I'm building a mild 302 and I was wondering if anyone had a good suggestions for a roller cam. I was looking into a Ford Motorsport E303 with a 220 degree durlarion but it has a .496 lift. Thats a little too high for me. I was looking for something to match my father's Comp 268 H, so I found the Comp 270 HR. Anyone use that cam? I was also wondering if anyone knows where I can find the spyder tray and H-peices for my roller conversion. I've got thr lifters. Thaks for the help.
We have that in tammy's car (my wifes maverick) I just dynoed it and it made 293 RWHP which corrected for 15% drive train loss is 345 at the crank. Not to bad for a street car.
What kind of idle quality are you looking for? How about power characteristics, do you look for top end performance or low-end grunt (you can't have both, especially with a 302). I have used some good Hyd. rollers, as well as the 'street' solid roller that dad uses in his fairmont. As for finding the pieces to make it all fit, you already have the expensive stuff, the lifters. The spider is available from Ford as well as the retainers. I got mine at the salvage yard as there's usually 4 or 5 late model 302s without the intakes on them and it's a lot easier to get 'em that way.
THE E303 CAM HAS .498 LIFT. iT MAY BE OLD SCHOOL BUT IT IS STILL A PERFORMER. iN FACT i JUST FIRED MY MOTOR THE FIRST TIME TONIGHT WITHE303 CAM rOUSH 200 HEADS 10.4 TO 1 COMP. i RAN THIS SAME EXACT COMBO UNTIL MY MAIN WEBBING CRACKED SO THIS IS THE SECOND GO AROUND SAME SETUP. a ROLLER CAM IS MORE FORGIVING THATN A FLAT TAPPET. yOU WILL GET SOME LOPE. mAYBE BY THIS WEEKEND i WILL POST A VIDEO AND SOUND FILE OF MY DYNO RUN. I WILL BE FIRING THE 351/408 STROKER FOR THE COUGAR THIS NEXT TUESDAY AS WELL.
How anout this I was liking the idea of a 220 degree cam, bot the lift is extremely high. My favorite cam is the comp 268 H hydrolic lifter with a 218 degree. I have stock heads and valve spings and was concitering a 1.5:1 rocker arm so the cam would lift like a .466 lift instead of a .498 . I loyal to Comp Cams and Ford, but I didn't see and rollers by Comp except for the 260 HR and the 270 HR. Any suggestions???
You've got a couple options. You could call Comp to see what they can get for you and what they recommend. They'll most likely recommend a custom-grind cam. They don't list much on their site, but that doesn't mean that they don't have what you want. This is assuming you are dead set on Comp cams. I went with an Erson Hyd. roller set up for mild turbocharger, then switched to another Erson Hyd roller that was a shelf cam, meaning that they had it in stock (cheaper that way). I really like it, though the idle is a bit choppy below 700 rpm, especially with the 5-speed. With an automatic it smoothes out nicely, but you can tell it ain't stock. Pulls well from 2000-5800 with stock heads and aftermarket intake, headers, and good flowing exhaust system. With the 5-speed and lightweight engine internals, it pulls up to about 6500 then signs off rather quickly. Specs are: 222-226 duration @ .050 .512 lift intake and exhaust, 112 LSA. Also, I have a 10.2:1 compression, and that helps. I also used it on a 7.9:1 302 turbocharged engine, and it was a pooch off boost due to the restrictive exhaust and low compression. BTW I get 32 MPG with this cam in the current combo. Another cam that looks pretty good is the Erson E212832 hyd roller which is a 219-219 @ .050 and .512" lift, with 110 LSA. They show it making good power from 2000-5000, and should have 8.5-9.5 compression and stock heads are ok. It also has a good idle. This is also the late-model firing order, the same as the one I have now. Just some thoughts, FWIW. Good luck and keep us posted.
BTW .498 lift isn't that high, stock 5.0 mustangs have .444 That's only .054 more lift. That's 14 sheets of paper (normal paper is .0038" thick) from your printer
Yeah, my 302 is nothing wild and with my 1.7:1 rockers my valves open .472/.503 with 204/214 duration @.050 lift. It's very smooth.
what about valve springs??? You guy's with the highlift cams, did you get aftermarket springs. Don't think I am a wussy when it comes to replacing valve springs, but I trying to get my budget straight. I was thinking in the .490 to .510 range. Thanks for your guy's help! By the way, it probly be Comp of Ford Motorsport.
If you are on a tight budget why not just get a regular cam and lifter set. I would still upgrade springs to match cam though. You could always wait a little longer and do it right. For the street a roller cam is the ticket. They produce more torque under the curve and idle smoother campare to non roller similiar specs etc.... Good Luck
Oddball4door, i don't think you can just put a roller cam in to a 302. I believe the journal diameter for the cams is different. Also, you can't use stock roller lifters in a regular block, you must buy retrofit roller lifters (roller blocks have larger bores). The spider assembly also won't bolt in, as there is no place to bolt it to on the older 302's. The cheapest and easiest way to retrofit a roller cam into a non-roller 302 is to buy a kit from comp cams or some other company. Retrofit roller lifters are expensive, however ($350+), and the rest of the retro-fit stuff ain't cheap either. You also need new pushrods, and you have to remove the heads to install the lifters (+cost of 2 new head gaskets). On the positive side, i have seen used racing roller lifters go for about $200 on ebay. The biggest problem you will run into is that cams, and especially roller cams, and especially especially roller retrofit cams, don't come much smaller than the E303. If you want a smaller cam like that, i would say just stick with the hydraulic cams or possibly something like the edelbrock performer (or PAW's or Summit's generic version of them). The real advantage to roller lifters is a steeper opening ramp, which means you can get more lift in....if you don't want much lift, there isn't much point.
That's right. The older blocks wont accept a factory roller cam & lifters without modifications, unless you use a solid roller. If using a hyd roller, you usually have to use a small base circle camshaft (special order usually $$$), then you can use factory lifters in an old block, but you have to drill & tap the block to accept the spider. That part is easy. Also you don't have to remove the heads to put in factory Hyd. roller lifters. The 4 on the ends are a pain to install, but if you work at it, they will fall in. Solid rollers, you have to take the heads off, though (longer than hyd rollers). Solid rollers can use factory-length pushrods, where hyd roller engines use shorter ones (6.25" long). Roller cammed engines, especially solid roller engines MUST have better valvetrain components. The forces are higher and it's possible to rev it a bit higher and you don't want to drop a valve--not a good thing.
