"E" cam vs. tfs stg1 vs. stock ho cam

ashford

Member
Dec 19, 2003
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fargo ND
what i am looking for is someone who has had all 3 to compare them to eachother. what i want to know is what the drivability of the tfs cam is like, im looking for a more well manned cam. i know what an ho cam and a "E" cam is like i have had them both. i prefer the power band of the e cam but don't like the idle and off idle characteristics. the ho cam is a little wheezy for me.

the engine is in a sunday driver falcon that will have what i hope is a little more under the hood than is expected by the innocent bystander.

the engine is a 302 with with explorer heads and intake, bbk shorties, xpipe and fms mass air conversion kit with a t5 and 3.73 gears.
 
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the trick flow stage 1 has a decent idle....and has good driveability.. i run the e303 currently but i am about to replace it. have you thought about looking at comp cams?? they have a few cams with 114lsa and low duration... would improve power all around without sacrificing low end and yet still have a relatively decent idle but just enough pop to tell you have a cam. xe264hr-14 i think it is?? not sure. good luck!
 
it would be helpful to know the combination. if all else fails the stock cam has a couple things going for it that the other two dont. billet core and negative overlap. the tfs stage 1 and e cam are both sadi cores and arent the most stable thing in the world to control a valvetrain with. the stock cam will have the closest lobe events to what they are supposed to be.
 
it would be helpful to know the combination. if all else fails the stock cam has a couple things going for it that the other two dont. billet core and negative overlap. the tfs stage 1 and e cam are both sadi cores and arent the most stable thing in the world to control a valvetrain with. the stock cam will have the closest lobe events to what they are supposed to be.

I did not know the stock cam was billet...?
 
it would be helpful to know the combination. if all else fails the stock cam has a couple things going for it that the other two dont. billet core and negative overlap. the tfs stage 1 and e cam are both sadi cores and arent the most stable thing in the world to control a valvetrain with. the stock cam will have the closest lobe events to what they are supposed to be.

full list on the engine is
306, sealed power coated pistons, i asked block to be decked so that piston height is within .010 of the deck 0 if possible. stock crank, rods, arp rod bolts gt40p heads freshened up with 110#seat springs, i have comp conical springs available and will use if i get above .500 lift. explorer intake with 70mm tb and egr spacer, will be getting bbk shorties, xpipe. fueul is basically stock maf efi. behind the engine i have a 3.31 1st gear wc t-5. currently a Versailles 9" rearend with 3.0:1 gears, i have the explorer rear end with 3.73 to put in it just need to chop one side down and install shorter axle.
 
full list on the engine is
306, sealed power coated pistons, i asked block to be decked so that piston height is within .010 of the deck 0 if possible. stock crank, rods, arp rod bolts gt40p heads freshened up with 110#seat springs, i have comp conical springs available and will use if i get above .500 lift. explorer intake with 70mm tb and egr spacer, will be getting bbk shorties, xpipe. fueul is basically stock maf efi. behind the engine i have a 3.31 1st gear wc t-5. currently a Versailles 9" rearend with 3.0:1 gears, i have the explorer rear end with 3.73 to put in it just need to chop one side down and install shorter axle.

for off the shelf, if it were mine id put an AFM b31 in it. and yes i know its a supercharged cam. but it would lend itself well to this combo.
 
I did not know the stock cam was billet...?

It is. when ford started developing the roller came they speced a cam machined from solid billet steel. The stock roller cam is a solid billet piece, sent through a special hardening process then machined. For the curious you can tell a "sadi" core vs a "billet" buy the sadi having rough area between the lobes and the billet will be fully machined. obviously billet is stronger and will take to heavier springs but for a mild combo sadi cores work fine.

best example I could find shows the '95 billet stocker on the right.
SN95_Billet9.JPG


an over looked item the stock cam is a capable cam. I have read plenty of stock cammed combos running in the mid/low 12's N/A and low 11's on boost. There is a local guy running a vortech, heads and intake,etc, stock cam and gears running in the 11's.
 
So I'm curious, why did Ford go through the trouble of making the stock HO cam billet, while all the FRPP letter cams have a "junk" SADI core? Why were they not manufactured with the same methods?
 
So I'm curious, why did Ford go through the trouble of making the stock HO cam billet, while all the FRPP letter cams have a "junk" SADI core? Why were they not manufactured with the same methods?

Good ? but probally cost for the frpp stuff but then again they killed any real gains from the added roller cam with crap cylinder heads so who knows what goes through thier minds, truly the stock cam had more to give. I wouldn't totally say sadi is junk, I haven't heard of too many sadi cam failures and they are cheaper than billet. There is thruth in the fact that a billet cam allows for more accurate lobe machining that you don't get with sadi, a sadi has the ability to suffer from twist under a heavy spring but not from the builds most fo us are doing. I still ponder a decent build with the stock cam.
 
Good ? but probally cost for the frpp stuff but then again they killed any real gains from the added roller cam with crap cylinder heads so who knows what goes through thier minds, truly the stock cam had more to give. I wouldn't totally say sadi is junk, I haven't heard of too many sadi cam failures and they are cheaper than billet. There is thruth in the fact that a billet cam allows for more accurate lobe machining that you don't get with sadi, a sadi has the ability to suffer from twist under a heavy spring but not from the builds most fo us are doing. I still ponder a decent build with the stock cam.

Yea, I don't think with SADI it's an issue of breaking, more just an issue of flexing at high (6000+) RPM. The flexing leads to valvetrain instability which leads to loss of power.

I've also HEARD that there seems to be different qualities of SADI cores, some better than others. However, I have yet to see an A versus B test in that regard, so who knows.
 
Yea, I don't think with SADI it's an issue of breaking, more just an issue of flexing at high (6000+) RPM. The flexing leads to valvetrain instability which leads to loss of power.

I've also HEARD that there seems to be different qualities of SADI cores, some better than others. However, I have yet to see an A versus B test in that regard, so who knows.

ahh yeah that's right the high rpm cam whip you get from sadi. I too have heard about the quality issue and I'm sure it's true with certian applications lucky sofar nothing really with our application. The sadi really is a cost thing, a billet piece is more costly for a reason and most would argue overkill for most combos.
 
The stock cam is right at home with a stock or even mildly modded motor. The cam is not the bottleneck of the HO motor. The intake and heads are way more restrictive. The E and Stage 1 are great for around the town drivability. The Stage 1 will net you a little more power and give you more lope.
Kevin