Sorry to revive an old thread, but I figure why create a new one. I am back at the idea of the cam swap. Is the Comp 31-255-5 still my best choice?

I will need a gasket set for the timing cover and intake manifolds and all that. Is there a good gasket set somewhere that has all I will need? What is a good timing set to use?

My truck has around 125,000 miles now and still runs strong. It makes about 20 psi oil pressure at idle. That said, I should be okay just swapping the cam right? Or should I pull the engine for a re-ring and bearing job? I think it would be fine, but some of you guys probably know better than I do.

Oh and what, if any, changes to fuel economy can I expect? Part of why I want to do this is because the truck is pretty sluggish. It's constantly shifting in and out of overdrive going 40-50 mph on only slightly hilly terrain. It's super annoying and killing my mileage. I'm running 31s now and I want to keep them, maybe even go to 33s, but the little engine that could struggles with it. It's a 3.55 gear, 4x4... it's all in my profile. Thanks!

 

That cam is still a good choice but you have to use top quality cam grease and zink additive in the oil for the breakin and follow the procedure to the letter, otherwise the cam may not last 500 miles.
3.55 gears isn't enough for a 5.0 truck with an AOD and oversized tires so start saving for 4.10 gears, this cam change will make a noticable difference in power especially with longtube headers but the bottom line is you still only got a 5 liter that will never make big torque below 2000rpm so it has to be geared appropriately.

 

I hear ya on the 4.10 gears, but I am just not looking to do that right now. I was devising a plan to make a little more power for, I don't know, 300-500 dollars. Does anyone else make a computer compatible cam to consider? Do I have a flat tappet engine for sure? I have never been inside this engine myself... It seems to be near when they introduced factory rollers.

 

'85 or '86 was the first year for the factory roller cam but that was in the Mustang, trucks didn't see a roller until 1992. But... if you have a newer motor in that truck it's possible a factory roller cam assembly could be swapped in? Is the motor original? Have you ever looked at the block casting numbers? If it's an E7TE casting('87) or later it's compatable with the roller setup.

 

I read this whole thread, including most of the stupid bickering and showing of male ego. lol.

I have an 86' 302 EFI. Here is what I have done. Rebuilt the engine, .030' overbore, stock cam, ported E7TE heads, LT Headers, true duals with h-pipe, flowtech mufflers. MSD ignition coil, low resistance cap/rotor, spiral wound wires, 16 BTDC timing bump. I venture to guess I am running a little more than 185 stock hp. This engine really runs smooth now. Its a dog in the low rpms range of course.

Ive also considered the cam swap. However, I have been collecting parts to convert the factory speed density EFI over to the later MAF EFI. There is a greater choice of cams I can use with MAF.

250hp out of the stock EFI aint bad, but why do that when you could convert your SD EFI to MAF EFI and get a cam that'll give you 300+hp? Its a little more for the MAF conversion, but the benefits should be worth it.

 

pull the main caps off and inspect the journals on the crank, if there are no grooves simply slide new bearing inserts in there the same size and roll on..

there's more to gain with a pair of twisted wedge tfs heads then there is with a cam change, if you changed both it would blow your mind the 1st time you mash on it..
Want to maximize your combo?
Save your money or buy them one at a time but you want comp cams ultra pro magnum rocker arms, they are tough and will free up a bunch of ponys.
Maybe use 1.6 rockers on the intakes and 1.7's on the exhaust or vice versa or both, play around with the I/E flow ratio and see what it likes and what it doesn't, have a pad and take note of every change you do to the motor so you can determine if everything is going to work together or fight each other.
Polish the MAF sensor bore but don't touch the sensor, the reason why i say to polish the MAF is because the hot wire and thermistor take the most accurate reading of air flow when all of the air flowing through the bore is laminar to the bore itself, no turbulence whatsoever, none is best in this area of the engine, this is the measurement device that tells the ECM how much air is sucked or pushed in, if the air flowing the throttle body is not laminar to the wall of the throttle body it will not get an accurate measurement of airflow and the ECM will send the wrong signal to the injectors and blah blah, there are a lot of mods that people pay big money for but do very little to improve performance, this is 1 of those time consuming delicate mods that will reward you with a correct a/f mixture, but this is the only part of the intake system that that you want ultra smooth..

 

Is there any roller cams available like this?

 

Would the 31-255-5 cam work in a 1995 302 which is a roller motor?
Everything i red on it says its for a flat tappet motor.
Im freshening up a 1995 block for my 1985 f150 2wd want to go with a little better cam and some gt 40 heads and swap all the 1985 EFI on to the 95 block along with a set of headers.

 

How much performance are you looking for?
A lot of bolt on stuff will get you most of your performance not to mention you will need a lot of bolt on stuff to take advantage of a bigger cam. If you just want the rap of a came I'd stick with a roller but don't go too big.

Transmission type is one of the biggest determining factors.

 

Ir would but it's a total step backwords, use the Comp 35-512-8 instead.