Camshaft help for my 95 Cobra

How much (brand- specs- etc.) Camshaft can I run while still being able to use my 95 Cobra eec-IV. I like steeda's #19, but its going to be a little weak as far as lift is concerned. Id like to punch the motor up to 331 cubes and port the factory heads and intake (to retain some of the Cobra originality) but will be running 10-1 compression regardless if it's 302 or 331. I have 3.55 out back with the t-5. I'd like a nice (fairly choppy) idle but will still want reasonable drivability and not have to worry about the idle surge inherent with the 94-95 processor. Any help will be most appreciated.

The key to getting some power with what you want to do is going to be in the heads...you will need a lot of work on the stock heads, including bigger valves, etc.

There's no need to go with more lift than the heads can flow, so size accordingly. In this case around .500".

The duration will affect idle somewhat, but will have the biggest affect on powerband. With your gearing you better keep it more conservative...220* intake @ .050", or you'll kill your low RPM power.

The biggest concern with your car is going to be LSA. The computer will be very picky, and in order to keep vacuum up you'll want 114* +. A lower LSA will give a rougher idle, but the computer may not like it much.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: 87stang on 5/25/07 5:32am ]</font>

Well you pretty much confirmed most of what I was thinking, so let me ask you about my plan B. I'm thinking with the amount of money needed to make the heads work that it would be better spent buying a set of Edelbrock victor Jr. and porting the intake to match and probably extrude honing the upper to help it keep up. This combo would still keep some of the originality without breaking my wallet. I use a Ford 65 mm tb and a hand ported (probably 78-80 mm) mass air. I'll be going with 30 lb's with this setup and at least get the mass air sent to pro-m for a recalibration (if not replaced altogether). My question being with this set up what do you think of the comp cams magnum 35312-8 (276-280. 220-224 @.050, 544-560 lift at a 114 LSA. I'm thinking with a 331 and 9.7-10.0 compression that it sounds about right. My other choice is steeda's #19 which comes in at 220-226 @.050 with a 517 lift (using a 1.7 Rocker) and 115 LSA. Which seems about right as far as duration goes, but I get a nagging feeling with so little lift my 331 will feel and sound more like a stocker than a motor that has had this much work done to it.
Again any help would be most appreciated.

Agreed with everything said thus far.

I believe the FRPP E-303 cam has a lift of .498 and is emissions legal with a 5 speed if that's a concern for you.

Since you have GT-40 heads the valves are already larger than the stock 5.0 but the intake valve is still tiny at 1.84 compared to nickel like 1.78s that I currently have! [img]/forums/images/smiles/icon_bicker.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/smiles/icon_cry.gif[/img]
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I think you should really consider an EC swap. A 89-93 EEC-IV and add an HO cam, 1.7 rockers, retard the cam 4 degrees and you will have excellent driveability with very nice power. We did this on a '93 Cobra w/ AFR165 heads and it kicked ass. Your EC is very picky with many mods, not just cams. I seriously doubt the cams you are listing will run well in traffic.
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On 2007-06-02 14:39, FasterDamnit! wrote:
I think you should really consider an EC swap. A 89-93 EEC-IV and add an HO cam, 1.7 rockers, retard the cam 4 degrees and you will have excellent driveability with very nice power. We did this on a '93 Cobra w/ AFR165 heads and it kicked ass. Your EC is very picky with many mods, not just cams. I seriously doubt the cams you are listing will run well in traffic.

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What he said.

I'm putting a Comp Cams Magnum cam (35-310-8 ) with 215/220@.050, .533/.544, and 114 LSA in a 347 running the A9L computer (Cardone part # 785611), 30# inj, 80mm C&L MAF... your application sounds very similar. I'm also running 1.7 rockers to lift the valve faster and higher, which also effectively adds a degree or two of duration. Running RHS 180cc heads and a Holley SystemaxII lower intake (biggest on the market) to get the air in faster for the 1.7 rockers to do any good. And I'm also running a 10.3 comp ratio.

One caution for swapping the computer: the injector and HEGO wiring in the computer harness is slightly different in the 95 Cobra (injectors moved to different pin positions). Use the comparison chart on fordfuelinjection.com as a guide if you are going to make the swap.

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<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: jrosengarth on 6/4/07 7:44am ]</font>

Thank you both, the chart is a lifesaver and makes me more inclined to swap the EC, (just dredding the pin hassles).

You will be very pleased with the change. Mods will go much easier. My friend Drew did this is his quest for 10's in his yellow 95GT on a N/A 347. Did you see the article, "Yellow Fever"?

The lift will not affect the idle and the driveability as much as the duration, which will not affect it as much as the LSA will. In fact, I'd bet that the Steeda #19 cam idles better than the E303 does because of the difference in LSA.

So, the cams you selected will be fine and make lots of torque, but these long-runner intaked strokers like more cam. However, you must keep a wide LSA in order to keep the computer happy.

Your big restriction is going to be the Cobra intake. I would not go with Edelbrock Victor Jr. heads on this combo. Your best choice is something along the lines of the AFR 185.

Also, don't send your MAS anywhere for calibration, you should be able to change everything in the tune via a chip, including injector sizes. However, I recommend going with a bigger aftermarket MAS unless you are stuck on the sleeper thing.

If you really want to do it right the first time, go custom by contacting a guy like Ed Curtis at FTI (FlowTech Induction) to help you with your induction package needs.

Yeah I saw the Yellow fever article and like his combo alot. Since Drew is a friend of yours maybe you could answer a couple questions. How streetable is his combo, how well does it idle. If I went the extreme route (maybe down the road) I would like things like the a/c to work at idle, the cruise control to work at highway speeds. Basically how streetable is a motor making that much power? Also he has the Victor 5.0 which needs the older (pre 94) throttle body installed and I see Drew has that. How much of a hassle is it to work that under the hood. My concern is how much wire splicing, what throttle cable, do I just dump the cruise control hardware? Seems the more power I want to make the more hacking I have to perform, so what I'm searching for is a happy medium where I can get good power but dont have to gut too much of the originality. Seeing it being a fairly rare ford nowadays (original owner) being able to put the originality back may be a selling point (assuming I want to sell it one day). Again your help is always appreciated.