Intake sure....but is it really worth the money spending $150+ dollars for a cam (for a cheapie), not to mention the effort involved removing the entire front end of the motor all the way down to pulling the cam gear....for an extra 6 or 8 horsepower? And when you start getting into odd grinds, the price goes up by quite a bit....I paid over $250 for my camshaft.
Cam Question for stock Motor.
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Well i guess all i can do is talk from experience. F-150 302 5.0L stock intake and heads did a cam swap huge difference in power. Also headers and a off road y-pipe. Night and day difference. I know the 302's in the trucks are rated at less power then the mustangs but mine is a Speed density so you can't go crazy on the cam but it did the trick.
"Worth the effort" is up to you...but a small aftermarket cam like an E or B would definately liven up a stock engine. The stock cam is built for low end torque and emissions, regardless of how many people make great power with a stock cam. It would be a waste to go any higher than a .500 lift though.
I agree. And lift would not be where it is at if you were running factory heads and intake. Duration would be. Thats whats going to help it make more ponies.
This I DO agree with, on the .500 lift comment. Not to mention it'd be pushing the limits on stock valvesprings, IIRC .500 is the recommended limit on stock springs.
If anyone has stock explorer cam specs I'd love to see them, I have stock 5.0 HO cam specs in a book laying around here somewhere.....ah found em! I dont have LSA but here's what I do have...
Okay, stock 5.0 HO camshaft appears to be: .276/.266 (ADV. duration), .445/.445 lift (valve lift at 1.6)
Stock explorer camshaft appears to be: 256/266 adv. duration, .422/.448 (valve lift at 1.6)
I could be wrong on this one but i believe the Explorer cam is the same as the '94 302 Thunderbird and the '93 Cobras....which is as you posted much less of a cam than the stock 5.0 HO Mustang cam.
Also about durration being where it's at....totally. Furthermore if you opted for a split duration cam favoring the exhaust you might be even better off...
100% in agreement. We all know how weak the E7 heads flow on the exhaust-side, hence the reason for a split cam in the first place. Ford alphabet cams, oddly enough, ignore this deficiency.
So far the best cam i've seen for a basic bolt on engine is a TFS Stage 1, with a Stage 2 being better if you've got some really nice heads and intake setup and can run higher RPMs. Of course i haven't played with all the cams out there so i can't say it's THE best, and of course if you've got the cash you can't go wrong with a custom grind either.
I believe the Stage one is like 275/279 duration and something like .499/.510 or .512 lift. The 2 is a pretty sweet cam if you've got nice heads and is close to an X cam but with the split durration and lift, 286/294 duration and 542/563 lift.
I believe the Stage one is like 275/279 duration and something like .499/.510 or .512 lift. The 2 is a pretty sweet cam if you've got nice heads and is close to an X cam but with the split durration and lift, 286/294 duration and 542/563 lift.
The stage 2 is a hell of a mean cam but you need Trick Flow's valvesprings for it.... I run Edelbrock heads, and the springs are rated to .550 lift, so I went with a similar Lunati grind with less lift (.533/.544)
By the way guys, if youre going to compare cams, you're best off comparing duration at .050, as opposed to advertised duration. Most cam manufacturers will read advertised duration at the same location on the lobe, but this isn't always the case, so you can be mislead. Comparing them at .050 insures you're getting a true comparison every time, I pretty much completely ignore advertised duration anymore, unless they dont list it at .050.
Chietala
New Member
You want the powerband were your going to use it... I dont think he's towing jetskies with the 5.0 are you???
I'd be all for specs @ .050 but i don't have'em
I'm by no means a cam guru, i just know a little about'em, mostly from guys locally and stuff i've played with.And he's virtually stock and wants it for the sound. So why suggest a performance cam like the B cam, when he doesn't even have mods to support it. People have gone plenty fast on the stock cam, hell I think the B might even push his powerband to the upper limit of the parts he has on it, and sacrifice useable lower-end power.
But hey, I guess I tow jet skies.Thats what Im saying, I advise against a cam swap! The reason I suggest an E-303 is that it keeps the powerband real close to stock but adds some top-end.
Yeah but just the addition of a Cobra intake will do the same. And its 1/2 the work!
And probably a bigger power gain! But he wanted that cam lope. As someone else said, could always idle it at 600 and disconnect a vacuum line lol
