In today’s video, engine builder Richard Holdener is going to show you the dyno results of a previously modified 5.0L Ford engine before and after a cam swap (and unplanned valve spring replacement).
Before the cam swap, Holdener is starting with an engine constructed of a BluePrint Engines 306 cubic-inch short block crate engine (a bored 302) with 218/226 duration, .543/.554 lift camshaft, BluePrint As-Cast Aluminum SBF cylinder heads, a dual-plane intake manifold, Holley carburetor, MSD distributor, and Hooker headers.
Before the cam swap (and spring replacement), the engine dyno’d at 386 horsepower at 6,100 rpm, and 365 foot-pounds of torque at 4,000 rpm.
Holdener cured the the valve float issue by upgrading to a set of COMP Cams 26506 beehive springs, and swapped in a new COMP Cams Xtreme Energy camshaft with a 224/232 duration and .555/.565 lift grind.
Don’t forget that part of the gains came from correcting the valve float issues by replacing the springs, but following the cam swap, the same engine was dyno’d. The results?
403 hp at 6,300 rpm, and 377 ft.-lbs. at 4,200 rpm.
That’s a gain of 35 hp and 12 ft.-lbs.
Not bad for a short day’s work.
Looking for information on how to choose a camshaft for your Ford 5.0L application? Check out:
If you’re looking for more general camshaft tech, you can find several tech articles on camshafts here.
is my math wrong, you went from 386 hp to 403 hp, thats 17 hp gain, not 35? please correct me if im wrong, reason im interested is i have the exact same blue print 306 in my comet and just want to know if a cam change is worth the effort, 17 isnt but 35 would be, please let me know , thanks.