Anyone have any experience or input on running a cobra cam with 1.6 rockers.

How does this compare to the F4TE Explorer cam. Was there any improvement?

 

It's just a mustang HO cam and it will produce more peak HP at the cost of some low rpm TQ in a 5.0 but would be a good upgrade for a 5.8.

 

^ Does the H.O cam work in SD trucks?

Let just say so did a budget build on a MAF 351... H.O cam, Iron GT-40's, stock intake, decent exhaust. Will those parts support ~300 BHP? What kinda torque would you expect?

/hijack

 

Consider the Gen. 1 Lightnings were rated at ~240 HP and 340 ft./lbs TQ with GT40 intake/heads/headers and a mild cam. The HO cam will net you a few more ponies up top but your stock 5.8L intake is going to hold your potential gains to a modest level. Yes the HO cam will work with SD, but to really get the full effect I would suggest a custom tune.

 

That combo should produce close to 300hp and 400 ft/lbs TQ at the crank.. maybe a bit less with shorty headers.

 

^ Thanks, those are some attractive numbers.

 

300 HP at the crank with a factory truck 5.8L EFI manifold? A Lightning couldn't do that with a GT40 intake, heads and a slightly hotter cam. Expecting that kind of increase with a truck intake, headers, Cobra cam and a stock tune is pretty optimistic even with a MAF conversion.

The Lightning guys have tried the HO cam and a few have done the Cobra cam swap. They have gained a few more HP, but it is at the expense of low end torque. From what I recall reading through hundreds of posts on their forums no one made 300 HP at the crank without using a much better cam and plenty of tuning with a Tweecer or some other programmer.

IMHO, 300 HP at the crank with a stock 5.8L EFI intake is not going to happen without some kind of forced induction.

Just my opinion, so take it for what it cost you...nothing.

 

The HO cam in the lightnings makes a good gain, not sure how much the stock 5.8 intake will hold it back , but with a better intake it should do good , you could also use 1.7 rockers with the HO cam to....Lew

 

I don't know what these guys are doing but there are all sorts of people putting 260hp to the ground by simply bolting GT40 parts on a 5.0 mustang, so it should be no problem at all to do it with a 5.8.

Dyno Numbers After GT40 Head Swap!! - Corral Forums

 

Paul as usual you have a valid point. I wanted to back my viewpoint as well so I took two routes.

First didn't Ford make a hot-rodded Cobra R in 1995 using a 5.8L engine? Answer, yes. Here are several sources of the listed HP/TQ of this factory hot rodded 5.8L Mustang that used GT40 heads, R-spec'd intake and mass air:

Ford Mustang SVT Cobra - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1995 Ford SVT Mustang Cobra R Pictures, Specifications, and Information
1995 SVT Cobra R Mustang Specifications

There are plenty more sources to back up the STATED horsepower for the 5.8L equipped Cobra R

Second point: I wanted to find some threads on NLOC that discuss and hopefully show us what a Gen 1 Lightning is capable of doing:

First thread starts out asking about the Cobra R. As the thread progresses there is some first hand track experience of using a Cobra spec.'d cam. No dyno info, but interesting reading for some of the specifications of the components and why they were used:

1995 Cobra R power? - The National Lightning Owners Club Inc

Here is an interesting thread where the OP dyno'd his truck using a HO cam. He states the truck dyno'd @231 RWHP with the stock GT 40 heads. The graph in the thread is with AFR165 heads:

AFR 165's with HO Cam Dyno Results - The National Lightning Owners Club Inc

What is the drivetrain loss to convert back to flywheel horsepower? Most threads use ~20% loss. So math would make the guesstimated FHP ~288HP. I am pretty sure the OP in that thread has headers, under drive pulleys and a custom tune. A little shy of 300HP, but actually close to Conanski's guess of ~300HP for the combo of HO cam, GT heads and stock intake. But I still think using the stock 5.8L EFI intake is going to kill most of the HP/TQ gain potential.

So again please take this for the price paid. Sorry to hijack the thread, but I want to put in my 2 cents worth to say I do not think the OP's intended combo will support 300 flywheel horsepower. What is the number? More than 215, but less than 300. Will the combo give more in the seat-of-the-pants feel compared to stock? Yes.

Keep us posted as your project progresses.

 

Some good real world numbers there, and yes my statement was a guesstimate of the potential as you know each particular combo will deliver different results. I don't think the stock truck intake is as bad as one might suspect, it certainly has a much better designed upper than the cars which have airflow restrictions just behind the throttlebody due to the mounting bolt locations. So I'm sure the lower is where it is restrictive just like with all other Ford intakes and some work on it would expand it's potential.

 

Agreed

 

The Gen. 1 guys are laying down some great number. 230 RWHP is great, considering these E4OD's sap a lot of power. That's close to 300 at the crank, with the stock cam as I read it.