What Kind of Cam Could I Run?

D

Deleted member 87397

Oct 7, 2008

#1

• Oct 7, 2008

• #1

86 302 bolt on motor, stock E6 Heads. with FLAT TOPS (not a lot of clearance) converted to Mass Air. Mods are in my sig. I'm wondering 1. Does anyone know what the stock specs are on the 86 cam, and 2. Is there one out there that is a bit more aggressive that would compliment my setup better and not give me P2V issues. I'm not looking for 90 horsepower or anything, really just a fun project I can do to the current motor with maybe some new rockers etc. to gain some experience and just to fool around until I build a real engine way down the road. Thanks.

 

Mr. Rustypwnz

Advanced Member

Jun 1, 2005

1,761

63

69

indianapolis/ valdosta ga

Oct 8, 2008

#2

• Oct 8, 2008

• #2

a stock 5.0 cam is .444

to get any kind of power, please for the love of god, get some heads when you do this, e6's suck horse ****,

but a good proven off the shelf cam would work fine, although you will problably have to notch the pistons..

 

8

87AODGT

Founding Member

Jan 6, 2001

373

1

19

Toms River, NJ

Oct 8, 2008

#3

• Oct 8, 2008

• #3

I wouldn't even bother going and getting an aftermarket cam with those 86 pistons without valve notches, and those E6 heads are pretty much tapped out with the stock cam. change the heads before anything else

 

85_SS_302_Coupe

it sucks (I know) to be on the receiving end

15 Year Member

Nov 11, 2003

6,945

1,598

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Northern KY

Oct 8, 2008

#4

• Oct 8, 2008

• #4

The key detail here is that ANY cam isn't going to make much of an improvement because the heads suck so bad.

If you're gonna go through the trouble of putting a cam in, you may as well go the extra mile and swap on some GT40s or P heads or even E7s would be an improvement. The other issue is the lack of valve reliefs, which you could notch the pistons to solve that problem. Do a search for Isky piston nothcing tool on Google and you'll find something.

I've heard of people running really small cams on '86 engines WITH the '86 heads and getting away with it because supposedly the valves are up higher in the combustion chambers and they don't come down far enough...but i personally think it's a waste just because the heads are horrible. I can barely fit my thumb inside the exhaust ports on those heads.

 

S

Sicarius428

Active Member

Jan 6, 2004

2,085

5

49

Oct 8, 2008

#5

• Oct 8, 2008

• #5

Stick with the stock cam. You won't get much if any gains... and probably loose overall power through the rpm range. Just wait till you get new heads then do it all at once.
Kevin

 

5

57fairlane

New Member

Apr 2, 2005

560

0

0

Oakwood, GA

Oct 8, 2008

#6

• Oct 8, 2008

• #6

No doubt, the cam is the last thing you want to touch on a 5.0 . . .

 

D

Deleted member 87397

Oct 8, 2008

#7

• Oct 8, 2008

• #7

Yeah I know the E6's are basically the biggest pieces of crap Ford ever made. I just wanted to know if there was anything that would fit without notching the pistons etc. Basically what I decided to do after the I posted that question was to yank the motor and do a mild rebuild on it. Eventually I want to build a nasty motor from the ground up, but I'd like to practice on something less expensive for the time being. I'm thinking I'll just yank the engine, clean it up, put in some notched pistons, a cam, some thumpers etc. Thanks for all the answers. Pretty much what I expected.

 

85_SS_302_Coupe

it sucks (I know) to be on the receiving end

15 Year Member

Nov 11, 2003

6,945

1,598

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Northern KY

Oct 8, 2008

#8

• Oct 8, 2008

• #8

Honestly man if you have the resources and ability to pull and reinstall an engine, i'd just look for a decently low mileage Explorer engine and drop it in there. You can probably get a whole engine for the price of a rebuild and end up with more power and not have to worry about notching pistons.

 

D

Deleted member 87397

Oct 8, 2008

#9

• Oct 8, 2008

• #9

I won't notch the stockers. I'll just find some from a later year in good shape and slap some new rings on them.