OHV Top End Refresh. 410 Cam?

[Afrojoe1449]

How's it going guys. I've started to plan a top end rebuild as I have low compression on cylinder 3. About 60 pounds cold/dry and 70 pounds cold/wet. The rest tested 150-160. I consider having my head worked but one is a 95tm and one is a 98tm on my 98. This lead to me to simplify the process and order heavy duty cast heads from Morana Racing. I was going to get the "stage 2" but the timeline would have been stretched further than I'm comfortable with. To make a long story short. I've ordered new cast heads, the gaskets and bolts to do a head replacement, 12 sealed power lifters, a timing chain set and gaskets, new water pump. This should take care of my compression issue and seal up my coolant leak I believe. But I've been contemplating trying to get a 410 Comp Cam and Smith Pushrods to help improve my X while it's apart. I've read I can use new stock springs, is that still the consensus or will I be breaking components if I don't upgrade springs? Any idea where I can find a 410 Comp Cam? Looks like they're out of stock through major outlets until June. I can swap cams with my heads on correct? Because I might be be able to put the timing chain off until they come in stock. Or I could contact Tom and see if he can custom grind a Cam if he has a core on hand. I'd like to get my X back together in a couple of weeks but also want to do the upgrades on an effective and cost effective way give it's usually my daily driver. Thanks you all for your input and knowledge. Worst case I guess it goes back together stock with better heads, but some performance gained would be great.

 

[Fix4Dirt]

do you have the PN for the cam? iirc there were many cams made w/410 in the pn, and im forgetting which are the common explorer ones right now... that being said, have you checked sites like summit, jegs, americanmuscle?

 

[Afrojoe1449]

Comp Cam 49-410-8 is the 4.0 OHV cam I was looking at, Summit and Jegs were out. Comp Cams website says ships in 2-3 weeks. I'll check americanmuscle.

 

[Fix4Dirt]

COMP Cams® 49-410-8 - High Energy™ Hydraulic Roller Tappet Camshaft

High Energy™ Hydraulic Roller Tappet Camshaft - Part Number 49-410-8 (494108) by COMP Cams. Available in Parts Department at www.carid.com

www.carid.com

says it ships in a week supposedly... dunno... iirc jamie 410fortune has had issues w/comp before as far as lead times, but that was the start of covid, so much has probably chnaged since

 

[Afrojoe1449]

I might have to give them a call tomorrow when I get a chance. Hopefully someone has one on a shelf somewhere that they can get to me haha. Maybe locally I could get my cam reground, but without prior experience with shops I'm not who I could trust with it in my area.

 

[Fix4Dirt]

I might have to give them a call tomorrow when I get a chance. Hopefully someone has one on a shelf somewhere that they can get to me haha. Maybe locally I could get my cam reground, but without prior experience with shops I'm not who I could trust with it in my area.

yeah other than carid havent been able to find em! comp cams themselves are good, but their customer service is meh from what i hear... may use some of their stuff int he future, so well see how it goes !

 

[Afrojoe1449]

I called CarID today and they claimed the had one in stock at the warehouse. I asked to verify that it was actually in stock and not just able to order from the manufacturer and they said that it was on hand. I ordered it over the phone right then they said it would be a 5-8 day process until shipping. I got off the phone with Smith Bros about an hour ago and ordered 5.550 Pushrods for 170 with a 7-10 day process until ship time. Now just waiting on everything I've ordered to come in and hopefully it'll all go together well and without issue. Now I've got to consider if I want to try and port & polish my lower intake while I wait. And maybe consider trying to port/Polisher the heads when they get here.

 

[Fix4Dirt]

I called CarID today and they claimed the had one in stock at the warehouse. I asked to verify that it was actually in stock and not just able to order from the manufacturer and they said that it was on hand. I ordered it over the phone right then they said it would be a 5-8 day process until shipping. I got off the phone with Smith Bros about an hour ago and ordered 5.550 Pushrods for 170 with a 7-10 day process until ship time. Now just waiting on everything I've ordered to come in and hopefully it'll all go together well and without issue. Now I've got to consider if I want to try and port & polish my lower intake while I wait. And maybe consider trying to port/Polisher the heads when they get here.

imo, ported/polished heads, combined w/good exhaust and good intake could give you some power gain, idk if this applies to ohvs but for sohc you can use the ford racing 4.6 2v tb as well iirc

 

[Josh P]

Replacing the exhaust manifolds with headers will make a difference.

 

[Afrojoe1449]

I had considered getting headers for anesthetics, sound, and power. But I saw some say the stock manifold is plenty for the OHV and people mentioning increased under hood temperatures. So I'm not sure it'll be worth the extra money if the engine temps might be an issue for me in Tennessee. Offroading and daily driving is the main goal for my X.

 

[Josh P]

I put headers on my 91 4.0 aerostar. I noticed the engine would rev up easier. I'm sure a dyno wouldn't show much overall performance increase but the driving experience was more enjoyable which made it worth it to me.

 

[Afrojoe1449]

Well what I was worried about has happened. I've got everything except the cam in and now CarID suddenly doesn't have any and I've been informed they are "made to order". Which means the estimated ship date is June 20th, far to long for me to wait to put the engine back together. I might contact Tom Morana and see if he's got a cam he can custom grind to the 410 specs in a quick timeline but if not I guess I'll be putting it back together with the stock cam and just hold on to the custom pushrods for the future. I hate when companies lie to make a sell.

 

[DannyW]

How's it going guys. I've started to plan a top end rebuild as I have low compression on cylinder 3. About 60 pounds cold/dry and 70 pounds cold/wet. The rest tested 150-160. I consider having my head worked but one is a 95tm and one is a 98tm on my 98. This lead to me to simplify the process and order heavy duty cast heads from Morana Racing. I was going to get the "stage 2" but the timeline would have been stretched further than I'm comfortable with. To make a long story short. I've ordered new cast heads, the gaskets and bolts to do a head replacement, 12 sealed power lifters, a timing chain set and gaskets, new water pump. This should take care of my compression issue and seal up my coolant leak I believe. But I've been contemplating trying to get a 410 Comp Cam and Smith Pushrods to help improve my X while it's apart. I've read I can use new stock springs, is that still the consensus or will I be breaking components if I don't upgrade springs? Any idea where I can find a 410 Comp Cam? Looks like they're out of stock through major outlets until June. I can swap cams with my heads on correct? Because I might be be able to put the timing chain off until they come in stock. Or I could contact Tom and see if he can custom grind a Cam if he has a core on hand. I'd like to get my X back together in a couple of weeks but also want to do the upgrades on an effective and cost effective way give it's usually my daily driver. Thanks you all for your input and knowledge. Worst case I guess it goes back together stock with better heads, but some performance gained would be great.

Well what I was worried about has happened. I've got everything except the cam in and now CarID suddenly doesn't have any and I've been informed they are "made to order". Which means the estimated ship date is June 20th, far to long for me to wait to put the engine back together. I might contact Tom Morana and see if he's got a cam he can custom grind to the 410 specs in a quick timeline but if not I guess I'll be putting it back together with the stock cam and just hold on to the custom pushrods for the future. I hate when companies lie to make a sell.

Just a heads up...
I ordered the stage2 heads, roller rocker (1.6 ratio) valve cover spacers to clear the lifters, custom push rods from Tom Morana. All went well except for the cam he sent. Absolutely horrible grind. supposed to be 270/282 duration at .500 lift. The thing kept collapsing/breaking lifters. Sent it to a machine shop and they asked if I ground it myself on a bench grinder. I ended up going to a stock cam and pushrods/rocker assembly. I wasted about 3 weeks of labor and a couple grand in parts.
Also, no, you cannot change the cam without removing the heads, as you cannot remove the lifters with the heads on.
I also tried the CompCams 3x. Always backordered after 3 months of waiting.
-Dan

 

[Afrojoe1449]

I might have to call around locally and see if any machine shops near me are capable of a regrind then. I definitely plan to cancel my order with CarID given what I've heard on Compcams and their backorder. I thought you could change the cam with the heads on using the tied up lifter method I had seen posted but regardless I don't have a big desire to take the timing cover off again so soon.

 

[DannyW]

I might have to call around locally and see if any machine shops near me are capable of a regrind then. I definitely plan to cancel my order with CarID given what I've heard on Compcams and their backorder. I thought you could change the cam with the heads on using the tied up lifter method I had seen posted but regardless I don't have a big desire to take the timing cover off again so soon.

Are you keeping the same rocker / rail assembly? Keep in mind with a reground cam you're going to need longer pushrods. You will have to order those custom made. Expect 2 to 4 weeks and about $400 for the set. The stock rockers are oiled from the rail with solid pushrods. If you go roller rockers, they will need hollow pushrods.

-Dan

Also, you may want to go with heavier or dual springs if you go .500 lift.

 

[Afrojoe1449]

Yeah I've already got the custom pushrods from Smith Bros. They were about 170 and about a week and a half turn around so maybe they had some lying around. I was going to reuse my rocker arms and shaft as they were replaced less than 10000 or so miles ago. I bought new heads and lifters though. Which if I can't get a cam I'll just reuse my stock length pushrods of course.

 

[Fix4Dirt]

Well what I was worried about has happened. I've got everything except the cam in and now CarID suddenly doesn't have any and I've been informed they are "made to order". Which means the estimated ship date is June 20th, far to long for me to wait to put the engine back together. I might contact Tom Morana and see if he's got a cam he can custom grind to the 410 specs in a quick timeline but if not I guess I'll be putting it back together with the stock cam and just hold on to the custom pushrods for the future. I hate when companies lie to make a sell.

dang!! sorry to hear bout that!!! any speed shops by you? they may also do regrinds. is morana still around? ive heard less and less as the years go on, and more quesitonable stuff, but thats different than cams too though. you may also try sueprsix, not sure what they carry for ohv, but they carry sohc speed parts!

 

[Afrojoe1449]

I couldn't find any local locations. So now I'll start calling some custom grind places to see what they say on turn around times. I'll be a little bummed to go back stock after having dedicated the funds to the minor cam.

 

[Fix4Dirt]

yeah, sorry to hear about that my experience with carid has been fine before, but everyones experience is different.. does supersix make a cam for yours? i know theydo for the 3.8 and 4.2 and the sohc, but not sure about the ohv

 

[Afrojoe1449]

yeah, sorry to hear about that my experience with carid has been fine before, but everyones experience is different.. does supersix make a cam for yours? i know theydo for the 3.8 and 4.2 and the sohc, but not sure about the ohv

I will have to call them tomorrow. They don't show the 4.0 cam on their website but the cam section is with the 4.0 tab. So I figured it'll be worth a call to see. I was going to go with Tom for the cam, but if it might be problematic I will avoid that avenue.