cam selection
 

hey guys, its been a while since ive been here. i love this site, very helpful.

anyway, i want to take advantage of everything in my sig. so i need a cam (or do i?). i want to make the most power possible while keeping a well manored car (street driving). there are a ton of cams out there and dont know much about them as far as selection for my combo. the thing i DO NOT want to do is over-cam it. i dont want to put a huge cam in it that is going to hurt performance and drivability.

i will be working the valvetrain around the cam. meaning get 1.6RR if i have to...

please help me out. my goal is to run low 12's high 11's consistantly next spring..

take care,
adam

Re: cam selection
 

An 11 second car that has the drivability of a street machine is real tall order !!

Even though i know all of us on this board are incredibly brilliant ;) I think what you need to do is contact the cam mfg. and tell them what you have and what you want it to do. They engineer those cams ... nobody knows better than they do what that cam will and won't do, and they are always more than willing to help.

i know many mustangs around here that run 12-11's consitantly that run very well on the street... with that said i have contacted the manufacturers but they do not have the practical knowledge of what works best in mustangs. they just tell you what is good about their own cams and im looking for some people that have been around and into mustangs for a while with cam experience to tell me what they think works best.

i have been told that the e303 cam is a good off the shelf cam for this situation. i know it is a little rough for the street (so im told) but do you think it woul be a good choice? if so please elaborate why.

thanks a lot,
adam

anybody ?

thanks,
adam

cam...
 

Mustang Performance Handbook by William Mathis has a very good chapter on cams and cam selection.
The E cam is a little aggressive, but I will be going with it or something very close to it's lift.
My B cam is good, likes to idle around 800-850 though, sounds great and is very streetable.
The E cam is still streetable if you can handle minor tuning on your own and it will want to idle a little higher, I have read around 950-1000 rpm. It is very "lopey" and may not tolerate weather extremes as well as a milder cam.
Good Luck...

in my opinion i'd go Bcam cuz of its streetablity an the good amount of power it makes.. lumpier idle than E cuz of the higher duration, Ecam is 220/220 @50 at the Bcam is 224/224 @50. an the E's lift is not really enough to were u would notice a huge gain..only about .019 difference between the 2 cams..

good luck man with w/e u decide to do

thanks a lot guys. now what kinds of gains would i see with going to either a B or E cam?

thanks,
adam

To keep it streetable i would go with a B303 or at most E303... I am running the F303 and its a little to big for street driving.. the B303 is a great supercharger cam as well as the E303 for street driving.. The F303 cam has a tendency to buck at lower RPM's especially when the air temps are cooler.. hope this helps ya..

yea. that does help. tels me that the ecam may be too big as well for what i want.

as for the power increase of a cam do you think it would be worth it right now or should i just do like aluminum driveshaft, pulleys, and some more little things...?

thanks a lot,
adam

If i was you, I would go with a B303 cam.. that would be a excellent cam for your application.. The electric cooling fan is good.. it is defenitly helping you.. The crane ignition system would be a good chioce for HP and economy, as well as a aftermarket distributor.. the original ford ones are junk.. I need to get one for my car as a winter distributor for winter start up now and then, before i spend 300 on a billit one this next season. but an ignition boost and the b303 would be good. the driveshaft will help, it wieghts alot less and is smoother. let me know what you think...

what do you think of the crower 15512? i know it is pretty aggresive but it is a dual profile cam which kinda offsets the aggresive numbers. my buddy had one in his mustang (he sold the mustang) and he loved it. you can see specs at
http://www.crower.com/cat/domestic/f...amshafts.shtml
let me know what you think of this one. or even look at the 15511 cam which is a little more mild... would you recomend one and if so which one?

thanks for all the help,
adam

I would go for a milder cam... I don't know how the non ford cams work with the 302's.. I have heard of a few issues with non ford cams. The one you asked me to look at is pretty close to the F303 cam.. So i would say its to big.. I would go with a ford cam for 2 reasons, A. there reliable and B. there less money.. the B-303 cam is much cheaper 169.00 at www.summitracing.com
many people use these cams and are extremely happy.. let me know what you think.

do you think that the crower 15511 would be ok? it seems like its pretty mild.

i know poeple are very happy with the b-cam but it is kinda outdated single profile technology. the price as you have mentioned is deffinately a factor, thats why its a tough decision...

let me know what you think about the 15511.

thanks,
adam

the specs for the cam you are showing me is good.. 1800 to 6500 is good. its defenitly bigger than stock and not to crazy.. what model number ecm are you using.. ( on board computer? ) A9L, X32 etc? but all in all i like the spec numbers.. i wouldn't go any bigger than that one for street... let me know.. thanks!

hey buddy i was looking at your pictures.. I love the car.. very clean.. its in the same condition as mine.. very nice.. i noticed one thing, replace that stock air box with a cold air intake.. make sure its a K&N conical filter.. you'll like the HP from it.. I would recomend the BBK for 149 or less... its worth it!


http://www.mycrib.tv/photo2.html

i am using the stock A9L computer.

thanks for the complements. i try to keep it clean and simple (subtle) changes in the appearance.

all of the tests that i have seen shows that there is no difference between the stock airbox and a CAI. because it pulles air from the fender anyways... is there really a difference?

if i can get the money for the crower 15511 cam (the smaller one) i think i may just do it... the other question is, do you think it is a better cam (for me) than the B303? i mean, do you think it will make as much or close to the B303 cam?

thanks,
adam

B303...
 

I have had the B cam for about a year now and I have to say that with my limited experience, it's great.
It idles very well, doesn't get squirrelly at all and has lots of low end power topping out at around 5600 RPM. It really comes alive at 2700 RPM and by 4000, it's in it.
I know plenty of people hate the alphabet cams, but then why does Crane have cams with the exact same numbers? (2040 is a B cam)
I'll shut up now.

i dont NOT like the alphebet cams i just hear that they are very outdated technology and duel profile cams are where its at these days. custiom cams are obviously the best but you get my drift. i may end up going with the b-cam just because its so cheap...

you said earlier that you were getting rid of your B-cam. want to sell it to me? let me know.

thanks,
adam

The Alphebet cams are old technology, however they are still around for a reason.. they make good power.. I heard from one guy that the new cams have a sort of modern day emmissions idea to them so i prefer the older forget about emmissions style.. I am sure its all bull but thats what I heard.. for the $$ i would stick with a B303 and put the rest towards a ignition upgrade. .As for the cold air intake, The fenderwell style cold are from bbk is great.. I think it makes a bit of difference..

ok, b303 it is. i have decided... thanks for all the help guys. i cant wait for the winter rebuild! now the wuestion is should i stay with the 1.7 rockers i have now or buy some 1.6's?

thanks,
adam

1.7's...
 

Funny you should ask...
I have also been runnning 1.7's...
Pro's...It does give more lift, thus a tad more power
Con's...rocker/guide plate wear is SIGNIFICANTLY increased.
Translation...you will be looking at valve guide overhaul/replacement no later than 50k miles(recommended of course)...

alright so i will get 1.6 rockers i guess... as for the b-cam you have, would you want to sell it? let me know abeer1220@hotmail.com

thanks,
adam

Now that you have made your decision on the "B" I had to tell you my experience with the "E". I went with the "E" because it has 0 overlap. Since I am running a Vortec it made sense. I have had it for 5yrs and could'nt be more pleased. It blows the NJ emmissions away and will yeild 22mpg hwy and 18 city. It idles great' sounds even better and pulls all the way to 6500 or more. If you use the "b" with 1.7 rr you will yield about the same lift as the "E" with 1.6rr and have a litter wilder duration. Just my thoughts.

now this is where im lost. what does overlap do to performance? please let me know. i havent bought the B cam yet....

thanks,
adam

Overlap means that both the intake and exhaust valves are open at the same time. If a cam has overlap it means that it will develop power in a higher rpm range depending upon how much the overlap is. The overlap for the "B" is less than 4 degrees whereas the "e" is 0. The more the overlap the more power in a higher rpm range and the less streetability.

If you can get a copy of October 1999 issue of 5.0 mag. there is a great article on page 69.

cam selection
 

I'd stick with your 1.7s & get the B-303. I really don't think that the rocker/guide plate wear would be significantly worse. I wouldn't shell out the extra $$ for 1.6s. I know many stang owners running the B cam w/ 1.7s and have had no problems, even after 50,000 miles. My motor has ran like a champ since the rebuild...but then again I only have about 18,000 on the new motor and haven't checked for any where.

B-cam good choice
 

I had a B-cam in my 90gt raced it a lot. I had no problems with Idle/driveability. Ford makes simple dependable cams that work well to make good power. There maybe different cams out there that make more power per combo but I think the ford cams accept alot of different combo's and work well with them all. The B-cam had a rough Idle and in my car made most of it's power 3,500+. I have read alot of posts on this site were people had surgeing idles with the E-cam but I think that was mostly due to speed density in the older mustangs. You will sure notice the power difference over the stock cam.

ok guys, im torn yet again...

my new option (tell me if its a good one) is to go with the TFS stage 1 cam. its like the same thing at the crower 15512 cam. and a friend has the crower and loves it! the stage 1 cam is only like $140. it is a little more aggressive than the B-303...
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=22522

let me know what you think of this cam. thanks a lot guys for all your help.

take care,
adam

TFS stage 1...
 

Are your pistons notched?
I have to check on the lift of the stage 1....maybe it is not that much...
ah
221/225 .499"/.510" w/ 1.6's

B303
224/224 .480"/.480" w/1.6's

As long as you have a stage 1 w/ 1.6's your okay with TFS heads
but 1.7's will be too much duration and lift

The b303 w/ 1.7's will yield 234/234 .510"/.510"

I think that is right.

I dig my "b" and 1.7's...

Why would anybody drive anything but a convertible?

thanks for the info. i have notched pistons (stock) and im using GT-40 heads not TFS.

which cam would you think is better? either with 1.7's or not?

thanks,
adam

cam...
 

If you install the Stage 1 w/ 1.6's you can always bolt on 1.7's later if everything is working well.
RR's are easy to install.

i guess i could but if i dont have to buy 1.6 rockers i wont. i just dont want the 1.7's to cause too much stress and also too much lift that it creates drivability issues.

once again, do you want to sell your B-303?

im thinking ill just go with the stage 1 and new 1.6 rockers.

thanks again for the help,
adam

B303
 

I couldn't tell you when I'm going to take the cam out.
My wife just gave birth to our second daughter and I don't have time to do jack.
In fact, she's yelling at me now...

haha, congrats and good luck!

thanks for the help,
adam

cam selection
 

I wouldn't recommend buying a used cam. It's just not a good idea. For $50-$100 more you can have the reassurance of knowing that your cam is brand new & should be trouble free. Just my opinion. And putting on the 1.7 rockers really isn't going to make much of a difference. If your pistons are notched...by all means keep your 1.7s instead of buying the 1.6s. You'll get a tad more power out of your combination. I doubt it will put any additional stress on your valvetrain and the lift that the 1.7s give you is still very streetable.

im not going to buy a used cam. i came to the same conclusion you did.

you said that the 1.7" with the cam will still be streetable, which cam are you refering to?

thanks,
adam

cam selection
 

Sorry about that. I forgot we were still discussing multiple cams. I was referring to the B-303 cam with the 1.7 rockers. I run that cam & rockers and love the power and driveability. Let us know what you end up getting and what the improvement is like.

dont worry, ill let you guys know as soon as i decide but i do want to make sure i am getting the "right" cam. haha. its so confusing... its a hard decision. keep the opinions comming.

thanks,
adam

Hey guys, sorry for popping my nose into this discusion so late, but I am doing a complete engine rebuild and buying pretty much all of the parts new. I have so far gotten the edelbrock performer rpm heads with the 2.02 intake valves, and a e-303 cam. I have been told that I will need notched pistons and I am considering going with some forged alluminum pistons, not sure exactly what brand(any suggestions?) with approx. 10:1 compression pistons. I guess my big question is what ratio rocker arms should I go with, and what push rods? Also, are non-roller rocker arms good enough, the roller rocker arms seem nice but for the increase in cost to horsepower gain, they seem too much money. This is my first time rebuilding an engine so any words of wisdom is much appreciated.

Thanks a lot,

roller rockers= yes
ratio of rockers = 1.6 with the 2.02 valves.
notch pistons= possibly depending on which ones you go with, call the companies of pistons...

take care,
adam

i have put emails in to ed curtis and buddy rawls about which cam i should get so i guess ill see when i hear back from them. in the meantime someone out there has to have the TFS stage 1 cam out there that can tell me how they like/dislike it.

thanks,
adam

I am a big fan of my Arias notched pistons. I dont know if you can actually get them through arias but Trick Flow packages them and puts their name on them. Great pistons. My friend put SRP's in his stroker and the quality seemed inferior by visual inspection. But hey, what do i know

thanks but if i have to get new pistons for a cam im not getting that cam. i dont have enopught money.

i emailed Ed Curtis and he said that the B-303, Stage1, and Crower 15512 are 3 totally sepereate cams that will do totally seperate things for me. hes going to get back to me with what he thinks would be good.

keep other and all opinions comming

thanks,
adam