What intake do I need?

85GTlover said:

Not to take the wind out of your sails but it is common knowledge that the stock cam on 85 and up 5.0's is a capable cam and is good up to a respectable amount of hp. I think that is buddies point.......ther are other things that could be done before the cam swap that would net you better gains......then you would see more from the new cam.......just like in other combos. You will see alot more if your car had the more common add ons then a cam that is all. Cam swaps are labour intensive and technical for your average car owner and alot of people would rather put ther money into more easier bolt ons to see easier and better performance gains than paying asronomical shop labour rates. If you are doing the work yourself that is a different story......but the point remains there are better , easier more practical and affordable upgrades than a cam swap on a 5 litre. The stock cam is quite good. I would do mine a long with a timing chain and head swap just because it is more practical to me.

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Not to take the wind out of YOUR sails, but he didn't say he had an 85-up 5.0 H.O. motor, did he? He said he had a Comp Cams 280H Nothing there said anything about a stock cam. No one also mentioned anything about other mods either before I chimed in.Wasn't til after I made my point that others started in with options other than a 280H. I just get tired of hearing guys tell others that putting in a bigger than stock cam, won't have any effect without swapping on a set of $1000 heads. If that was so, then why have Ford guys been using big cams with stock heads for 30 something years before the current explosion of aftermarket heads happened? And why did they see results even though they had stock heads?

clev357 said:

I can't say this is true from personal experiance, but I've heard .060 over 289's are getting thin in the cylinder walls. You may want to save a few bucks to upgrade the cooling system.

Anyone else with thoughts on this?

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If he's got a 79 302 block , it very well may have thicker walls. The D8VE block is a thick walled design. He may be OK at 60 over.

Damn, A guy asks about an intake and people get into every thing but intakes (yes i Know its all about the whole engine package so dont go there). But I think we need to keep to the subject since this can be a very important factor in engine performance.

But to answer the question, I think a good high rise dual plane like the stealth or the perf. RPM, or even a smaller single plane like an Xcellerator would be good depending on the intended use and the gears you will be running. If you are running realaativly lower gears (3.70 +) the single plane should be fine.

As far as the head argument; I belive in combined parts, but not every one can go out and buy a set of good heads. That doesnt mean he cant make power with his 280H. What do you think people did before the early 90s when good aftermarket heads were unavailable or to expensive for the average Joe with a 302? Do you think every one back then who had a 302 was limited to small grandma cams because they didnt think their heads were good enough for any thing bigger? I guess every one who had a 302 befor the introduction of the 5.0 performance craze was just slow as ****.

Thanks, hope I didnt step on toes

EDIT: Damn Dhearne, you got to my point befor I did

D.Hearne said:

I just get tired of hearing guys tell others that putting in a bigger than stock cam, won't have any effect without swapping on a set of $1000 heads. If that was so, then why have Ford guys been using big cams with stock heads for 30 something years before the current explosion of aftermarket heads happened? And why did they see results even though they had stock heads?

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Well, you covered what I was thinking!

I have seen many WAY fast cars, turning 7500 rpm, with stock heads and big cams in SBFs. It is not uncommon, and until recently, it was our only option.
I suppose D. and myself are the only ones here old enough to remember when...
Dave

WHat about the RPM air-gap?

ratio411 said:

Well, you covered what I was thinking!

I have seen many WAY fast cars, turning 7500 rpm, with stock heads and big cams in SBFs. It is not uncommon, and until recently, it was our only option.
I suppose D. and myself are the only ones here old enough to remember when...
Dave

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I think Britt's on board too

No, you are not the only ones old enough to remember when. I have run the 280 with mildly ported stock heads and manifolds back in the mid-eighties. I have run modified Fords for over 25 years.

My original comment was in response to three or four threads over the past couple of months here where people complained about power output or driveability on cars with 280 cams running with relatively stock components. It was somewhat meant to be tongue in cheek, as evidenced by the capital LOL next to the comment, but I guess it was taken more seriously by some.

I never said aftermarket cams don't improve SBFs with stock heads, and nobody here suggested Grandma cams were the only option, so maybe some people need to relax.

The problem is, most people who put 280 cams in SBFs with stock heads and exhaust manifolds expect the kind of power that the 280 cam is capable of, but they aren't getting it and are dissapointed. That's why I said that a lot of people that buy that cam don't need it.

The 280 is a great cam, it just needs to be used in the proper package to reach its potential. That was the point.

back to the original question, I think an RPM or a stealth would work just fine on a relatively stock motor. They lose very little down low, and will be the manifold you need when buying other parts later.

I have a relatively stock 351 windsor in a 69 fastback that I put a Holley 750 and RPM manifold on a few years ago. While it is not ideal for that motor, it ran very well. Now that I am pulling the motor for the 393 I am building, the same carb and intake will be used for the aluminum headss and RPM cam I will be running. That way, I didn't have to buy the same components twice.

I hope that helps answer the original question.

Agreed.
You need to dump the Performer and use at least an RPM or Stealth. Even an F4B (or one of it's variations) would be a much better choice than the Performer.
That cam you have now is literally not making power until your intake is running out of breath. It's a losing battle. Change one or the other. In all honesty, that cam won't be truly happy with even an aggressive dual plane intake until you have aggressive heads. Your best bet IMO is a very mild single plane. They work well with this size cam and stock(ish) heads.
Note I said "mild single plane" not Victor Jr or anything near that.
Good luck
Dave

steel1212 said:

Like a Weiand X-CELerator?

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Yeah.
Other than the Edelbrock Streetmaster, I think that is the mildest single plane you can get.
The Torker 289 and a couple others would work too.
Dave