trying to piece together my car and was thinking about a cam swap. I have a 91 5.0 and I'm changing to carb. I don't want to run a big stall, I might go a little bigger if I can find a T-5 setup. What is the biggest lift I can run with the stock valve springs and retainers? this motor has in the upper 70,000 miles but it ran good for a stock motor, maybe I should just leave the stock cam in I don't know. I had a B303 cam in the car I sold to Thomas Allen and I think it was all stock head wise, but the specs say it requires springs. Anyways, any ideas welcome....
what are you looking for in performance? do you want the most power, gas mileage, or some where in between? every body wants the most power and gas mileage at the same time but it just doesnt work that way.
better milage with a little better performance than stock. Is that possible?Believe it or not the other car with the B303 cam got pretty decent milage going down the highway, but I don't want to run that much converter(2800 to 3000).
contact delta, they'll grind one out just to your specs. And their prices are cheap. http://deltacam.com/ Phone: (800) 562-5500 sales@deltacam.com
its really hard to improve the mileage of a stock cam and have more power. the key is to maximize the air flow of the whole engine. talk to a cam grinder and they should be able to get you into the best cam for what your motor needs.
Have to add that improving MPG and improving HP can be done...easily and with a carburetor and distributor. It's all in the tuning. If I can do it, anyone can!!
First of all, what 5.0 are you running ? The "base" roller found in the Crown Vic/Towncar/Marquis 5.0 is really small. This cam was also used in some of the T-Bird/Cougar 5.0's, along with the 92-93 pickup/van 5.0. Next up is the F4TE cam used in the 94-97 pickup/van 5.0 and the 96-2001 Explorer/Mountaineer 5.0, then there's the Cobra 5.0 cam (also used in the 93 T-Bird/Cougar 5.0) at the top of the stock cam heap was the HO roller. The B303 is only a step above the HO roller in lift and duration. Now as far as how big a cam you can run with the stock heads, that also depends on what stock heads you have. Are they pedestal rockers or stud mount 65-77 stud rockers ? The HO, F4TE and the Cobra cams are all really close to each other in lift and duration. About the biggest you can run with the stock springs and retainers is a B303 with 1.7 rockers, even then, you'll be severly limited here in terms of rpm potential with new stock springs (even less with old springs)
You didn't need to run anything more than a stock converter with a B cam. Or at best a converter with a stall speed no higher than 2000 rpms.
Ward; I have a B cam in my car, and I get pretty good mileage, and the idle is pretty good. Lots of power in the midrange. Love the cam!
How serious are you about a camshaft? Having gone through this recently, I hashed it out whether to use a custom cam or just use the stock '93 HO Mustang camshaft. Went custom. Glad I did. Idles well. Great midrange. Good low end (just like stock) and great HP to about 6200. Ed Curtis....he hit this camshaft selection right out of the park, at least on my Mustang. Could not be happier. Was well worth the extra money over the HO camshaft. Only one downside...if anything, it's a little TOO responsive at lower speeds...but part of that is due to light pistons/pins, crankshaft lightening and a 10lb flywheel. But I feel that the way it was built helps with getting 28 MPG (highway).
Ward the B,E or small trick flow work great on a stock 5.0,springs included, I personally like the B cam.
"trying to piece together my car and was thinking about a cam swap." with this being said, I think a...custom grind...would be out of the question... ...JMO...
Anything close to a B or E cam with stock springs is about all you're going to get without doing more upgrades. New springs should be installed regardless of cam.
