What type of gains from a good cam on stock h/i?

89sleeper said:

Adding a bigger cam will only hurt you with the stock head/intake combo.

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willys1 said:

If anything you should get the heads first!Thumpers!! As stated before,,the stock cam isnt bad! In fact its pretty good!! The heads are the biggest bottlenecks on the motor.If you get a chance to look at one check it out.There is a big pryamid shaped object rite in front of the exhaust port(called egr bumps) Your better off getting Thumper heads first!! You will notice a h@ll of a difference.Thats what Im doing over the winter.Thumpers,ft1 cam and intake!!Im hoping for a full second off my 1/4 mile e/t.

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90mustangGT said:

Let's not forget the stock intake, flowing a whopping 130cfm per runner. The TMOSS intake will cost you less than a cam and give you more gains. I have the Edelbrock intake, nice peice, but $500! Thumper heads are really good bang for the buck item. I've had mine almost 2 years. Low end tq is unneffected, actually you will gain some, but it will keep on pulling and pulling.

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Highway High said:

Just as it states, will there be any noticeable gains from switching the cam out on a stock 5.0? I have a couple basic mods (see sig), but it's pretty much stock. The reason being, Its a lot easier to afford a $150 cam (at the most) than a $1,300+ head and intake combo. I plan on getting my heads ported by thumper, and an edelbrock performer RPM intake down the road, but right now I cant afford it. Ive also LOVED the sound of a nice cam lope. I will probably have enough to replace the throttle body too. So ya, add that to the list.Thanks again.
Logan

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cleanLX said:

The heads (at ~160cfm) are not the biggest restriction.
The intake (at ~140cfm) definatly is.

A cam can make some serious power on stock heads intakes, but, what are you willing to live with?
A perfect example of how a cam can really make things lively on an otherwise stock combo is Ed Hohenberg's car.
Unported heads/intakes, and stock shortblock, with a wild cam makes over 290hp and over 330tq at the wheels, and has gone solidly into the 11's at over 112mph.
Now, it's not going to get 24mpg, it needs to idle over 1000rpm, and it's not happy cruising under 2000rpm... but, it does make power.

If you want good drivability, and respectable mileage, then do Tom Moss's lower intake (keeping the stock cam) at about the same price as a typical shelf cam, and call it a day.
That will let you utilize the full 160cfm the heads have to offer.
Not to mention it's an easier wrenching session.

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Biggeley said:

Well, none of the OTS $150 cams are going to give you a worthwhile performance gain.. Sure if will give you a lopey idle, if that's all you are after..

Buddy Rawls on the corral recommended a got OTS cam for a stock-type setup that takes advantage of the typical modifications for a stock-headed car (headers, exhaust, intake).. It was the Comp 270 HR, 5-420-8, specs are 270/270 215/215 .533/.533 on 110 LSA.

MFE ran it in his car and noticed a significant torque increase in the lower RPM's.. Check out the link. http://www.corral.net/forums/showthread.php?t=455950

Is it worth putting in your car? My opinion is no, because you will need to upgrade your springs, plus freshening up the rest of the valvetrain is a good idea espeically on a high-mileage car.. It was my opinion that sinking the money into aftermarket heads would be a better strategy.

But if I were going to cam a stock head.. I would spend the extra money and get a custom cam optimized exactly to my needs and with faster ramp rates than the above comp cam has.. It would be very interesting to see what it could do -- and to see how many cars I could suprise at the track..

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Michael Yount said:

willys - while he didn't throw in all the rest of the mods, I suspect he's right on the 11 seconds with stock heads/intake - Mike's not making this stuff up; look at his sig; he's knows a bit about going quick. The valve springs are probably different, and I'll promise the motor's been blueprinted, and he likely has superb tractions (tires and suspension mods) and a GREAT driver. It's the whole package that makes for quick times - not just a cam, or intake, or heads, or whatever. It's likely a purpose-built racer for a particular class that you probably wouldn't want to drive on the street at all - but I don't think it's BS just from reading the post.

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