cam intake questions

[FastGT]

Well i came here in search of an answer, looks like alot of 94-95 people on here to hopefully help me out too, im looking to put an intake and a cam in my 95 GT, im just wondering what will have to be done afterwards, i heard alot about car running rough or not running at all after heads cam and intake swap, but i dont know about just a cam and intake, the cam is most likely gonna be an E303 or F303, and the intake is an edelbrock performer, any help is appreciated, thanks

[J_L]

Changing the cam is normally when you start to see big drivealibity problems. Some owners say they've swapped heads and intake and the car ran great afterwards, and then others say it would barely idle and run like crap.

But! That's nothing a tune can't take care of, so I'd say plan ahead for a tune and avoid the headache entirely. When I installed the supercharger on my 95 I took the PCM to a tuner for a base tune to get the car running, and then drove straight to the tuner for a dyno tune. I think you'd probably want to consider doing the same thing to be safe.

Another thing about the stock injectors and fuel pump, a head/cam/intake package really really needs upgraded injectors and a new fuel pump. The stock injectors will take you to about 300hp until they've run out of steam. Anything more than 300 and you'll want to upgrade. I'm running some 42lb injectors and a 255lph fuel pump.

My car runs and idles beautifully on the 42lb injectors, so don't let anyone tell you they're too big and that the car will run like crap because they're too big. They leave some room to grow if you ever want more power (they're good for a ballpark 600hp, but that number depends on a variety of factors), so best case scenario is you save yourself $400 by buying injectors once instead of twice...

Heads on the 5.0L Ford are the biggest piece of the equation when making power, the stock heads make OK torque on the bottom and terrible horse power. A cylinder head swap truly is the best bang for the buck mod on a 5.0, no use changing the cam with a stock head, really. But that said, a mild aftermarket cam will make an additional 30-40hp on a nice set of heads over the stock cam, so there is definitely some merrit to changing the cam.

And again about the car not running well after a head or cam swap, honestly just plan to get the car tuned and avoid the headache, it's worth it for the piece of mind, and to drive a car for the enjoyment instead of worrying about keeping your foot on the gas at every stoplight just so the car doesn't stall out... Know what I mean?!

Just to show the importance of heads, my car at 8psi makes a hair over 370hp. Darren5.0L has the same Kenne Bell setup but also a set of heads, and his car is making just over 460hp. Correct me if I am wrong about that Darren! I saw your dyno graph at Tecmotion.. Even if I'm a little off on that number, it's still a tremendous increase in power with just a head swap!

Hope that is helpful info!

[Matthew]

Cylinder heads will make a BIG difference. Also, I would consider a split pattern cam instead of one of the Ford cams. For a mild build-up the TFS Stage 1 is pretty good, though I ran the Stage 2 on my H/C/I 302 and liked it fine for a driver. The Comp 274HR is usually a good choice too.

-Matthew

[FastGT]

Hey guys thanks for all your help, JL you really explained it to me in the way i needed to, and im glad someone finally could help me out, i have been wanting to know what i was getting myself into for a long time before i did it, and that deffinately helped, im gonna look into getting injectors, a pump, and a set of heads, and matt thanks for your info also, with your guys help im deffinately gonna wait to install till i have heads cam and intake, thanks agin guys

[lone sailor]

I'd look at the small TrickFlow Specialties grind(TSF1), or if you're set on the alphabet, the F cam has my only approval in Ford's lineup. Good luck.

[84stanggt-top]

Originally Posted by lone sailor

I'd look at the small TrickFlow Specialties grind(TSF1), or if you're set on the alphabet, the F cam has my only approval in Ford's lineup. Good luck.

I dunno...kinda like this B303 I have...but yeah, next one will be a TFS (probably stage 2) unit for better exhaust breathing.

Glad you got looked after FastGT! These guys helped me out a bunch!

[FastGT]

Yea they deffinately helped me out alot 84stanggt, glad i joined such an awsome site with such good people and all, very helpful and very kind on this site, Lone sailor i deffinately agree with you, the only reason i consider E303 or F303 is because i knew plenty of people who ran them, my buddy has a 9 second 91GT that ran an E303 for a while, now he switched to a blower cam and it runs better, but the E303 sounded good, F303 sounds mean, another buddy of mine had one of those, the TFS stage 1 i never heard actually run, but thats the other cam i considered

[Pro SC]

Originally Posted by FastGT

Hey guys thanks for all your help, JL you really explained it to me in the way i needed to, and im glad someone finally could help me out, i have been wanting to know what i was getting myself into for a long time before i did it, and that deffinately helped, im gonna look into getting injectors, a pump, and a set of heads, and matt thanks for your info also, with your guys help im deffinately gonna wait to install till i have heads cam and intake, thanks agin guys

Good choice, some people like to do the one mod at a time deal, but i like to consider HCI as one mod because of all the repetitive R&R work required to do the installs seperate.

[FastGT]

Originally Posted by Pro SC

Good choice, some people like to do the one mod at a time deal, but i like to consider HCI as one mod because of all the repetitive R&R work required to do the installs seperate.

Thanks, yea i couldnt agree with you more on that, its just like well the intake is off, and you gotta take apart half the motor to get the cam out to so might as well do it all at once haha