Engine HO cam in non HO roller block ‘93 f150

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DanC1993f150

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Mar 21, 2026

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Mar 21, 2026

#1

• Mar 21, 2026

• #1

Hey everyone,
I’ve got a 1993 F150 302 roller block, E6 heads.
Long time ago started an engine tear down to have a little more power and just to have refreshed. Thought I would buy a bit more aggressive melling 24214 cam (stage 2) for it. Not realizing the different firing orders of the HO to non HO. Did some research into swapping plugs and rerouting injector harness around but there is a lot of debate on the topic and no solid answer. Some say due to the o2 sensors reading it will won’t run well. Others say it’s just a matter of playing the swap around game. Just curious has had a HO cam into an obs before and what they’ve done.

Just curious if I can get away with what I’ve got and if I can’t how bad will it hurt the pocketbook to run the HO cam.
Thanks

 

Noobz347

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#2

• Mar 21, 2026

• #2

I do not believe you will gain anything with those heads except messing with O2 sensor calibration.

What ECU and harness are you using for this non-HO block project?

 

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DanC1993f150

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Mar 21, 2026

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#3

• Mar 21, 2026

• #3

It’d be the same as what had came on the truck. 93 f150, with a e4od. Not sure on the exact Serial number of the ECU

 

Noobz347

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#4

• Mar 21, 2026

• #4

Not worth it IMO. If you insist on trying to upgrade the cam with those swirl port heads, get one that keeps the same firing order.

Spend your money on a supercharger kit and call it a day (if the engine runs well).

 

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DanC1993f150

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Mar 21, 2026

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Mar 21, 2026

#5

• Mar 21, 2026

• #5

Okay, if I went out a bought a set of E7 heads and had them ported I’d be in better shape to keep the cam.
Brings me back to my original question of needing to change possible ecu and or intake manifold?

 

AeroCoupe

lube between the nut and the face. I know my lubes

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Mar 22, 2026

#6

• Mar 22, 2026

• #6

Just my .02 here but the E7 heads ported are just a little bit better boat anchor than the E6 heads. If you are going to go to that effort and spend money and/or time porting E7’s look for a set of used aluminum heads or GT40’s.

Walk away from the 351W firing order camshafts and get one that is on the old 302 firing order.

If you do heads and a can you will most likely need a tune so set about $600 aside for that and I would suggest an SCT chip and have it dyno tuned not mail order crap.

Your other option is to swap it to MAF. You want to find threads like this:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1588629-speed-density-to-maf-conversion.html

 

S

slow84lx

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Mar 23, 2026

#7

• Mar 23, 2026

• #7

A few years back I contemplated doing the same to my 92 F150 but with an Exploder cam and GT40P's. Did lots of reading up on it and came to the conclusion that all that was required was to swap 2 injector plugs for the firing order change. Your research may differ.

In the end I didn't do it, it was a lot of effort when what the truck really needed was a 351.

 

Reactions: General karthief

General karthief

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

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#8

• Mar 29, 2026

• #8

I'm thinking that 93 non HO 5.0 engine has a lower compression ratio, the top of the pistons have a recess, this was my experience with a non HO block from a crown vic, there may be a slight bump for a truck block but still less than an HO engine, you will likely run into PTV issues if you go for a better head/cam swap, I stuffed a E cam with a set of P heads on a non HO block and every exhaust valve kissed the piston ever so slightly, idled with a slight lope but was a turd below 1800 RPMs, I could not cruze a parking lot without losing a driveshaft....all that to say check the stock compression ratio, you may be surprised.
just my experience..