Good place to buy a Cam

[flyguy]

Im looking to purchase a cam... (cant afford to install it yet.. but one step at a time)

Where should I look for good prices on a comp cam? Summit Racing has one for over $250. I was hoping for cheaper. Also, anybody have any advice on what Ill need to get/know?

nick

 

[TDG]

From what I've seen $250+ seems to be the going rate for a decent cam. The problems are that it's a lot of work to put in (probably gonna have to pull the heads) for what you will probably get out of it. I wouldn't recommend running a big cam out here because of the california smog inspections. So far I have only seen two choices from comp and vanir, one of them seems only slightly better than stock and might not be worth the effort unless you intend to change it during a rebuild, the other one might be a little too much and screw up your ability to pass smog.

There are few smog guys out there that for a price (over $200) will let you bring another stock explorer in and fudge the paperwork so it comes out like yours but thats an area of things I'd rather not get into.

There is a company out there that I talked to briefly (can't remember the name, maybe someone else will) that will custom grind cams for the 4.0 based on what you want it to do.

Just a few thoughts.

 

[flyguy]

Well.. the Vanir one is the Comp Cam ones.. they are just a reseller... the nice thing is that Vanir used to sell the pushrods... which I dont see listed on thier site anymore. As far as smog is concerned... I was having trouble before... buy now I am WAAAY under now that I have a new CAT on. So I have some room to move. Hmmm... So do you think a cam is not worth the dough? Im looking for power without having to go get a supercharger... I cant afford one yet. but it seems like a cam can get expensive quick. They plan was to buy the cam.. and sit on it till I had either enough money to install it, or something goes wrong with my truck that would let me install it at the same time... The frequency my truck is in the shop is pretty high though!

nick

 

[TDG]

The cam is probably worth the dough but I'm not sure about the effort to put it in unless you intend to rebuild. From what I've read the smaller of the two cams is better than stock but not so much better that anyone recommended it for anything other than a complete tear down. I have yet to hear from anyone regarding the bigger cam and smog tests. You might want to try posting this question on RPS as they have a better 4.0 tech section and some of those guys have a lot of experience with moding the 4.0.

Another price thing to factor in with a new cam is the cost of new pushrods, since the backlobe on all of the aftermarket cams is smaller than stock you will need to go with longer pushrods to make up for the difference.

The last time I was in the 4.0 it looked like the heads would have to come off to get the lifters out so that the cam could be removed, you might be able to use magnets to pull the lifters back from the cam and avoid yanking the heads but I've never tried it.

You could always just keep saving your pennies and get a NOS system to put on there, dollar for dollar that will probably give you more bang than a cam swap for less effort.

 

[flyguy]

Well...im not looking to race though... just want more passing power and more power to drive like an idiot. I think the heads do need to come off... I did I head swap myself a year or so back... That was the limit of my know how though. I think the cam might be a little to hard. Hmmm.... maybe I will just skip it then and save for a supercharger. Sigh.

nick

 

[TDG]

Yeah I know what a b!tch huh? You could try putting your explorer on a diet if you just want more all around power. Toss everything that weights a lot that you don't need, ditching the 4wd system will lose a few hundred pounds and so on. I used to haul a bunch of parts for work in the back of my explorer, the day I quit that job and dumped all the parts in their wharehouse was the day I felt like I had picked up another 20hp. V6s are fairly sensitive to weight, if you put another person in an explorer you'll probably feel a power loss due to the extra weight, so every little bit you toss out is less the engine has to drag around.

Just my cheap solution for now, but I like to on things anyway.

 

[flyguy]

Im pretty lite as far as things go. Cept for my stereo. Cant live without that though. Sigh.

nick

 

[TDG]

As much criticism as this subject as received I'm still toying with taking the money I would invest in a blower and looking into doing a SHOC swap into a 1st gen. The local smog jacka$$ is going to know the difference between a 5.0 and 4.0 but I seriously doubt that they would notice the diff between a OHV and SOHC or that the SOHC engine wasn't offered in a 93. I know that the SOHC won't produce the HP or torque levels of a blown OHV but what about a blown SOHC? A guy on RPS has already done it with a custom adaptor for a readily available blower, if I can get a SOHC to work in a 1 gen I can sure as hell fabricate a blower on top of it.

Ah so many ideas and so little money, anyone want to pay decent money for a good telecomm tech?

Tim

 

[flyguy]

You would probably be better off trading your car in to get a newer SOHC. Thats what I want to do. Just need some cash. Get me some 0% financing.

 

[TDG]

Yeah I know, just like the first guy to swap a D44 under an explorer should have sold it and bought a bronco.

I've often thought about selling it and buying something newer but even though it's in awesome condition for it's age it's not worth what I would have to shell out for a newer vehicle with the newer engine, hell I would probably end up on a payment plan which I never intend to do. For the price of what my 93 is worth to the general public plus an engine swap I could probably downpay an explorer with the SOHC and end up in the hole or paying for 48 months on interest.

Like I said I'm toying with the idea. If nothing comes of it then so what? If I pull it off people will love me for it.

Tim

 

[rockylaurence]

It's not hard just time consuming. You'll need the Cam (with your mods-get the bigger of the two) and adjustable rods. Probly need new lifters also and will have to adjust Lash etc. The power curve will be moved up about 1000RPM.

 

[flyguy]

Yeah.. the power curve is higher up on the bigger cam? If Im not doing any towing, is that a good thing? How will the cam effect my performance off the line?

nick

 

[rockylaurence]

Nick, yes it will affect performance. You'll have to run the engine (maybe-manually shifting the trany) in the higher RPMS to get the benefit of the Camm. Most of the time you wont really loose power (wont notice) at the lower RPMs. Ideally you should gear the rear to allow the engine to run in it's "Sweat Spot".
Hey, with the TM98 heads, do you have to run premium gas--any problems with Pinging with the higher compression?:redexp:

 

[Jason_25]

Originally posted by rockylaurence
It's not hard just time consuming. You'll need the Cam (with your mods-get the bigger of the two) and adjustable rods. Probly need new lifters also and will have to adjust Lash etc. The power curve will be moved up about 1000RPM.

Yikes! Does this mean the OHV would make max power at 5800? Isn't this dangerous?

 

[flyguy]

Yeah, I have been having some problems with pinging and what not that I think is related to the heads. but I am in the process of getting my MAS and Superchip reprogramed.

nick

 

[jz098]

flyguy,

where did u get your heads from...i was thinkign of gettign a cam from vanir and the heads from 4.0l performance.com.

how does your truck run after installing the new heads?? how much improvement?

thanks

 

[flyguy]

I got them from Vanir. I dont know about improvement.. but Vanir says the compression increase should produce about 4-5hp.

nick

 

[flyguy]

Also.. whats the URL of that site you speak of. 4.0 performance?

nick

 

[jz098]

http://www.centralcoastmustang.com/4lcat.htm

 

[fatboy0186]

How much of a power gain will there be in the OHV? I can't imagine a new cam by itself producing a lot of power. What if the heads were ported and polished during a rebuild? Any other mods to get more power out of the motor? I'm asking all these questions because I need to rebuild my motor soon.