Little cam help plz....

slick88GT

Founding Member
Dec 31, 2001
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Kettering. OH
A friend of mine has a '93 with a new motor, stock heads with a mild port, 1.6 roller rockers, edlebrock performer rpm, 70mm tb, 75mm pro-m maf, stock injectors, and 373 gears. He has an E-cam in it right now but hates it. He wants to get the best cam for his setup without any driveability issues. Yes his heads kinda suck but hes poor and thats all he can afford. His mind is set on doing this so I might as well help him out or he will do it anyway with something crappy and ruin his car. I dont know anything about cams and when I needed one I let you guys all pick it for me and I love what I got so, what do you all think his cam choice should be? Oh, in case you are wondering why he has that intake and a 70mm tb it's because he got it in a trade from someone and it was a hell of a deal.
 
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z9_87 said:
What doesn't he like about the ecam?



If he doesnt like the power the E cam is making well thats too bad, there is no cam you can put in a stock engine and see huge gains...


If he doesnt like the sound of the E cam than tell him to get a B cam and some 1.7RRs.. that should make a nice lope.

Either way tell him to get some heads with that cam lol :flag:
 
I think that people always bash the e cam and the TFS cams because they cheap, and these people read all of this internet BS thinking the only cam that will work has to be a custom. Either one, the E cam or the TFS Stage 1 are great cams. Now don't get me wrong, a custom is the way to go for max power, but some people just want a cheap OTS cam. I went the OTS route. I am very happy with my choice, because I know what I got my self into.
 
I went with the steeda # 18 cam and have a similar set up to your friend...The steeda cam is a dual pattern with .480 lift w/ 1.6's and the duration is 220 int. and 226 exh. with 112 lobe sep. i will be puttin the motor back in and firing it up for the first time in a couple days...i will tell you how it goes, I am a little curious aswell. what does your friend not like bout the e cam?
 
IT sounds like your friend will never be happy....his set up is screaming ECam all over it (well....the intake is a bit much, but....). The next best thing is the TFS stage 1. A cam is a mechanical piece not a magic wand. Does he have an adjustanble fuel pressure regulator? Does he really have his car dialed in? Before he goes tearing into it he ought to make sure that its running at its best. I have no way of knowing so I'm just putting this idea out there. It seems to me tuning is cheaper and easier than ripping apart a motor and replacing internal parts.
 
Lol, he wants a magic wand is what he wants and he wont listen to me. He has a collapsed lifter and is tearing into the car anyway and is going to replace the lifters cam and pushrods with or without my help. The e-cam kinda jerks the car slightly when cruising in 5th at 40 mph or so. Another friend of mine had one and it did the same thing. I doubt the car is dialed in right but he is doing this crap anyway so I want to help as much as possible so the damn thing doesn't blow up. Around tax time he is planning on buying tfs heads, but we know how that goes. I want to stay away from the alphabet cams. Thanks for your help so far, any other ideas?
 
if he actually wants a new cam, suggest to him to get a custom cam for what his future plans are. tell him to email ed curtis of www.flowtechinduction.com. he will set him up really well. me, personally, just did my h/c/i and i picked the TFS stage 1. It has a nice lope and is real loud, and thats w/ 1.6 rr. It doesnt run to great yet, but im sure it just needs to be tuned in addition to a new fuel pump.
 
I ran that Trick Flow stage one cam, the 292/512, and even though it had some jerking motions sometimes, it was bad@$$.

If I remember correctly, the e303 is:
Duration: 282/282 ... 220/220 @ .050
Lift: .498/.498 at valve with 1.6 rocker

The trick flow is:
Advertised Duration 275/279,
Lift .499/.510
with stock arms
http://store.summitracing.com/defau...earchinresults=false&N=0&target=egnsearch.asp

You want magic, you won't get a great idle.
 
slick88GT said:
Lol, he wants a magic wand is what he wants and he wont listen to me. He has a collapsed lifter and is tearing into the car anyway and is going to replace the lifters cam and pushrods with or without my help. The e-cam kinda jerks the car slightly when cruising in 5th at 40 mph or so. Another friend of mine had one and it did the same thing. I doubt the car is dialed in right but he is doing this crap anyway so I want to help as much as possible so the damn thing doesn't blow up. Around tax time he is planning on buying tfs heads, but we know how that goes. I want to stay away from the alphabet cams. Thanks for your help so far, any other ideas?
The surging at 40 in fifth(around 1500 rpm, right?) can happen with a stretched timing chain or if the cam was not degreed in properly resulting in retarded cam timng. I would not change the cam, I would redegree it in to the proper intake centerline and add 2 or even 4 degrees of advanced cam timing, this will act as an entirly different cam shaft and most likly eliminate all trace of the surge.
For his combo the E is as good as any OTS.
Good luck.
 
Michael Yount said:
For a basically stock set up especially with stock heads, take a look at the CompCams XE258....but with almost any aftermarket cam including the E, the valve springs should be upgraded.
Nice cam for his combo, even the XE266 would work well, if the head work he had done is any good.