Opinions on Ford Cam

[AdamInChains]

What is the general opinion on Fords M-6250-E303 Cam for a 347? I think this is the cam that comes on most of fords 302 crates. I know its not a big cam at all but im looking for something with good idle quality but at the same time i dont want to be leaving too much power on the table. I'm running Performer heads and basically a performer RPM intake with a Holley 570 carb. Thanks for your opinions.

 

[ultrastang]

That's a good cam, but you can generally get it cheaper through Crane. Crane was the OEM cam manufacturer for Ford for the "letter-series" cams. Crane will have a different part number, but you can compare specs to know what the equivalent is.

 

[mustangdave]

Ultrastang is right, (as usual), but I think there are more modern cams that will get you faster ramp rates and still set the valves down easy allowing more power. The E cam was a smog legal cam, (93 Cobra?), but I believe you can do better.

 

[D.Hearne]

Well, if your comression isn't too high and your valve springs will handle it, go for the gold......... Z303. Less overlap than the E cam and more lift and duration. I have one in my 331 with Canfield heads and 1.7 rockers. Intake is a high rise dual plane 3x2 with 3-250 cfm Holleys. Idles at 600 rpm, power comes in at 1500 and pulls to 6500. Had to run it on 89+ octane though with it's wider LCA and 10.4 to 1 compression. I've run the B , Z and F4TE rollers now and all worked great with carbs. Never tried the E though. The Z was a surprise with its idle. The B sounded rougher.

 

[D.Hearne]

The E cam was a smog legal cam, (93 Cobra?).

The Cobra 5.0 had it's own cam. Same one used in the 93 T-Bird and Cougar with HO 5.0's. Less cam than than the GT/HO Mustang cam.

 

[AdamInChains]

Thanks. Well this cam is already purchased and installed in my 347. I just wanted to make sure i didn't shoot myself in the foot for using this mild of a cam. I dont plan on switching it out unless i find out its a POS, which doesn't seem to be the case. My compression is currently around 9.4 i believe. Any idea roughly how much power is to be gained from the Z series cam? I'd like to keep my power at the mid-low RPMs due to this is purely a performance street car, it will probabally rarely ever see the track. Thanks!

 

[D.Hearne]

I can't give you any numbers, but the switch from an E to a Z would be a good jump. 8 degrees more duration @.050 and .050 lift with 1.6 rockers. Like I said it worked great, better than I expected in my 331.

 

[AdamInChains]

And the idle quality is decent? Do you ran an AC an/or Power Brakes?

 

[D.Hearne]

The Ranger had A/C, but not since the V8's been in it. It's got power brakes, not a problem with the Z cam, not a bit. The Z really is smaller than a lot of other hyd rollers, the @ .050 duration is only 228 degrees & the lift with the 1.7 rockers is .587. So it's a relatively high lift short duration cam, cams like these usually make good vacuum. Ford's description makes it out to be more of a beast than it really is. Got pretty decent milage with it too, as long as I kept my foot out of the two secondary carbs, it would pull down 16 mpg, with no overdrive and a 3.73 rear shod with 275/60/15's. That equates to a 3.55 rear in a Stang with 26" tires. Even using the secondaries on a 55 mile commute down twisty 2 lane highways at 3am ( I ain't gonna tell you how fast it occasionally got up to, there's young-uns around ) It still got 12 mpg.

 

[ashford]

the e cam is a good general purpose cam. it can turn high rpms, runs alright at lower rpms, amkes decent low end torque and will handle boost.

something else that blew my mind- gas milage on the highway. driving in town milage sucked 8-12. a friend of mine from about 180 miles away wanted me to bring the car to see on the next trip. so i tuned it so the a:f gauge was green going down the highway. so i took my trip, drove at 75- 80mph around 2200 rpm and filled up when i got there- did the math and came out with 30mpg!! thought maybee the speedo was screwed at first but got the same going home. this was in my capri 302, ported 289 heads, e cam, t-5, 307 gears.