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304 How much for a cam install?

pedrotski

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Hey guys. Im looking to upgrade the cam in my 5L.

I have no clue as to what a good cam is so what options do i have. What are the pros and cons of different cams.

What else do i need besides a cam.
 

stocky

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depends on the kind of cam you want really. you could need to look at things like raising compression by shaving heads or changing pistons, along with a possible manifold change. you will also need to consider valve springs, lifters, etc
 

mx kid

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you'll be looking at around 3 grand atleast

as stocky mentioned, it really depends on what level u are looking at... you could go with a mild cam which would be fine for normal street use. but if you were to go all out and get a stage 3 lumpy cam... it would b best to drive in a car thats had this done first. these kits are tuned retarded to make them perform well at high revs. down low they do not perform well and unless ur looking forward to some serious racing then something that extreme is just not worth the hassle when driving normally.
 

greenfoam

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The parts alone can be about 700-800 bucks then labour, it will take most mechanics a day to do it I'd say 8x80? in labour. You should by all rights get out of it for well under 2000 in total. The thing most people don't realise is a cam alone wont make you go fast, it's job is to time all the power making events in the engine and the factory cam is very close to ideal with the standard manifold. I will tell a quick story abotu what happend this week. A friend of mine despit me telling him what cam to buy went and ordered about the biggest hydraulic cam you can buy, we are talking crane 304+ size. It *just* idles at 1200 rpm and burned holes in my lawn from the flames it shoots at idle, it also fires up out the inlet manifold at under 1000 rpm. It's also much slower than stock. Yesterday he ordered anther cam :) he put it in himself tho so it was only a 200$ mistake. The best you can hope for on a all standard 304 is no loss down low and about +20-30hp from mid range to top end. A different manifold with the cam might double that or more
 

eaton v8

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one with a blower on top is a good one and it works well with most cam combos lol
 

VrWagz1

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i will take your advise greenfoam.

so what type of manifold should i get? i mean i thought a manifold was just headers/extractors?

inlet manifold not exhaust manifold
 

Pub247

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inlet manifold is the things that sits between your heads and looks like a bunch of banna's the air comes in through the manidols and is distributed to each to the cylinders. Different manifolds vary how much, how long and which way air flows into the manifold resulting in different performance for the motor depending on your application (N/A, FI, circuit, drags, street) and other engine factors (such as camshaft and compression) should determine whicj manifold you should choose

hope that makes it easy for you to understand
 
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