Can you get a good performance and good cruising cam for the FE?

[67FEfastback]

Originally Posted by RICK LAKE

67FEfastback You didn't say what you where running for style of camshaft. I can't help on a solid camshaft. Hydro lifter cam would be a .533"-.566" It will give a small lobe idle, give you great midrange power and pass a 3 and 300 emmissions test for the tail pipe sniffer. If you have the money for a hydro roller camshaft and lifters, KCR has about 20-30 custom roller camshafts that make more power than stock and are drivable on the street or cruising. The FE motor doesn't like to be lugged in the 1,600-1,900 rpms. This is hard on the bottom end. The smaller cam from crane in a 9.2 compression motor with ported heads made 360HP and 448 ft of torque at the crank. The idle is great, flat torque band that pulls hard off idle to 5,200 rpms. After that you are all done with motor power. I have a 587-607 small hydro roller in a 482 motor with 10.5 compression. Just got home from the dyno and we are in the 500's in both torque and HP at the crank. The motor is done at 6,000 rpms. It's all about putting the right parts together and where you want the power to be. If you want to talk more on this private e-mail me with a number to call you at. Rick L.

Thanks a lot Rick, I will drop you an email.
The 428 I bought used with supposedly 7000 miles on it and an RV cam.

I am leaning very strongly towards a hydraulic cam. Am I right in assuming I will have to change to adjustable rockers with a hydraulic roller cam?
Probably the majority of driving will be in town. I actually don't mind it if is slightly raunchy through the gears.

Originally Posted by Excaliber

With a top loader and a 3.5 rear gear you could just about run any 'hot' cam you like for cruising in the 70-80 mph range. Cam profile is all about the rear gear ratio and thus the expected rpm range you want the cam to work in. Your rpm will be in the 3500-3600 rpm range at cruise speed, pretty high. Wide ratio trans has a reasonably low first gear ratio as well so 'around town' won't be so bad either. The over all setup I would call 'cam friendly'.

You might want to consider a 42 gallon gas tank though, your cruising range with that kind of rpm/speed is really going to empty the tank in a hurry.

I went with a solid flat tappet Comp Cam's 292S for a nice 'lumpy' idle and decent throttle response from about 2000 rpm. My cruise rpm is around 2800-3200 and that works out real nice. 3:31 rear gear, CLOSE ratio top loader.

My PREVIOUS solid roller cam didn't like the rpm to drop much below 3000 and that was a pain in the butt on the street or the freeway. Sometimes I would be forced to run THIRD gear on the FREEWAY just to keep the engine rpm up.

Thanks Excaliber. regarding the gas tank, I did opt for the 1970 22 gallon tank, anticpating fuel economy just might be an issue
With the export brace on the 'stang, I am concerned that solid lifter adjustment will be a real bear on this car. It's a real PITA to remove without scratching the paint.



Unless I go for a modern shock tower brace. I am kind of trying to keep it retro and the mods stealthy.

Originally Posted by ZOERA-SC7XX

I run a Comp Cams 270H Magnum in my 428 FE ERA w/3:31, 10.0:1, MSD, and a 750 vac secondary Holly carb. Although it's sorta mild, it runs very well at 1700/1800 on city streets and really wants to pull hard when it gets over 2600 or so. Timing is set to come in at about 1700/1800 (36 deg total, small springs). Works good for me.

Thanks very much, helpful info.