Cam kit suggestions

[BAD67FUN]

Alright, what the heck... let's open up a can of worms. I sent ratio411 an email for his two cents privately. But I suppose
maybe others would benifit from me asking the entire forum.

So here goes...

My situation: I want to put in a five speed. My hopes for putting in a five speed next year are basically gone. My plan was
to utilize the JMC hydraulic clutch set up with a new transmission. Because my car has a lame C4 I'd have to of course
endure that extra cost of the conversion. Anyway I total it up... it's a couple of grand. (please don't tell me to piecemeal
old crap together in order to save a buck. that's not my style).

So I'm hoping to sneak a smaller scale project thru. I'd like to put in a cam/lifter/chain kit. I figured the whole thing would
only go around 300-400 bucks. My wife won't hang me and the kids will have food to eat... .

Now sure... this is just a temporary "drug". I set out a few years ago with a plan and have followed it thus far. The chasis
has been upgraded. The gears (3.80) and locker are installed. The Baer disc brakes are on. The five speed was next. Then
a complete engine overhaul (or crate). Finally the car would be painted and detailed inside and out.

Well life throws curve balls....

So now I'm looking at increasing the oomph in my old pony. The previous owner put on an old Holley Dominator aluminum
manifold and Holley carb (600). They also put on a set of Hooker headers and updated some electrical stuff. Other than
that she's just a stock little 289.

I would like suggestions on a cam kit. Not just what size lift or duration... I'm talking about a kit I can dial up Summit, Jeg's
or Ford Motorsport and just order. No messing around. Just order it up and put it in.

I know she's pretty much stock... but I'd like a cam with some hump to it. Here's the trick (or maybe not). It has to be
compatible with both an automatic trans or a manual. Because while the five speed may be off another year or so. The
engine is off even longer.

I'm not brand or supplier loyal. So that don't matter. I just want a little more fun this summer....

Thanks for your time!!

 

[Max Power]

Lemme guess! Ratio411 recommended a single plane intake!!


As far as kits, probably an Edelbrock Performer kit would be good. They make all the parts you need, and it's a good cam for that application.

 

[BAD67FUN]

Can that be narrowed down a bit?

I have a manifold.. so I don't need that particular kit.

Lemme guess! Ratio411 recommended a sigle plane intake!!


As far as kits, probably an Edelbrock Performer kit would be good. They make all the parts you need, and it's a good cam for that application.

 

[66_stang]

Comp Cam magnum 270H is the cam im probably going to go with. Your set-up is identical to mine basicaly and everything ive heard is that its a great cam. Compcams.com go there and look around on there charts etc. The whole kit is 440 bucks, im not sure if you will need everything it comes with but u said "full kit" so thats my assumption. hope this helps

 

[Max Power]

Can that be narrowed down a bit?

I have a manifold.. so I don't need that particular kit.

The single plane reference was a joke.

Edelbrock makes a cam kit called a Performer Kit. It does not include an intake. It is one part number for your application for cam, lifters and lube. You can also order the chain and gears from Edelbrock. They lay em out all side by side in the summit catalog.

 

[Great68]

I know she's pretty much stock... but I'd like a cam with some hump to it. Here's the trick (or maybe not). It has to be
compatible with both an automatic trans or a manual. Because while the five speed may be off another year or so. The
engine is off even longer.

Your cam will be limited to your stock torque convertor. With a manual car, you can get away with a bigger cam (No worries about stalling in gear).

I would really suggest you don't bother with a cam until you know what you are going to do as far as transmissions go.

 

[BAD67FUN]

I understand. That's why I was hoping for a cam suggestion that could work with both trans options. The manual will get put in... probably not for another year or two now though. The engine upgrade is probably four years out now. Man... it's too early in the morning to be getting this depressed.

Your cam will be limited to your stock torque convertor. With a manual car, you can get away with a bigger cam (No worries about stalling in gear).

I would really suggest you don't bother with a cam until you know what you are going to do as far as transmissions go.

 

[BAD67FUN]

Okay.. I have an Edelbrock catalog. They have four cams for my 289. Which makes the most sense?

Each one of them has a different duration and lift of course.

They have a Performer Plus, a Performer RPM, and a Torker Plus. The fourth is a Hydraulic Roller Cam.
That's for 5.0's??

Anyways... I don't even know what the factory cam numbers are. I just want to safely run the biggest
cam I can without it falling on it's face and not be streetable.

I'd post the numbers here... but there are alot of them. Do I look for Int. or Exh @ .050?

Would just the minimal upgrade of the Performer cam make a big difference over the stock one I have?

 

[Agent Orange]

I know she's pretty much stock... but I'd like a cam with some hump to it. Here's the trick (or maybe not). It has to be
compatible with both an automatic trans or a manual. Because while the five speed may be off another year or so. The
engine is off even longer.

You're doing yourself a disservice if you don't get an optimum cam for your setup - and you can't get an optimum cam that is for an automatic or a manual unless you also install an appropriate stall converter for whatever cam and rear gears you choose. In short, it may be worth doing the manual transmission first and then the cam.

If money isn't an issue, I like Crower cams. Whichever company you chose, call their support service and provide them with your engine combination, rear gear ratio, transmission, and desired performance and they'll recommend a cam for you. That's the best way to get the optimum one short of a custom grind.

 

[PoliceInterceptor]

You're doing yourself a disservice if you don't get an optimum cam for your setup - and you can't get an optimum cam that is for an automatic or a manual unless you also install an appropriate stall converter for whatever cam and rear gears you choose. In short, it may be worth doing the manual transmission first and then the cam.

If money isn't an issue, I like Crower cams. Whichever company you chose, call their support service and provide them with your engine combination, rear gear ratio, transmission, and desired performance and they'll recommend a cam for you. That's the best way to get the optimum one short of a custom grind.

I agree completely with the possible caveat that the tech support is only as good as the information that you provide and the person that you talk to when you call. You need to honestly access your needs and arm yourself with knowledge to ask the right questions, in other words, be an educated consumer.

That said, I understand the “staged” build. If you seriously will be changing to a manual transmission, then you should choose a cam for the manual that will work acceptably with the C4 for now.

Check out Crower; review their information in the first pages of the catalog.

All of that said 15916 or 15917 and kit 84118 look like a good choice, it pretty marginal for the stock converter, add your choice of cam change gasket kit and timing chain and you are good to go.

See: http://www.crower.com/misc/m_cat.shtml

You can buy them at SummitRacing.com (add CRO in front of the crower part number for the summit number)

JMHO

 

[Max Power]

Okay.. I have an Edelbrock catalog. They have four cams for my 289. Which makes the most sense?

Each one of them has a different duration and lift of course.

They have a Performer Plus, a Performer RPM, and a Torker Plus. The fourth is a Hydraulic Roller Cam.
That's for 5.0's??

Anyways... I don't even know what the factory cam numbers are. I just want to safely run the biggest
cam I can without it falling on it's face and not be streetable.

I'd post the numbers here... but there are alot of them. Do I look for Int. or Exh @ .050?

Would just the minimal upgrade of the Performer cam make a big difference over the stock one I have?

The Performer Plus is the one I'm talking about. While not the only option, Edelbrock is more "package" oriented. One part number for the cam and lifter set(#2122), and one part number for the timing chain set(#7820).

Like others have said above, this set is good for your automatic and your stock heads. With a 4 speed, you could get something far more performance oriented. This cam is about as much as stock heads will take, IMO...

Others make great cams too, and have great tech lines. Not sure if you can get the chain and gears from em though.

 

[Agent Orange]

I agree completely with the possible caveat that the tech support is only as good as the information that you provide and the person that you talk to when you call. You need to honestly access your needs and arm yourself with knowledge to ask the right questions, in other words, be an educated consumer.

That said, I understand the “staged” build. If you seriously will be changing to a manual transmission, then you should choose a cam for the manual that will work acceptably with the C4 for now.

PI is on the money.

Also, I've found poweredbyford.com to have the best prices on Crower stuff if that's the route you want to go.

 

[Edbert]

Performer is strictly an RV grind, Perf plus is mild, Perf RPM is their hot range (although many here would call it medium).

I would second the recommendation of a Comp unit. As has been mentioned the 270H is a great compromise, but thats about as radical as you should get with your stock converter. Upgrade the converter and you can go higher, but with stock heads I would not go past the 278H.

 

[Hack]

My situation: I want to put in a five speed. My hopes for putting in a five speed next year are basically gone. My plan was
to utilize the JMC hydraulic clutch set up with a new transmission. Because my car has a lame C4 I'd have to of course
endure that extra cost of the conversion. Anyway I total it up... it's a couple of grand. (please don't tell me to piecemeal
old crap together in order to save a buck. that's not my style).
Thanks for your time!!

Ok, you told me not to say this.. however I'm not that bright and I don't always listen. I just bought an '85 GT for $400. It has an '89 drivetrain in it, T5, FI 302, 8.8... I'm currently driving it as my winter beater, and the transmission is going in my '70 sometime next year. I'm going to sell what I don't use, and I may just use the pedals and cable clutch from that. I wanted hydraulic originally, and I still want it. However, this is too inexpensive to just ignore the possibilities.

Maybe I had a one in a million find, but I doubt it. Even though you told me not to say this, I'm still going to recommend you look for an old Fox and use the parts. That will get you going.

If you absolutely can't stand working with old parts and would rather wait years and years, I'm not stopping you. Good luck.