I was thinking that I might like to do cams on my car.

I know a blower isn't in the future and I was wondering what kind of gains and expense I would be looking at to put cams in my car? My list of performance mods is in my sig but they aren't much.

Is it worth it?

 

Hey Rich, how you doing?

I spent alot of time evaluating cams before I decided to go with the blower. The Comp stage 3s will give you about 30-35 horse gain, although its mostly all at the topend. Your car will really pull like a mother above 4000rpm. They sound good too..... I know this from listening to one of Brenspeed's shop cars in-person.

The main reason why I didn't do them is cost..... unless you install them yourself, you're looking at a lot of labor $$ for the install. The cams/springs/retainers are around $700 or so, and I was quoted $900 for install and custom tuning. For that much $$, I figured I was about 1/2 way to having a blower.

Just my 2 cents pal, for whatever its worth.

 

Yeah tom281 is absolutely correct. The labour will kill you on the cam install for these engines. Specialized tools are needed and it takes quite a while.
Like Tom states when it's all said and done you're about half the cost of s supercharger.

 

Thanks for saving me some money guys!

 

But it would be pretty sick...Having the 4.10s for all the low end power then Cams throwing you HARD into your seat around 3500

 

There's no doubt that cams work very well in these cars it's just the cost that's a killer. Cost aside, cams, ported heads, long tube headers and a decent cold air intake, CVCV delete plates and a good tune these engines will make some crazy power n/a. I'm pretty sure one could make around 390 hp at the crank with these mods where the Saleen supercharger with 5.5 lbs boost on an otherwise stock engine is rated at 400 hp at the crank. The advantage to doing it n/a is you're not subjecting the comparatively weak stock pistons with high combustion chamber pressures to accomplish it therefore the engine will have less stress and should last longer.

 

Rich, if deep down you're wanting a blower, then I wouldn't do the cams unless you have the cash to do both.

BUT, if you're sure that you're not going to buy a blower, then Matt is right the cams with your gears would be awesome.

 

I'm mostly going to say this for my own benefit, to rationalize staying on my path of N/A supremacy (certainly not to refute what tom281 has said).

Realisticly a intercooled screw type blower or even a trubo set up, is gonna run more than $3,200. So the $1,600 cam + install price is more like a 1/3 or maybe even 1/4 of the price of a blower in my mind. ESPECIALLY once you factor in installation costs for the blower and accessories to complete the job. A new Saleen blower is $5,000 alone, just for the hardware.

One plan I was looking at, which I hope my save me some labor cost, is to get a new set of P&P'd heads (Livernois stage 3), w/ oversized valves, then install the new cams/springs/retainers while the heads are OFF of the car. I expect this will eliminate many of the install issues, costs, time it takes for a cam install alone. Of course then there is the cost (time and/or $$) for a head swap. But if you plan to swap heads with a blower anyway, then this cost is the same for both routes.

 

Cams maybe around $700 but dont forget you also need new springs and retainers so that brings the cost upto around $1000 for the Comp caps anyway. I've installed cams in my car and love them. The main reason for doing so was I dont want to go forced induction at the moment because I use the car so much for doing my n/a tunes and testing and developement for new intakes.

The install is the hard part, add around $500-$700 for any GOOD shop to install them, if you get a quote of anyless be scared. The springs are the hardest part as I installed mine myself with the Ford tools and it was still a PIA.

The best thing I guess to say is that if you're looking for good power at about a 1/3 of the cost of a blower and installation then the cams are a good choice. You will gain 25-40 rwhp mostly above 3000 rpm's. With the comp cams, for now, your idle wont be much different then stock, I know thats the worst part.

Thanks, Doug.

 

Good point Lowe, I should clarify that I was referring to the cost of a blower package like mine- Vortech, non-cooled. If you already have a tuner (SCT, etc) then you can get a polished kit for under $4k and if you don't want polished, probably take another $100 off that and you'd be at around $3800. And you can install a blower such as this MUCH easier than cams; probably intall the blower yourself with basic hand tools. Good point, thanks.

 

The labor to install cams or a S/C plus a new tune is basically a wash so we're really talking about the cost of the hardware. Cams et al are only half of the price of a S/C and for a 10 Whipple about 1/3 of the price. Just depends what you want out of your ride. As much a I'd like to go the S/C route I forsee about an 8k investment. With cams and 4.10's I can look at around 2.5k and still get a good jolt when I hit the gas.

 

Also. Crane cams seem to have better lift and duration #'s than Comp cams. Anyone using Cranes?

 

Sounds like a great plan, if you go that route, let us know the results!

 

That's not entirely true..... alot of people can install their own superchargers with basic hand tools, while on the other hand few people will install their own cams and you need the specific Ford tools to do the job. And most supercharger kits include a tune for the blower + your existing mods.

 

Cams are great for an N/A car. I absolutely loved my car N/A with my Comp 4's. The car pulled so hard especially above 3500 rpms. There was a noticeable difference below 3500 rpms as well. I would recommend a cam swap to anyone. My friend and I have done two swaps in 05+ cars, one being a stage 1 comp cam and then mine with the stage 4's. There is a difference in the idle of the stage 4's even with the stock idle rpm. When I get my car all tuned out I'm planning to lower my idle rpm to around 650 or lower and then the lope should be even more noticeable. I've heard one video of a stage 3 comp cams car that had his idle at like 545 rpms and it loped pretty good. I agree with most people the price of install sucks for these and yes Doug speaks the truth the spring install is a huge pain in the a$$. However, if anyone is in the North Texas or Oklahoma area and want to get your cams installed let me know cause my friend and I will do them cheaper than most shops. Also we did the both installs without any 3v specific tools.

 

Its a video at night please forgive me. And ford specific tools are not necessary. I installed my cams without them.

 

Has anyone done cams+nitrous yet?

 

tom,
I don't disagree that some could but I feel comfortable saying most wouldn't as a one time project. When you add in the two fue pumps (for some applications), all of the wiring for guages etc. it is a challange for someone who doesn't work on cars a lot. plus, you always need someone to blame if it goes bad - .

 

Haha right on! I dig it man, no worries.

 

So now I have my thinking cap back on!

Thanks for all the replies and opinions. I love this place!