B-cam or E-cam

In the near future I am going to be doing h/i/c. I am going to get some Thumper ported E7's and either a B-cam or E-cam. I know the B-cam is illegal but I heard there are ways to pass the sniffer with it. I love the idle of the B and I have a 5spd so I don't really mind if it lacks a little in low end. Which cam would be better for a spring/summer daily driver? I heard the E is notorious for idle problems and basically cuts off power as soon as you hit 5000rpms. For an intake I'm either going to get an Edelbrock performer, GT-40, or TFS street heat. Which cam would be best for me? BTW, for those of you who don't know about Thumper heads, check them out here: http://www.thumperoforangepark.com

They are good heads with an excellent price that are easily capable of a low 13 - high 12. The out flow out-of-the-box GT-40x heads.

Let me know what you all think, thanks

Good question. In my opinion, the B-cam might be a little too much for those heads. Remember to also factor in which gears you are running. Have you thought about the Trick Flow Stage one cam? It's a somewhere between the E-cam and B-cam. It has 221* of duration at 0.050 lift on the intake and 225* of duration at 0.050 lift on the exhaust side. It also has a little more lift than the E-cam. If you want more specs, they're on the trick flow website. http://www.trickflow.com/product/camsandvalvetrain/track_roller_ford/track_fordspecs.asp

I wouldn't go with the B-cam either. Trick Flow stage 1 is nice, the Crane 2030, or 2031 cams are decent as well.

Maybe I should just keep the stock cam :dunno:

Maybe I should just keep the stock cam :dunno:

You're going to keep the stock cam because we didn't like your idea of an outdated alphabet cam? Keep in mind they have been around since the early 90's, there are much better designed cams around. I too agree with a trick flow stage 1 cam, and for heads why waste your money on stock E7 heads? No matter what you do to them, they are still going to be E7's. You can go pick up a set of ready to bolt on AFR 165's or AFR 185's from TEA for 1300 dollars, they will vastly outflow ported E7's, are only about 600 bucks more, they'll take some weight off the front of the car, and you'll have more expandibility for the future.

Pretty much all the Ford Racing Parts for the 5.0 are dated man. Ford hasn't put money into the 5.0 parts since the early early 90's. They put all thier time in money into the 4.6 now to promote sales of the newer Mustangs.

So every take this as a note the days of playing the alphabet cam game are over there is so many better products out now that companies are still puting money and time into to make them better.

You're going to keep the stock cam because we didn't like your idea of an outdated alphabet cam? Keep in mind they have been around since the early 90's, there are much better designed cams around. I too agree with a trick flow stage 1 cam, and for heads why waste your money on stock E7 heads? No matter what you do to them, they are still going to be E7's. You can go pick up a set of ready to bolt on AFR 165's or AFR 185's from TEA for 1300 dollars, they will vastly outflow ported E7's, are only about 600 bucks more, they'll take some weight off the front of the car, and you'll have more expandibility for the future.

Get AFR heads for only $600 more? Only $600 huh? I'm on a very tight budget and am not trying to build a super fast car. I just want a bit more power to make it more fun to drive on the street. All I want it is to break into the 13's when I go to the track maybe once or twice a year. That extra $600 could go towards an intake. About keeping the stock cam.... That is what I originally was planning on doing. The stock cam is not a bad cam at all. I just was considering either an E-cam or B-cam because Thumper offers a combo at a good price. And my friend has a b-cam with stock heads/intake and it works just fine :dunno:

$600 dollars for modified stock heads!!! RIP OFF! You could probably have the same work done to your stock heads at a machine shop for half that price! If your gonna go budget near-stock heads anyways, at least go with a set of aluminum gt-40's. Ive seen them for like $600 as well.

They want alomst $200 for an alphabet cam, and yet thats a deal? You can pick up the TF Stage 1 from Summit for $140.

Not trying to tell you off or anything, just trying to steer you from costly mistakes which have been made all to often around here. Good luck though.

Get AFR heads for only $600 more? Only $600 huh? I'm on a very tight budget and am not trying to build a super fast car. I just want a bit more power to make it more fun to drive on the street. All I want it is to break into the 13's when I go to the track maybe once or twice a year. That extra $600 could go towards an intake. About keeping the stock cam.... That is what I originally was planning on doing. The stock cam is not a bad cam at all. I just was considering either an E-cam or B-cam because Thumper offers a combo at a good price. And my friend has a b-cam with stock heads/intake and it works just fine :dunno:

600 dollars more for a set of quality aluminum castings that will provide a ton more power is not that much. Even if you only work part time, the extra month or two you'll have to save is very worth it. You say right now you only want a 13 second car, but a 13 second car gets boring after a while on the street and you start to want more, and it just snowballs from there. Trust me, you'll be a lot more satisfied wating a few more months and getting the AFR's!

$600 saved for an intake.... what intake it better be a Cobra and don't even say a GT-40 cause they exactly the same except for outward appearance(GT-40 flow 1cfm more at 28" H20) both are a waste of money over stock. And don't even look at TFS, Edelbrock, etc.., cause those E7 intake ports are not gonna come close to matching and cause horrible airflow turbulance unless you get them port matched more $$$.

Alphabet cams still cost as much as any other cam that is much better than them now so thier is no money saved there.

Also find out if you have to pay shipping to send your cores back. UPS does charge a decent price on something as heavy as cast iron E7 heads(more $$$).


Flow Numbers .400 .500 .600 lift
Thumper 198 218 219
AFR 165 225 243 250

And unlike Thumper would like to have you believe those are not too much flow at all for a daily driven car. Not only did they make +41RWHP but +46 Torque at the RW on a bone stock 95 GT with an auto. And peak torque was made same rpm at the stock E7's and so was the HP.

$600 dollars for modified stock heads!!! RIP OFF! You could probably have the same work done to your stock heads at a machine shop for half that price! If your gonna go budget near-stock heads anyways, at least go with a set of aluminum gt-40's. Ive seen them for like $600 as well.

They want alomst $200 for an alphabet cam, and yet thats a deal? You can pick up the TF Stage 1 from Summit for $140.

Not trying to tell you off or anything, just trying to steer you from costly mistakes which have been made all to often around here. Good luck though.

Ok first off the GT-40 aluminum heads are like in the $500-$600 per head. And Thumper heads are in no way a rip off. There are many people who are running Thumper heads and are very happy with them. However everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I respect yours. Check out this thread on stangnet, there are some people who love their thumper heads and others who wanted more. It all depends on what you want to do to your car. Like I said, I am a college kid on a tight budget that does not need a low 12 second convertible. http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=403164&page=1&pp=25&highlight=Thumper+heads

$600 saved for an intake.... what intake it better be a Cobra and don't even say a GT-40 cause they exactly the same except for outward appearance(GT-40 flow 1cfm more at 28" H20) both are a waste of money over stock. And don't even look at TFS, Edelbrock, etc.., cause those E7 intake ports are not gonna come close to matching and cause horrible airflow turbulance unless you get them port matched more $$$.

Alphabet cams still cost as much as any other cam that is much better than them now so thier is no money saved there.

Also find out if you have to pay shipping to send your cores back. UPS does charge a decent price on something as heavy as cast iron E7 heads(more $$$).


Flow Numbers .400 .500 .600 lift
Thumper 198 218 219
AFR 165 225 243 250

And unlike Thumper would like to have you believe those are not too much flow at all for a daily driven car. Not only did they make +41RWHP but +46 Torque at the RW on a bone stock 95 GT with an auto. And peak torque was made same rpm at the stock E7's and so was the HP.

What are you talking about when you say don't even look at a TFS or Edelbrock intake? Thumper pretty much sets the heads up for one's application. You tell him what intake you are going to run and he will do a port match so it works. Most of the people who are running the heads have either an Edelbrock Performer or TFS street anyway. You should research a topic more before you talk negative about it. I do not want AFR's, I'm sorry to dissapoint all of you. I don't need to spend $1300 on a set of heads for a daily driven car. Most of you guys don't understand why I think this because you are not me. I am pretty much satisified with my car as it is now with the mods listed in my sig. I don't really have a need for speed. All I want is a little more kick when cruising around. Why spend $1300 on a set of heads that I don't need when I can spend about $1000 on the heads and intake that I want? I know that AFR's will blow the Thumpers away and that does not bother me. If I wanted AFR's, then I would get them.

You don't have to touch the 5.0l EFI to get into the 13's or have a fast stang. I have gone to the track and seen a 91' hatch lx with heads, cam, intake and jackson supercharger get wooped 3 weekends in a row by a well tuned 89' hatch lx with simple engine bolt ons and stock heads, stock upper/lower intake, stock cam...u get the point and a tuned rear suspension.
Its all about getting the power to the ground. Also the thumpers are still gonna be cast iron, by switching to aluminum heads is an improvment by itself not to mention better flowing than E7's ported or not.
This site http://www.fordmuscle.com/archives/2000/08/lx/index2.shtml has a automatic 88' hatch lx with stock 5.0L that runs 13's and isn't nearly as tuned or has as much bolt ons as the 89' lx I mentioned above. Check it out.

Ok I did not see where on that site it said he will port match the heads for whatever intake a person is using but fine. The bottom line still remains is they will help you a lil but not a lot and your will grow tired of getting beaten my stock LS1's and running high 13's after you dropped a grand or so into your car. Don't say that doesn't matter or you wouldn be leaving it completely stock!

Half the people on that site some put up ditched the thumpers or powerheads for aluminiums or want to as soon as they get the money. Don't waste ya money and time buying and changing the same part twice. You make think your above it but a year from now you'll know what everyone on hear is talkin about.