Aftermarket Cams for GT40/Explorer Swap in here

[knucklehead0202]

Better till, talk to Ed Curtis at FTI and pay only a little more for a cam custom-ground for exactly what you have, by a guy who knows his way around the shit. Google it and you'll see the reviews.

[gadget73]

I'm told that custom grinds aren't as expensive as you probably think. If not for the stupid price I got mine for, I may have gone that route. Its certainly the way to go if you want a cam that does precisely what you need and want.

[knucklehead0202]

^^^Yup. I have a cam that's been in my closet for over 10 years and by damn I plan to use it, but otherwise, I'd totally get a custom. If you haven't got valvetrain in order, FTI will set you up with the cam, springs, etc, you will need and it'll be perfectly matched. Anyone who's done anything mustang knows this by rote but we panther folks are on the fringe of cool stuff. Still though, the setups and drivetrain are far too similar to be ignored, and there are people out there that are damn good at getting performance-minded maniacs what they need. If I ever do a serious-effort build i'll certainly be contacting Ed for a cam.

[packman]

Building things "backwards", starting at the rear and ending at the engine is one way to do things piecemeal without having to do re-works. Going the other way round tends to have less than awesome results.

+1 Rebuild the rear with Track-Lok and 3.73 or higher. When you're done with that, upgrade the brakes as those stop lights/signs tend to come upon you faster with a quicker engine. After this, then consider your engine. Might want to get a stall converter as well.

[Mr.Blue]

In the old days of nothing but shitty alphabet cams

Why do you say that? Not that i'd recommend one for a box.............

[jaywish]

A custom grind is maybe $400.

[knucklehead0202]

Why do you say that? Not that i'd recommend one for a box.............

The only good thing you could really say for the motorsport alphabet cams is that they're better than stock, but certainly not optimal

[Mr.Blue]

I agree the motorsport cams arent "optimal" but you can basically say that about any OTS cam..........i just chuckle when people trash those cams and start shouting "CUSTOM CUSTOM CUSTOM!!!" when the people asking will barely pony up for gt40 heads, intake or a gear swap...........the true cost of a custom is around $700/800 dollars from FTI because they will want you to buy a $300 spring set also and honestly thats a deal breaker for 99% of the budget guys........i've got cars currently running a comp xe264, AFM N-4, LUNATI 51027, comp NX264 and am fixing to install a crower 15513 in one and a LUNATI 51025 in another....yes i have 7 cars...8 actually.......the car below has a B-cam...$75 for the cam, $120 for the springs....all motor stock shortblock 302 with gt40's and a systemax,,,,driven 270 miles round trip and it was roughly 90/90* degrees that day think i made 8 passes...been a best of 7.05 in great weather....this is just a basic junk combo that anyone can build..........

Customs have their place but so do the "budget" cams

[knucklehead0202]

I'm all about it. Will be using an old crane 2030 compucam that's been on my shelf for 10 years. I got it free! My brother's '89 coupe runs pretty good with an old e-cam but the new turbo stroker motor will be getting an FTI. I'm just saying even if you're going "budget" there are WAY better off-the-shelf cams than motorsport, like the examples you mentioned. I remember when the b303 was like the go-to blower cam, so funny how things have matured, although a lot of budget turbo guys swear by the f-cam too. Funniest thing is when I see people with an e-cam for sale, like everyone in the world doesn't have one lying about somewhere...well, I don't, but I do have a systemax cam for some reason.

[merc91]

Un-ported (only port matched on the intake mouths) gt40p's in mine with explorer upper and lowers (heavily worked by me after getting good at porting them over the trial and errors) are getting 1-2kpa over atmosphere in the #8 runner and just put down 290/330 to the wheels. Still have fuel/timing/cyl ballencing and a second iat to avoid wot heat soak and we will be into the 300rwhp no problem. A flow bench is like a dyno and the afr that makes peak power is like 1/4 times in the intake air distribution world... Leaner the peak power afr the better the even distribution. The re-worked (heavily) explorer intakes have my car making peak power (track mph/times) at 13.4afr... That's as good as it gets for even distribution. I wish I had that data for when I ran stock intakes too but plugs 7/8 were definetly way lean getting more air than the rest of the cylinders largely due to the short straight shots they got spoiled with in the lower with 1/5 being rich on the other end with those horrible flowing lower runners. Typical oem 302 intakes generally are in the 12.5-12.9 range with gt40 efficiency class of heads. My drivetrain and big steel wheel/big tires so there's no cheating there on the #'s. 4500lbs and 14.4's @ 93.5 in the 1/4 so far. Very very flat power curve, kinda sucks because you never feel that pull in peak power that gives the feel of speed lol.. could easily get a cam for higher revs and get a higher sharper peak but we don't fall for the peak hp lines do we lol. Shifting at 6000rpm on the dot gives me my best mph/times, so for such a low end cam it has giddy up up top too. Stock explorer everything with his same cam made 240/300 to the wheels and 14.9's at 89 in the 1/4 on 4300lbs I was running mass air with the stang a9 ecu.

Now this is and was all with a comp xe 258. I pass etests better than the day it rolled off the lot (mind you with aftermaket ecu and tunes). New springs are a no choicer if you want any cam upgrade on those heads unfortunatly. Get a $20 spring compressor and a spring kit and do it yourself in an hr if need be. Stock relief-less pistons, that cam actually tapped the intake valves off the pistons at high revs degreed at 0 with comp behive .600 max lift springs, but without consequence luckily... advance or retard the cam a few deg 1 way or the other to gain sufficient clearence or run pistons with reliefs.

That xe258 is the cats ass. The HO with 1.7's was fun too... lacked the low power for sure but had a fun revvy peak pull to er.

[gadget73]

Something else to consider if you're swapping valve springs, do the seals too. I swapped the cam on my car, and a month later I was back into it changing the valve seals. Every single one of them came apart. I guess it was varnish on the stem or something, but the tops of the seals all ripped out. Its not too terrible a job to swap them, but it does become tedious.

I am quite satisfied with my xe258, or have been since that issue with the valve seals.