on cam kits

302 · 09-09-2009, 05:59 PM

I was looking at some cam kits for my car. I was woundering when you change a cam, do you need to change the lifters too? And if so, how do you change your lifters. And if I change the cam do I need to change anything else, like fuel injectors, or valve springs ect...?Thanks.

theoldwizard · 09-10-2009, 08:35 AM

If you have non-roller lifter I would say yes. And, I would add, change to roller lifters. Non-roller lifters tend to "wear into" the profile of the cam lobe.

Depending on the profile of the cam (lift and duration) you should not have to change any other components. High lift cams can cause valve spring bind, but they can also cause valve to piston clearance (or lack there of) issues.

302 · 09-10-2009, 01:00 PM

Thanks for the help. But do you know how much horsepower I might gain by doing this?

theoldwizard · 09-10-2009, 06:12 PM

HP gain depends on the cam.

Do you have a Mass Air Flow EFI system or the old "speed density" ? If you have speed density you will need a new set of chips.

302 · 09-11-2009, 04:17 AM

I dont want to go with to serious of a cam. It is my daily driver, but I would like to go a bit more than stock. Wich I would like to figure out the stock cam specs. Is there a way to figure that out? I am not sure about the mass air flow. It is EFI, it has the seperate fuel injecters, and the plentum and throttle boddy for the air intake. But I do think there might be a sensor in the throttle body because there is an eletrical plug.

trueblue · 09-11-2009, 09:59 AM

Another way to get the advice you are looking for is to call the techline which is available at almost all of the major cam companies. I generally call Comp Cams techline, tell them what I am trying to accomplish and in a few moments they give me their recomendations. Most cam companies offer cams and lifters as a kit. More aggressive grinds will require a spring change but it does not appear that you need to worry about that.

doug 351 · 09-11-2009, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 302

I was looking at some cam kits for my car. I was woundering when you change a cam, do you need to change the lifters too? And if so, how do you change your lifters. And if I change the cam do I need to change anything else, like fuel injectors, or valve springs ect...?Thanks.

Whether you need to change other components depends on the cam you use, as already stated. To change out your lifters, you will have to pull your valve covers and your intake, unbolt the rocker arms, pull the pushrods and then : if rollers, unbolt the spider and lift out the lifters or: if flat tappet, use a telescoping antenna looking retrieving magnet to reach down in the bores to get the ones down in there, or spin the motor until the come up enough to get a hold of them.

doug 351 · 09-11-2009, 05:42 PM

[quote=302;135764]I dont want to go with to serious of a cam. It is my daily driver, but I would like to go a bit more than stock. Wich I would like to figure out the stock cam specs. Is there a way to figure that out? QUOTE]

It's not necessary to figure out the stock cam specs to get one that is just above stock. The cam manufacturers and sellers will list the levels of performance for each cam, and that will tell you more than looking at stock cam specs and trying to decide what is a step above.
Google to find stock specs if you think you really need them.
The Old Wizard gave you some excellent advice that I cannot top and wholly agree with, go to Comp Cams website, and at the top left hand corner you will find info on how to consult a tech. It's free, and while the advice may be slightly tainted and subject to the expertise of the particular tech you may draw, the advice is likely to be much better than asking at forums such as this.
After spending 6 months researching and asking on forums for specs for my particular build, I had narrowed it down to 2 basic grinds. The tech at Comp gave me those 2 exact grinds as options for my build.
You can take the spec for the Comp Cam that they recommend and shop for similar cams, although I think Comp makes the absolute best OTS cams going for the money.
OOPS- Just realized it was True Blue not Wizard who gave you the advice.

jonmark1985 · 09-11-2009, 06:33 PM

I agree with contacting Comp on a cam. However, give Ford Racing a call as well.

The real rule said and done... any time you change a camshaft, even a used one. you should put new lifters in. Lifters can be refurbished and used over. This involves pulling the lifter apart, cleaning, putting it back together, and then testing the leak down on the lifter. EVERYTHING must be meticulously clean. I have an old car repair book from the sixties that goes into great depth. Flat tappet lifters wear to the camshaft, and must be kept in the exact order to prevent wiping a lobe. Many people swap cams in the 5.0 HOs and keep the roller lifters, that just seems like asking for trouble, especially if you don't even clean the lifters up.

I always dreamed of building an ultra budget 302. Domed hyper pistons in factory bore dingle honed cylinders, factory roller lifters, big cam, and a set of GT40 heads that have been given a race port treatment, maybe a factory aluminum dual plane intake as well. A motor like this could be built for 1000+ plus the orginal cost of the engine, and probably wouldn't survive forever. It could probably make 350 horse, and maybe 450 with nitrous, however it would be a short matter of time at that point before its demise. A junkard monster like that would get used lifters.

Now a quality engine, would get brand new lifters from Ford racing, Roads, Comp, or speed-pro. I'd probably opt for Ford Racing.

I think if you are going to the work of changing the camshaft you need to just pull the engine and be done.

If you pull the engine you can pull the heads and do some work to them. Remove the thermactor bump and you'll gain power for minimal cost. A little bowl blending and you'll be in business.

Regardless I think you should pull a spring or two off the heads. Put the spring in a vise and measure several things. Start with your installed height. This is the height of the spring on the head. Jegs sells a nifty tool for doing this. Then get a scale that you use in the vise to measure spring pressure. You'll want to measure when the spring is compressed to the installed spring height. 110-125 Lbs is usually called for with a roller camshaft. Your camshaft manufacturer can give a good spec for you and this varies with the types of valves you have, heavier valves need more pressure. Then check where your coil bind height is. This is the absoloute largest mechanically you can run a spring, you won't run a camshaft here, rather you'll run .090 from it. You'll want to check spring pressure here as well. Old springs won't have adequate pressure for most camshafts. Next you'll want to check the amount of room between the valve seal and the retainer. Theoretically if you wanted to really build an engine right you'd do every valve spring like this.

The factory HO camshaft was .440/.440 210/210, you don't have this camshaft, but you can get these springs for next to nothing.

Trick flow has a cheap set of Ford springs that are good to .540 lift, and have a 1.800 installed height.

Ford used a 1.72 and a 1.8 installed spring height on many models.

jonmark1985 · 09-11-2009, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 302

I dont want to go with to serious of a cam. It is my daily driver, but I would like to go a bit more than stock. Wich I would like to figure out the stock cam specs. Is there a way to figure that out? I am not sure about the mass air flow. It is EFI, it has the seperate fuel injecters, and the plentum and throttle boddy for the air intake. But I do think there might be a sensor in the throttle body because there is an eletrical plug.

crown vice got speed density.