trw pistons.

But doesn't hurt to check.

Just go with Steeda 19, but i think "F" will clear