Hello, first post here, I just bought a 93 F150 4x4 5.0 AOD with 205K on it, the engine is leaking oil pretty bad so i am going to put in a 5.0 I have from a 94 f150, my plan is

• mild cam more for the low-end torque
• Full length headers, no cats, to flowmasters or straight piped
• mass air conversion, probably using A9L
• mustang intake for the smaller runners and higher velocity
• I am also going to clean up the ports on the heads

My question is what cam should i use, 2 i have heard would work well are the

• Crane truck-power p/n 364215
• comp cams 35-349-8

Should I expect better fuel economy IF i can keep my lead foot out of it
-Thanks

 

I dont remember the part # but I built a 302 with a Crane 4x4 tourqe cam, TRW forged flat tops with 69 windsor heads match ported. Pulled nice in a F-150 with 39 inch M/T. That was with a non EFI setup. Very old school 15 years ago. MAF is the preferred setup. I am still learning the EFI, at 42 years old.

 

Use the Comp 35-349-8, no sense stopping at anything under 0.500" lift... Be sure to get matching springs. Concentrate most of your head work on the exhaust side, pocket port behind the valve and smooth the roof competely out. Leave the intake side alone except for removing flashing and imperfections, and remove any sharp edges or casting flaws in the combustion chambers, goes a long way to reducing detonation sensitivity.

 

If you have the money, another way to improve torque and fuel economy is to use good quality high silicon cast pistons and bumping the compression up to around 9.5:1 and go with a set of Trick Flow's twisted wedge heads. You can order them with pretty much any valve size that will fit so using stock valve diameters will be fine for your application. By using aluminum heads, you can still run regular pump gas with the higher compression without having to worry so much about detonation. Of course cleaning them up as Cananski said make them even better.

 

The stang intake is not the best for low end truck type tork. I clean up or use explore/lightning type. Thats what local guy is using on drag/street truck with 302 .And he has been playing with it for 20 yrs .

 

have to disagree here. To build low rpm TQ on a small displacement engine you want a small volume intake like the stock HO intake, not the larger GT40 or truck intake. You can even tune it lower with an intake spacer, I believe they are available in sizes up to 1". Same goes for the heads, small ports build higher air velocity..which builds more TQ, so the stock heads are great here. The suggestion for higher compression is also good but I didn't get the impression the OP was rebuilding the bottom end. The '94 motor should be 9:1 already so that's not too bad.

 

All good suggestions for BlueOval, I work as an A&P mechanic by trade. This means I have access to some awesome tooling when it comes to rebuilding engines. On our test stand/dyno we have installed a JPI fuel flow meter. This means we can check the fuel economy as well as torque/horsepower numbers. When I overhaul the 5.8 engine in my truck, I plan on experimenting a bit with the cam and cam timing, intake runner length and header length to get the best combination of low end torgue and fuel economy. With the combo I am planning, I hope to increase the torque numbers and increase my economy a bit by changing my diff gears to 3.23's or 3.08's.

 

Having a 3.08 pumpkin can be a blessing and a curse. It's great for highway mileage, but with a 5.0 in front of it, I seldom get past 3rd gear in normal city traffic, i.e. gotta keep the rpm up. 5.0's are gutless wonders at low rpm, but they are great highway light duty engines. Just got no grunt at the bottom. Your 5.8 may do a lot better with the smaller runners in the intake, dunno. This is why I see such a huge disparity in my city and highway mileage in a truck that has nothing in the back but a plastic tool box with less than 50 pounds of stuff in it.

One more thing. Unless you just like buying and installing clutches, you WILL be starting in 1st gear with a manual. 2nd with a 3.08 is too hard on the clutch.

 

Starting n 1st is no prob. I have a Mercedes 240D that is rated at 66 hp and 183 ft/lb of torque. 1st gear starts are a must with that car so I am quite used to it. With the higher compression, intake spacers, high toque cam, balance, blueprint long tube headers and 3 inch single exhaust, I think I can get the pull I want and still get decent mileage numbers. I am also considering some head work or as I stated earlier a set of twisted wedge heads with stock valves to improve the cylinder efficiency. I am thinking also that I may be able to go as high as 10:1 CR with the aluminum heads. But then I would probably have to run higher octane gasoline.

 

Thank you all for the input, as for aluminum heads thats out of the question even though i'd love to have em', I'm a junior in high-school workin at a heavy diesel repair shop. I wouldnt mind bumping up the CR a little bit but not too much, thanks Conanski the porting info was especially helpful, i havent stuck the bore gauge into the cylinders so i dont know yet if i will have to do the bottom end as well, Hawk180 that experimentin' sounds pretty cool as well. How would the fuel economy differ by using the Comp 35-349-8 over the stock cam or either the Crane

 

In looking at the cam profiles, it looks as if there are compromises on both. I like roller cams, but the Comp cam has quite a bit more lift and more duration than the Crane cam, so your off idle torque would suffer compared to the stock and Crane unit, with more top end power. But with the Crane cam, it is a hydraulic tappet cam, so there would be more valve train friction which would cause a slight reduction in economy. If you could find a grind close to the Crane cam in a roller, it would be the best of both worlds. A far as an improvement over stock, It is hard to say, but I would think the Crane cam would be a better choice. It would be an excellent choice if it were a roller. Also it is very important for the bottom end to be able to withstand what you do to the top, so I would highly recommend at least a fresh set of rings and bearings if not a complete out of frame overhaul. If the engine is already out, there would be no decision to make in my book, it would get completely overhauled, including fresh main, rod and cam bearings, rings and oil pump. They are not that expensive and you would be much happier in the long run. It sounds like you work in a place where you have the access to tooling and knowhow to do it right the first time. I'm sure someone there would be willing to help you out if you get stuck.

 

thanks, the Crane actually is a hydraulic roller tappet cam acoordinng to Summit so i have found my cam. I am definately going to put in bearings, seals, rings, oil pump and an ARP pump drive, when i do the engine. Our engine guy already told me he would help me put it all together right, he's a perfectionist when it comes to building engines and transmissions which is a good think when you're workin on 10,000 dollar John-Deere engines or any other engine for that matter, I really appreciate your time and help on this one

http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku

 

OK that's good, I looked at the Crane website for the part number, they posted a sample picture that had hydraulic flat tappets so I mistook that for what the kit was. Yeah the Crane, in my opinion, is the better choice for what you are looking for. BTW I was involved in oval track racing for several years in the south, we used Crane Cams exclusivly. Like a lot of other guys thats been out there for a long time, they have been doing it right in order to stay around as long as they have. If you ever get to the Daytona Beach area, you should stop in to their complex and take a tour. It is awesome!

 

thanks again, that's the cam i'm going to buy, yeah racing down here is pretty big, i live about an hour from concord nc where all the big names in nascar like DEI and Hendricks are located, i actually have toured hendricks (somewhat they wouldnt let us down into the garage area they have a big glass wall where you can watch em' build the cars), my great grandpa used to own the dirttrack in our town and my grandpa raced with dale earnhardt seniors dad, when we went to florida we passed right through daytona i wanted to stop but we had to get to a baseball tournament in lakeland but next time i'm down that way i'll have to check into that

 

When you get there, it is on International Speedway Blvd, across from the track. It is set back a little ways off the road, but you can't miss it.