Which cam with this setup?

1bad04GT

New Member
Jul 6, 2004
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Lubbock, Texas
Well, some of you may have read my "what can i expect from this setup" thread. It turns out that when the guys that installed my heads and intake and put it all back together, they discovered that my cam was stock. I feel incredibly stupid. The car loped hard but they said that was due to multiple vacuum leaks. Sp I have a pretty badass topend setup but no cam to finish off the combo so... Based on my mods (see sig), what cam do you guys recommend? The shop that built it said that an E303 cam would be perfect, what are yall's thought's? Any help is greatly appreciated.:flag:
 
Do some searching... basically alphabet cams were designed when White Snake was topping the billboards. It's time to upgrade to some new technology.

Crower 15511, TFS stage 1, Comp XE series... you'll never go wrong with a custom, which is the best, but some people shy away because its like 150 more. But since its the second most important part of the combo, IMO it only makes sense to do it once and do it right.

Adam
 
custom cams seem a bit pricey and with my mild combo, would it make much difference? With the stock cam, it just begs to be revved, it pulls harder as the rpms climb now. I want something that will help with the lowend grunt. Im thinking E cam for now and stepping up to custom when I go to 331 cubes...,
 
I agree with Adam

E cams and the like were built back in the day for OEM iron heads

Newer heads like TFS, Edelbrock, AFR, etc have different port designs

All we are trying to show is consider a cam that might take advantage
of the newer heads technology

Sure ... some make good power with the old stuff :nice:
its just that ... one should consider all options before laying down the cash ;)
I'm not trying to knock OTS cams in any way :nono:

Now ... From the perspective of a Custom Cam user :D

You get the ability to custom specify your desires like torque curve,
drivability, emissions, etc to your cam guy.

You also get the benefits of the knowledge he has gained over
the years after building various combos similar to the one you are
gonna be inquiring about.

Bottom Line Is ... He can guide you based upon your goals :nice:

If he is good ... then ... He has built plenty of combos which allows you
to look at the results of others to get an idea about what to expect :)

IMHO ... Very Good Value for The Buck Spent ;)

Grady
 
I like Grady's thinking, like usual.

It depends on what cam you are looking at getting. If you are going to spend $200 for the B,E,X, etc. cams, I would spend an extra $150 tops to get a custom. It will be better for performance, driveability, etc.

If you are getting a TFS 1 the price difference is greater, it just depends on if you are really tight on money.

It doesn't appear that you have a big problem with money right now, so work a few more hours and get that custom:nice:
 
See ... Thats the thing about building a combo

You WILL spend a good bit of money, time, and effort to do it :crazy:

You absolutely have to have some kind of data
Let me repeat myself here
Some kind of data

N O T ... this guy said this :shrug:
O R ... that guy said that :shrug:
OR EVEN ... that Grady guy on StangNet said such and such :rolleyes:

You need reliable, hard data to base your decisions upon so you
can have the best chance of obtaining your desired combo goals.

It really is such a pisser of a deal when :bang:
you spend your hard earned money,
skin up your knuckles real good,
and
all the rest when doing a combo upgrade

and then ......

It Don't Turn Out Like You Expected :fuss:

Do you need a cam Guru for the best outcome ... Of course not :nono:
however .........
Y O U will have to do enough Due Diligence on your own to gather
all that data so you can T H E N make solid decisions that will
ensure the successful outcome of the upgrade :D

Some may find that 100 to 150 bux spent here is worth it :shrug:
and
Some may not :shrug:

Somebody... Somewhere... has to know what they are doing :rlaugh:
or else
One may only be a little bit quicker :)
instead of
A Whole Lot Quicker :banana:

Hey :D

Wouldn't be cool if we all lived close together so we could drive
each other's Stangs for more relatability when we wanted to
do stuff and make changes :nice:

Grady
 
Thank you guys for all the responses. I'm going to start some researching, if you guys have any links to dyno charts or cam suggestions or anything like that post 'em up

I've had to just gather up the info where ever I could find it :shrug:

I found stuff at the following:

Members sigs
After market parts vendor's sites
Mag articles ... but you gotta be careful with some of them
Various forums

Grady
 
The shop is probably trying to get money off of you if that is where you ordered it from. Either way, a custom cam is not just about 5rwhp, it is about driveability, brake vacuum, powerband, and it can get you much more than 5rwhp:nice:

That extra $150 bucks is well worth it.

Too late to cancel?
 
When I saw you went ahead and ordered your cam, I looked over the other parts you would be using it with one more time :D

I then looked through my data with a focus on e-cam and TFS heads

I found a quite a few combos in my files using e-cams :)
I found no combos using one with TFS heads :(
so
I focused my search on ANY type of after market Aluminum head ;)
and
I was able to come up with only 5 ... but never the less ... here they are :shrug:

302 OEM short blocks
Dyno type is unknown
SAE or Corrected calibration is unknown

Heads............edel 6037
Cam..............e-cam
Intake............edel performer
TB.................65
Injectors........24
Maf...............unknown
Rockers.........1.6
Headers.........bbk shorty equal
Mid Pipe.......offroad
Misc Notes....
RWHP..........257
RWTQ..........295

Heads............afr 165
Cam..............e-cam
Intake............gt40
TB.................70
Injectors........24
Maf...............77
Rockers.........1.7
Headers.........bbk shorty equal
Mid Pipe.......bbk x
Misc Notes...Rocker ratio of 1.7 gives more cam lift
RWHP..........268
RWTQ..........unknown

Heads............edel 6037
Cam..............e-cam
Intake............cobra
TB.................65
Injectors........24
Maf...............75
Rockers.........1.6
Headers.........unknown
Mid Pipe......offroad
Misc Notes...
RWHP..........290
RWTQ..........322

Heads............afr 165 58cc
Cam..............e-cam
Intake............explorer ported
TB.................70
Injectors........24
Maf...............75
Rockers.........1.6
Headers.........shorty
Mid Pipe.......offroad x
Misc Notes....Compression increase with 58cc chambers
RWHP..........297
RWTQ..........326

Heads............edel 6037
Cam..............e-cam
Intake............edel rpm
TB.................70
Injectors........24
Maf...............80
Rockers.........1.6
Headers.........bassani
Mid Pipe.......bassani
Misc Notes....
RWHP..........301
RWTQ......... 318

Maybe that can give you a bit more insight as to what others have been able
to to with e-cams.

Grady
 
The shop is probably trying to get money off of you if that is where you ordered it from. Either way, a custom cam is not just about 5rwhp, it is about driveability, brake vacuum, powerband, and it can get you much more than 5rwhp:nice:

That extra $150 bucks is well worth it.

Too late to cancel?

I completely agree here. Your shop probably gets the e-cam doorstop for 40 bucks and marks it up outrageously, where as they can't mark up the custom grind.

Adam
 
I ordered it myself, and since I plan on going to a 331 with a KB in the not to distant future, which will most definitely have a custom grind cam, I think I made the right decision and the E cam. It is very versatile so when I part out this motor, i can sell it and not have a custom ground paper weight that wont do anybody any good unless they have my setup...