Cam question

[88stang88]

Not the typical what kind of cam is better than the other question from me,more of a statement I would like a couple of opinions on.

Talking to a buddy of mine about my up coming build and got onto the subject of camshafts and he was like "oh buddy you will have a pita with that being you have a aode"

Now I am aware of the differences in computers with the idle and everything but I wasn't even thinking that a Cam would be a different for auto/stick.

Someone wanna clear the air for me on this?

My original thought process was getting Ed Curtis to grind me a custom one with all the specs of what I have going on. So it may or may not even matter.

 

[MysteryMachine]

There's no difference that I know of. If you want a custom grind Ed seems to be the way to go. I don't have any personal experience though

 

[hollywoodstang]

It doesnt matter where and who you get the cam from, you will have to tune your car after the H/C/I to run right.

If you are looking for every ounce of horsepower to race the car, sure, custom cam is way to go, but i have learned that every other company's OTS will do just fine on street car.

There is nothing wrong with comp, isky, crower, crane etc etc OTS cam for street driven cars.

Good luck man

 

[88stang88]

The whole subject got brought up when I was discussing it with a friend and he didn't think having a OTS cam was going to work out right or it would at least be a PITA for the tuner supposedly I couldn't see why it would be any different. What would be more aggressive than the alphabet cams and more edgy than a TFS stage 1 but still streetable?

 

[hollywoodstang]

Tuner should be able to tune the car without a problem after the H/C/I, I don't the why it would be PITA...

If you want the street friendly cam with mild H/C/I, I see people using compcams XE270HR-14 or 12, Lunati 51014 etc etc for nice idle, BUT you still need a tune and you SHOULD get it done.

And if you are constantly tuning/upgrading/swapping parts out of the car get PMS from anderson, otherwise get the chip burnt from where you dynotune the car and call it done and enjoy the car.

Just my .02

 

[MysteryMachine]

Or a Tweecer

 

[revhead347]

Kind of an old school thing actually. Usually big cams require a higher idle. If you have a stock converter, the idle could approach the stall of the converter. If the idle is close to the stall of the converter it can cause shaky idle, jumpy starts, and worst of all, transmission overheating problems. Usually one fixes the problem by putting a higher stall converter in the car, but that leads to other driveability issues, and poorer fuel economy. The reason I say it's kind of an old school thing, is that with modern fuel injection and tuning most mustangs idle pretty well at a low rpm even with a sizable cam. My car idled just fine at 900rpms with the trick flow 3 cam.

Kurt

 

[final5-0]

Thoughts or two from a hick in Texas who found a laptop

Yes ... you hot rod an auto trans Stang different than a stick trans Stang

Simple bolt-on stuff makes no diff on an auto trans Stang

Auto's can't build up rpm's as quick
and
When you get more serious about making power with H/C/I

That shifts the power higher in the rpm's which just makes things worse
for a fellow that is running an auto trans

Common undesirable trait here is .......
it just takes forever for the power to be seen or a real doggy low end

That is where a higher stall tc comes into play
also
Typically ... Auto boys run a steeper gear set than stick fellows

Now ... Lets focus on cams

Here is where A LOT of internet myth is prevalent

You see folks say .......
Pick this or that cam for a 94-95 Stang because .......
A more aggressive cut cam will cause driveability issues from the pcm

Yes ... There is truth in that thinking
but
There is more ... MUCH MORE ... that is involved here

FACT: You can run a farily radical cam in a 94-95 for more power

The trick in doing so is .......
Ya gotta make a few pcm adjustments (custom tune)

You see ... those adjustments will make things correct not only for the cam
but
For all the rest of your hot rod parts as well

Summing up with two things here

1) Pick a cam to make power
2) Tune the pcm to deal with driveability issues

Picking a cam to do both will most certainly leave power on the table

Almost forgot ... When you work with one of the cam Guru's .........
You can custom tailor your power band

Those guys help you with so much more than just picking a cam

Don't be led astray

Building a nice street car is WAY MORE than shooting for a max power
goal you might have in mind

Sure ... Race Cars are all about making peak power

A NA Street Car can make pretty good high end power
WITHOUT
Sacrificing the bulk of it's low and midrange power

Proper hot rod parts selection and a good tune is how one does it

I've done A LOT of research looking at Stang dyno curves

I've seen it over and over .........
Custom cammed cars with good supporting parts and good tunes

It is not uncommon to make significant gains in torque as early as .....
500 to 1000 rpm quicker and in a few cases 1500 rpm quicker than .........
A lot of the combos that did not have optomized cam and tune

Hope this helps in some way

If more Q's arise from this info ......
We can go into more detail with more discussion I reckon

btw ... I've been VERY HAPPY with my Ed Curtis cam :Word:

Grady