Cam suggestions

[shovel]

Something simple today. Got a 1995 5.0 mustang and want some cams suggestions. I dont really plan on doing anything to it and want more of sound with a slight power increase. Keeping stock computer, heads, intake, everything (I may port heads and intake, no idea yet). It's a cruiser, not a racer. Just wanna be clear on that.

By far the 2 best things I did for sound on my 94 5.0 was switch to a Cobra intake (yes, the intake affects exhaust sound by a lot more than I was expecting) and switch out the dronemasters that the FPO installed for a set of straight through mufflers that are quieter on cruise and don't drone.

Those aren't the only things I've done but those two affected the sound in the most positive way. Everyone has different ears so my "positive" might not be the same as yours but I'm also not a racer I mostly just wanted those freeway onramps to feel lively and for it not to drone on the highway, stall while idling or stumble on tip-in. Basically like any modern car.

By far the best thing I've done other than sound is get off the factory ECU to a modern ECU that cleanly accommodates the physical upgrades. Before diving in to an aftermarket ECU (PimpX) I kept chasing my tail trying to get it to run right with the factory ECU, trying to get email tunes on a chip, etc.. maybe that was worth suffering through in the 90s but it's not the 90s anymore.

 

[DarkknightGT]

By far the 2 best things I did for sound on my 94 5.0 was switch to a Cobra intake (yes, the intake affects exhaust sound by a lot more than I was expecting) and switch out the dronemasters that the FPO installed for a set of straight through mufflers that are quieter on cruise and don't drone.

Those aren't the only things I've done but those two affected the sound in the most positive way. Everyone has different ears so my "positive" might not be the same as yours but I'm also not a racer I mostly just wanted those freeway onramps to feel lively and for it not to drone on the highway, stall while idling or stumble on tip-in. Basically like any modern car.

By far the best thing I've done other than sound is get off the factory ECU to a modern ECU that cleanly accommodates the physical upgrades. Before diving in to an aftermarket ECU (PimpX) I kept chasing my tail trying to get it to run right with the factory ECU, trying to get email tunes on a chip, etc.. maybe that was worth suffering through in the 90s but it's not the 90s anymore.

One of my commercial accounts i take care of has a megasquirt ecu specifically for my car available at their shop. I dont have the money unfortunately but I was thinking about snagging it. They only want 800 but I can try to smooth em down, but ive never heard of the pimpxs. Keeping it stock mostly except for maybe a cam, would it be worth it? 1000$ is kinda steep.

 

[shovel]

One of my commercial accounts i take care of has a megasquirt ecu specifically for my car available at their shop. I dont have the money unfortunately but I was thinking about snagging it. They only want 800 but I can try to smooth em down, but ive never heard of the pimpxs. Keeping it stock mostly except for maybe a cam, would it be worth it? 1000$ is kinda steep.

Regarding the aftermarket ECU.. scope creep is a real thing and you might be thinking you're going to do 2 things but then that turns into 3 things, etc. The mistake I made was first trying to work with the stock ECU doing work-arounds and band-aids all trying to convince it that everything is still normal. Huge waste of time and money, I should have gone straight for an aftermarket ECU.

As for the PimpX itself - that was great. Completely worth it. I went with dual widebands (it can work with just 1) and deleted the MAF while retaining the stock airbox.. allowed me to clean up a fair amount of stuff under the hood like the secondary air system, etc. and I was able to program in the EGR and evap to work like stock, super nice.

However if I was going to start over from the very beginning I'd do a fully standalone ECU like Aces Joker or a Holley Terminator etc. that has its own fresh, isolated, new wiring harness. Would be a lot less work and probably less expensive overall, and in the future if troubleshooting is needed there won't be any confusion about what goes where, whether it's me doing the work or a future owner or if I have to bring it to a shop.

 

[Snorky]

the computer can still manage the engine idle is just a little rough but still manageable
it would use a little more fuel

For a b303, steeda 19 or say an anderson b31.. aside from the cam lifters and springs.. what else does one need to make it work?

 

[RAU03MACH]

that cam works well with ported heads a good induction system flat top piston Keith black
4.10 5 speed ant a tune if you bring that together 315 horse around there
you add the aluminum heads and port 330 around there

 

[RAU03MACH]

change out the valves to the chevy valves. there larger it will open up
as much as i dont like GM their valves are tough

 

[DarkknightGT]

Doesn't seem too bad. In my case I deleted smog pump so it gives me an excuse to do a bit of porting inside those e7 heads. I've heard that anderson b31 cam can be too gnarly for our cars? I was thinking of the b21 cam as well

 

[RAU03MACH]

i left out
no springs will need to be changed out
you can run that b303 on stock heads, but porting helps

 

[Snorky]

i left out
no springs will need to be changed out
you can run that b303 on stock heads, but porting helps

Do you need a larger maf. Injectors or tune for it to run?

 

[RAU03MACH]

Nope
The computer is able to manage it
Little bolt ons do help
You can do a maf injectors heads intake
Like I say it dose make improvements

I dropped the b303 cam in my friends car with stock engine sounded good
Then he slowly added other stuff to make better performance
A tune will improve fuel and performance there will be 3 setting on a 4 bank
You list the mod to the chip
That will piggy back off the eec computer

 

[Snorky]

Nope
The computer is able to manage it
Little bolt ons do help
You can do a maf injectors heads intake
Like I say it dose make improvements

I dropped the b303 cam in my friends car with stock engine sounded good
Then he slowly added other stuff to make better performance
A tune will improve fuel and performance there will be 3 setting on a 4 bank
You list the mod to the chip
That will piggy back off the eec computer

Perhaps I will consider a B cam while the v10 is still in the works

 

[DarkknightGT]

Nope
The computer is able to manage it
Little bolt ons do help
You can do a maf injectors heads intake
Like I say it dose make improvements

I dropped the b303 cam in my friends car with stock engine sounded good
Then he slowly added other stuff to make better performance
A tune will improve fuel and performance there will be 3 setting on a 4 bank
You list the mod to the chip
That will piggy back off the eec computer

Would it also be worth it to do a custom grind cam? I've been looking into those too

 

[RAU03MACH]

ya some turn out ok